Interdisciplinary View Explores Berlin Wall
As a double major in English and German, Izzy Alexander’s college experience has been truly interdisciplinary. Due to her interest in communicative practices, Alexander’s English concentration is on rhetoric, writing, and linguistics; she added German when she discovered that she would be taking enough classes to earn a major, considering it an opportunity to contrast with her English major and linguistics minor. Ever since, the subjects have overlapped in her studies.
Alexander’s experiences studying abroad in Berlin in January 2024 and taking Associate Professor Lisa King’s Cultural Rhetorics course both influenced her thesis on the Berlin Wall as a rhetorical device. Though Alexander has always been fascinated with the ways humans communicate with each other and studying rhetoric has only deepened that interest in Cultural Rhetorics, she said she finally understood its true importance.
“I love asking the theoretical questions like, ‘Why did this work? Why was communication used in this way … what makes it effective?’ When I was doing that Cultural Rhetorics project on the Berlin Wall, I found myself asking the same questions,” Alexander said.
For her final project in Cultural Rhetorics, she had to narrow the scope of her research to concentrate specifically on the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 as a rhetorical device, but once she visited Berlin, Alexander felt encouraged to keep going with her research.
“I’m really thrilled to keep digging into it. I only got around to the 1960s parts of research, so there’s two whole decades left to expand on, and the destruction of the wall itself was a huge rhetorical event,” she said. “I’m super excited to get to look into how [the wall] factored into one of the biggest geopolitical conflicts of the latter half of the 20th century.”
Outside of class, Alexander is involved in the German Club, serves as the secretary of Sigma Tau Delta, and is involved in the Chancellor’s Honors Program and Leadership Knoxville Scholars. For the latter, she is partnered with the Knoxville Friends for Literacy, a nonprofit that works to increase youth literacy, helping to deliver donations of books and writing blog posts.
In addition to her studies, Alexander is president of UT’s women’s rugby club and captain of the team. She also plays rugby locally with the Knoxville Minx.
“It’s been cool to practice with them and engage with the local community that is not a part of the university,” she said. “It deepened my ties to Knoxville a lot, and that’s what got me to fall in love with this city and made me realize it was possible to stay … and look to go to grad school here.”
The university named Alexander a 2025 Torchbearer, its highest student honor, recognizing her academic excellence and commitment to service and leadership.
Alexander is now applying to UT’s English master’s program; she loves the department and is excited for the opportunity to work more closely with professors, teach English 101, and continue her research.