Keywords: Ecocriticism - Climate Activism - Pedagogy
Affiliation: Lecturer in German at Carleton College
I am a German studies scholar working on various topics related to the environmental humanities. In particular, I focus on ecocriticism and representations of the nonhuman in literature and media. My doctoral research examined the deep past and how nonhuman stories of geology are narrated and depicted in literary texts. I am interested in a range of topics within the environmental humanities, especially material ecocriticism, figures of the nonhuman, mushrooms, animals, and narratives of disaster. Currently, I’m working on projects related to the energy transition, Germany’s nuclear phase-out, climate activism, and climate change’s increasing disruption of daily life. My approach to these topics is shaped by concerns about social and environmental justice. As a dedicated instructor, I am also very interested in teaching about environmental topics at all levels. I was part of the team that created the online resource hub Environment and Engagement in German Studies and I have published on my pedagogical approach of critical environmental thinking. Together with Sabine von Mering, Dan Nolan, and Seth Peabody, I lead the virtual research collective Engaged Digital German Environmental Studies (EDGES), which organizes online research symposia on environmental topics in and around German Studies. We are currently editing a special issue on climate action and climate activism in German-speaking countries.