Email is the best form of communication.
Follow-up discussions during office hours or by appointment. Students are advised to contact me early about a project. After December 1, I will be less likely to sponsor a project with somebody who has not worked with me. Age of Goethe, High Middle Ages, Realism, Naturalism, Expressionism, Exile, GDR, etc. Such topics are often studied during a four-week visit to Germany or Austria in January or the summer.