Vermont EPSCoR hosted Sabine Gölz, PhD, Professor Emerita of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa, as part of the SOCKS Speaker Series on April 16, 2026. Dr. Gölz's presentation, "Kafka's Twisted Topologies of Reading," delved into the use of language by famed writer Franz Kafka and how the interactions of the text can further scientific research. Approximately 40 members of the SOCKS team and the Vermont Complex Systems Institute attended the presentation either in person or online.
 
Dr. Gölz taught German and Comparative Literation at the University of Iowa's Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures before her retirement in 2023. She has delved into Kafka's writings extensively during her career, authoring The Split Scene of Reading: Nietzche/Derrida/Kafka/Bachmann. Her presentation to the SOCKS team examined a passages by Kafka in both the original German and an English translation, following by an exploration of the implications of the text and how systems of language work together.
 
"The question I hope to discuss is how those notation systems, together with our habitual ways of in interacting with them, delimit what we can, and therefore what we cannot, think," said Gölz in the abstract for her presentation.
 
The SOCKS Speaker Series brings nationally-recognized experts to Vermont to present their work to researchers and interact with students and colleagues. For details about upcoming speakers and other SOCKS events, click here.