Paul Youngman ’87 Serves as a Panelist for the Austrian Cultural Forum The associate provost and professor of German participated in a moderated discussion at the Austrian Embassy in early December.

By Brian Laubscher
December 12, 2024

Paul Youngman ’87, associate provost and professor of German at Washington and Lee University, recently served as a panelist in a moderated discussion for the Dec. 4 event, “Celebrating Literary Icons | Max Frisch & Ingeborg Bachmann,” held at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The event, sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Form, explored the lives, contributions and cultural impacts of Swiss author Max Frisch and Austrian poet and author Ingeborg Bachmann. Youngman served as an expert panelist on Frisch, while Peter Filkins, a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, was an expert on Bachmann. The two participated in a moderated discussion which included a screening of the film “Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert.” The film captures the passionate romance between Bachmann and Frisch and provides an intimate cinematic glimpse into the world and themes that both authors explored in their works.

Youngman was selected to participate after having authored a paper on Frisch. He also wrote a chapter on Frisch in an edited volume titled “The Max Frisch Companion Reader.”

“It was a pleasant surprise to be invited because, as a long-time administrator at this point, I’ve been out of the research game for a while now,” said Youngman. “Provost [Lena] Hill encouraged me to participate, and I am so glad that I agreed. It was a gratifying experience and has served to re-energize some of my research interests.”

Youngman has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2012 and has served as associate provost since 2018. He earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from W&L and holds a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in German literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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