At the College of Arts & Science commencement ceremony on December 14th, 2024, German and Anthropology major Benjamin Mahurin served as one of three student marshals. Earlier that month, Benjamin earned departmental honors in German by defending his undergraduate thesis, "The Sausage Has Two Ends: Minority Reports on the German Wiedervereinigung." A comparative study of two significant, but ill-remembered films from either side of the collapsing Berlin Wall, this thesis argued that the critical artistic response to the 1990 German Re-unification resorted much more to metaphors of dismemberment and violence than of reunion and celebration. Having completed his undergraduate work at MU, Benjamin now looks to pursue opportunities for study and teaching abroad, en route to a potential graduate career at the intersection of German Studies and Anthropology. 

Congratulations, Benjamin!