Erika Hille Rinker Wins Award From the American Association of Teachers of German

Erika Hille Rinker, an associate professor of German at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was awarded the distinguished 2020 Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award by the American Association of Teachers of German.

The Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award recognizes outstanding teachers of German in the United States who were not born and raised in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland. The award is presented annually to one K-12 and one college/university AATG member who strengthens intercultural understanding. The award includes a stipend for travel to Berlin to participate in the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Enrichment Educational Program.

Dr. Rinker’s research and teaching interests include twentieth-century German and Austrian literature and culture, literature and medicine, translation theory and practice, travel writing, and women’s writing.

A graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Dr. Rinker holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Germanic languages and literatures from Washington University in St. Louis.