Tara Hottman is a PhD candidate in the Department of German, with Designated Emphases in Film and Media and Critical Theory. She is currently completing her dissertation, titled "The Art of the Archive," which examines the use of archival and found footage in German essay films and media art. Her research has been supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Institute for European Studies at UC Berkeley, the Max Kade Foundation, the American Friends of DLA Marbach, and the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. In addition to teaching German language and Reading and Composition courses in the German department at Berkeley, Tara volunteers with the Prison University Project at San Quentin.

Publications

“The Language of the Archive: Alexander Kluge’s Film Histories.” Alexander Kluge-Jahrbuch 4 (2017): 209-28.

“Message in a Bottle: Alexander Kluge and Oskar Negt’s History and Obstinacy.” Book review. Qui Parle 23.2 (Spring/Summer 2015): 215-27.

Research Areas

modernism and modernity; Weimar cinema; the archive; contemporary German literature; New German cinema; the Frankfurt School; new media; the essay film; avant-garde cinema