\u201cIt does not matter whether we see the victory of our work or even its acknowledgment \u2013 as long as our work stays devoted to truth and justice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Forty years later, those lines were used by a young student scholar as the epigraph of his 1978 Bates Honors Thesis, \u201cThe Emergence and Overcoming of Egoism in the Works of \u00d6d\u00f6n von Horv\u00e1th.\u201d<\/p>\n
That young student-scholar earned Highest Honors for the thesis, and would, over the next four decades, author 10 scholarly reviews, 5 reference entries, translate 7 short stories and 4 books, contribute chapters to 5 more scholarly editions, write 9 peer-reviewed articles, edit 3 books, and for three assiduous years serve as the editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Modern Austrian Literature<\/em>. That student was our colleague and friend, Craig Decker.<\/p>\n Prof. Decker in Vienna. Photo: Jim Richter.<\/p><\/div>\n At Bates, Craig studied German and Spanish, read widely, enjoyed informal political discussions, and played kazoo in the Bates marching band. He traveled on a Bates sponsored short term program to Cuernavaca, Mexico, spent a summer at the Goethe Institute in Murnau and spent his junior year in Munich. After graduating summa cum laude with highest honors in German, and receiving the Rodney F. Johonnot and Gilbert-Townsend Graduate Fellowships, Craig headed west to the University of California, Irvine to continue his studies. There, he earned his Ph.D. in German Literature in 1986 with a dissertation on the Austrian popular drama, the Volksst\u00fcck.<\/p>\n As an ABD, Craig taught one year at Oregon State University, before returning to Bates in 1984 with his wife Susanne Fetherolf, Bates class of \u201977. In the process of completing his Ph.D. and earning tenure in 1992, he and Susanne also welcomed into the family their two children, Andrew and Grace, whose wellbeing became one of the focal points of his life.<\/p>\n In his 34 years at Bates, Craig received 16 grants and awards, including a Phillips Faculty Fellowship in 2012, and served many terms in various department and program chair positions. He taught German courses at all levels and designed and taught on topics ranging from the history and theory of popular drama to courses on living with the Nazi legacy and Austrian fascism.<\/p>\n Prof. Decker with his Fall Semester Abroad students on the trip to Erfurt on October 12, 1992. Photo: Craig Decker’s archive.<\/p><\/div>\n As an undergraduate and later as a graduate student, Craig developed an appreciation for study abroad. This passion continued after his return to Bates, where he organized and directed numerous short term and fall semester programs to Austria and Germany. His Fall Semester Abroad programs to Vienna set standards for integrating language, literature, culture, history, and politics. Those trips offered students memorable experiences including face-to-face meetings with contemporary literary figures, trips to Vienna\u2019s cultural landmarks, and a rare visit to proceedings at the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia-Hercegovina.<\/p>\n He served many years on the Off-Campus Study Committee, but his commitment to study abroad was part of a much broader, career-long educational philosophy. Whether it involved bringing Maine high school students to Bates for an annual German day, or his 30 years of service to the Junior Year in Munich Program, Craig encouraged contact with German-speaking communities near and far, and was himself a passionate traveler and conversationalist who loved reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and could pass hours in discussions on art, literature, politics, and sports. The relevance of such contact is realized throughout Craig\u2019s scholarship: from a chapter on teaching advanced German and Austrian Culture in the AP German Language Teacher\u2019s Guide<\/em> to research on contemporary Austrian writers. A decades-long working relationship with Viennese novelist Peter Henisch resulted in numerous scholarly papers and translations of Henisch\u2019s Stone\u2019s Paranoia<\/em> and A Very Little Woman<\/em>, the latter a novel in which Craig himself appears as a minor character. As part of his Phillips Fellowship, Craig prepared meticulously for a translation of award-winning, Russian-born author Vladimir Vertlib\u2019s novel Way Stations<\/em> by retracing the author\u2019s European migrations from St Petersburg, Russia to Vienna. At the time of his death, Craig was translating Austrian writer, Robert Menasse\u2019s The Capital<\/em>, winner of the 2017 German Book Prize.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/files\/2019\/01\/Richter-P8260011.jpg\")
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