News & Events - Academic Year 2008-2009

Memorial Service
Members of the Tufts community and family and friends of Charles Nelson, Professor Emeritus of the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures and former Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, were invited to a Celebration of his Life at Goddard Chapel on Wednesday, December 10th at 4:00 p.m. A reception in the Coolidge Room at Ballou Hall followed.

Beloved colleague and friend, Charlie Nelson, Emeritus Professor of German
Charles G. Nelson, born 9/28/1925 in Waterbury Connecticut, died on September 1st 2008 in Boston from complications due to a brain tumor. He was Professor Emeritus of the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures at Tufts University where he had taught German since 1966. He is survived by three sons, Charles, Thomas and Mark.

Professor Nelson graduated in 1943 from Crosby High School in Waterbury where he began the study of German. Not yet 18, he joined the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program and was posted to the University of Maine at Orono. He was scheduled to return to university studies, but after 16 weeks of basic training at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia he was assigned to the 87th Infantry Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and deployed to the European front. His unit arrived in the Ardennes forest in August of 1944, and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. Nelson used his knowledge of German for behind-the-lines reconnaissance and interrogation of incoming prisoners, and he was in one of the first boats to cross the Rhine. He was always proud that he pulled his firearm only once, to threaten a fellow soldier who was about to hit a prisoner under interrogation. Known then as "kid Nelson" to the Major who directed reconnaissance, he already had that sense of certainty about human rights, fairness, and the power of kindness that remained hallmarks of his decisions and actions throughout his life.

Nelson remained with the occupation forces after the war ended in April of 1945, by which time his division had penetrated deep into a region that later became part of East Germany. Asked to find entertainment for the troops, he found a fully operational brewery and bought its total production for an entire month, paying for it with Wehrmacht military money he had discovered in a convoy destroyed in the last days of the fighting. More surprising, he encountered a complete one-ring circus, with clowns and jungle animals and had enough Marks left over to rent it. On a recent visit to an inn that he had commandeered to billet officers, the son of the couple he had asked to leave commented that the American troops had a reputation in his family for civility.

On his honorable discharge in the States, Nelson completed his education with the GI Bill, earning a BA and MA at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, and in 1968 a doctorate in German language and literature at the University of Michigan. His graduate studies had begun by studying medieval German in Innsbruck and later in Munich. During ten years in Europe he also taught in US government educational programs. With his wife and three sons, he returned briefly to Michigan before accepting a faculty position at Tufts University.

Among numerous administrative responsibilities at Tufts, always shouldered with a full-time teaching load, he was acting chair of two departments, and from 1973-78 served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As graduate dean he had overview of the Dental and Medical Schools, and the School of Engineering. He also conducted a thorough outside review of all the doctoral programs, and even helped to revise the Master of Fine Arts program. In addition to teaching general courses in subjects such as German short fiction, Nelson devised several innovative courses, such as the Grimms' fairy tale that became his signature, and multi-disciplinary courses in medieval history and culture team-taught with several colleagues. In recent years all his courses have received credit in Women's and Gender Studies as well as German. After his retirement in 1999 he continued to teach throughout the year, attracting students at all levels. His summer course in German for reading knowledge helped countless students enter doctoral programs, notably in art history.

Nelson's lively interest in critical theory, especially in modern and post modern interpretations of class and gender difference, informed all his teaching and writing. Nelson introduced a course in critical theory into his department at Tufts, and earned a reputation among fellow medievalists here and in Germany for giving papers that were informed by theory. He studied the writings of Marx and Freud, and mastered several branches of language theory, especially the analysis of performatives that is frequently used now. Many of his recent published articles also grew from his teaching, especially the classes in Women's Studies that he team-taught with Madeline Caviness, an art historian. Such frameworks are developed in his articles on the woman writer Hotsvit of Gandersheim, on the representation of women in the Nibelungenleid, and in the manuscripts of the medieval German law book known as the Sachsenspiegel. During his last months he continued to lead as normal and productive a life as he could, teaching in the spring semester after surgery and making the final corrections in two articles that went to press the week before he died. Completion of the final draft of a book, with his long-time colleague Caviness, was interrupted by his failing health.

Nelson also involved himself in praxis. Long-time active participant in anti-war movements, supporter of fair treatment for workers, women, and war veterans, it is appropriate that he died on Labor Day. No obituary can fully take into account the people Professor Nelson affected, the lives he changed, the careers he helped, the friendships he made, inside and outside Academe. His delight in his surroundings, in reading and talking, and in friendships, was renowned. Even under personal duress he always had a twinkle in his eye, a ready smile, and time to listen. As a veteran of the Great War, he was a bridge to a different past.

A public gathering will be held later in the semester to celebrate the life of Professor Charles G. Nelson, fondly remembered as Charlie by colleagues in the Department and across campus. An announcement will be sent out to the Tufts community by the Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures.