Rate My Professor Natasa Courtney

Natasa Masanovic-Courtney serves as Professor of German and Chair of the Department of Languages at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She obtained her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Purdue University in 2002, M.A. in English Language and Literature from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul in 1995, and B.A. in English Language and Literature from Boğaziçi University in 1992. Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, in a multicultural household speaking Turkish and Greek as mother tongues, she attended Österreichisches Sankt Georgs Kolleg, achieving fluency in German alongside her studies in ancient Greek. Early in her career, she worked as a research assistant for the Western Languages and Cultures Department at Boğaziçi University. During her doctoral studies at Purdue, she served as a teaching assistant for German. After completing her Ph.D., she held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of German at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. In 2003, she joined the University of Alaska Anchorage as German Program Coordinator, a role she continues to hold alongside German Tutor Coordinator and Faculty Advisor to German majors, minors, and the German Culture Club with its weekly conversation table “Kaffeeklatsch.” She has chaired the Department of Languages since 2011. Her teaching portfolio spans German language and literature from beginner to advanced levels, featuring specialized courses such as Franz Kafka, Modern Short Story, Hermann Hesse, German Drama, Turkish-German Literature, German Children's Literature, and Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales and Legends.

Dr. Masanovic-Courtney's research specializations in comparative literature center on East German Theatre, Ancient Greek Drama, and Shakespeare. Her key publications are the entries “Heiner Müller” and “The Hamletmachine” in The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama (Columbia University Press, 2007). She has garnered major awards and honors, including selection as one of Alaska's YWCA Women of Achievement in 2014 for leadership and community engagement; the 2014 Alaska Wolf Hollerbach Award for Outstanding University-Level Instruction in World Languages; the 2012 UAA Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity; the 2011 AATG Duden Award for Excellence in German Instruction; the 2008 UAA Faculty Exemplar Award; and the 2007 College of Arts and Sciences Award in Recognition for Excellence in Teaching. Her profound influence on the field is demonstrated through mentorship, having guided five students to Fulbright Scholarships, seven to Congress-Bundestag Scholarships, and others to U.S. Critical Language Scholarships to Turkey.