Summer 2005 - Hood College

Summer 2005
Hood Magazine 17
Scott Pincikowski
By Randy Gray
Scott Pincikowski is a man on a mission.
Influential in getting the German
major reinstated at Hood recently, he
wants his students to speak the language
fluently, become culturally literate and
travel abroad.
Pincikowski is one of 30 faculty members
who arrived after the millennium,
and he shares a faculty-wide passion for
Hood’s character, mission and liberal arts
curriculum. “Scott has brought an energy
and depth to the German major that
makes the department competitive with
those at the best liberal arts colleges,”
said Roser Caminals-Heath, chair of the
department of foreign languages and
literatures.
“For an American in this era of globalization,
knowledge of a foreign language
is an invaluable and underestimated tool,”
said Pincikowski, an assistant professor of
German who has been teaching at Hood
since 2001.
He previously taught at Pennsylvania
State University and says he prefers
Hood’s environs, which are more conducive
to providing students with personal
and often one-on-one attention.
“Smaller classes allow for greater innovation
in the classroom.”
The Wisconsin native, who earned a
doctorate in German language and literature
at Penn State in 2000, says all students
majoring in foreign languages at
Hood are strongly encouraged to participate
in the College’s study abroad program.
He has developed a one-credit
course offered every other year, which
includes a two-week trip to Berlin and
Munich. Students enrolled in the course
do extensive research and are immersed in
the culture and history of the two cities.
One of Pincikowski’s students,
Annabelle Peake, a junior from Frederick,
is currently studying in Freiberg,
Germany. “He has helped me tremendously
in the study abroad program and
has continued to keep in contact to make
sure I’m doing well,” she said. Peake also
says Pincikowski is passionate about his
profession. “You can tell he enjoys teaching
and continuing to learn from students
through teaching.”
Pincikowski says faculty research is
very important to Hood students and the
Scott has brought an energy and depth to the German
major that puts the department on a par with those
at the best liberal arts colleges.
Scott Pincikowski
Roser Caminals-Heath, chair of the department of foreign languages and literatures
greater college community. “An active
research agenda ensures that the professor
keeps abreast of the current discourse concerning
a particular topic, which makes
the professor a more effective and knowledgeable
teacher,” he said. Pincikowski, a
specialist in medieval German literature, is
writing a book that explores the various
functions of architecture in courtly literature.
He has been invited to Nürnberg,
Germany, and Bozen, Italy, this fall to talk
about his current research.
Pincikowski became interested in
German culture as a teenager when he
met two foreign exchange students who
were staying with a neighbor in his hometown.
In high school he went to Germany
for a month as part of a study abroad program.
“I found
00s
I had a passion and gift for
the language,” he said. That passion is
what motivates him, a self-proclaimed
eternal student.
“Hood is a good learning environment
because of its faculty. My peers are on the
cutting edge of their subjects and it’s great
to be a part of it all.” ■