It took almost two years, but with the posters of linguistic samplings of Germanic Languages now on the wall, the refurbishing of the seminar room is finally complete.

The project was begun in the fall of 2013, when a committee consisting of Robert Holub, Carly Martin, Bernhard Malkmus, Dovid Miller, and Bethany Richetti set about to make the GLL seminar room the best in Hagerty Hall.

Over the next few months the committee worked with vendors to purchase a new racetrack conference-room table, a set of new chairs, and built-in shelving. A new projection system was set up with new equipment and a new monitor. Recently a new computer and all-region DVD player were added. The room was also re-carpeted and freshly painted.

Many of the older books in the seminar room were given away, and the department invested in standard editions of prominent authors and philosophers. A gift by former Professor Kai Hammermeister helped improve the collection, which now affords students easy access to standard works of the most celebrated names in German literature and intellectual history. Yiddish retained its library section, and we are planning for an addition of essential sources for Scandinavian.

For the wall decorations the committee selected representations of language as the focus, and the posters, depicting interesting samples of manuscripts and writing, were recently framed and hung.

The committee succeeded in achieving its goal: GLL now has the most modern, most comfortable, and most attractive seminar room in Hagerty Hall!