Uma Kumar moved to Vancouver from India in 2003 and has been teaching with CENES since 2007. She holds a PhD in German Studies, a Master’s in German Studies and a Master’s in English Literature from the University of Bombay, India. Uma spent six years at the University of Vienna, doing research on Austrian literature.

Uma has near-native proficiency in German. Her goal as a German instructor is to inspire students to learn German and expose them to the culture and literature of the German-speaking countries.

Uma also teaches GERM 426-001 a  course on Literary Representations of the Holocaust. She is passionate about teaching about the Holocaust because she wants her students to understand that the devaluation of people with perceived differences in beliefs prompted one of humanity’s worst genocides. Our strength in a global world lies in embracing our diversity.