Cynthia D. Porter (she/her) holds a joint degree in German and Comparative Media Analysis and Practice. The disciplines in which her work engages include Body Studies, Comparative Media Studies, German Studies, and Film Studies. Cynthia’s work focuses on the body-mind connection in relation to body modification and depictions of German history and heritage in popular American media.

Her work also examines the intersections of Black Diaspora Studies and German Studies, with a focus on how bodies are interpreted, valued, and imbued with meaning across cultural contexts. Cynthia currently serves as co-chair of the Black Diaspora Studies Interdisciplinary Network within the German Studies Association and supports the German Studies Area Chair for the Northeastern Modern Languages Association (NeMLA), contributing to the organization and facilitation of scholarly discourse in the field.

Her book manuscript, titled Tattoos in 20th Century German Culture: A Media History, examines tattoos found in cultural objects produced in the wake of great cultural rupture and transition in German history. She views tattooing as a practice with socially defined transformative power related to body politics. Her book explores themes of belonging, sexuality, fantasy, eugenics, and identity curation, folding them into an analysis of the body as a surface used to determine meaning- and value assignment. From June–December 2025, Cynthia will be on a research leave as a Career Enhancement Fellow, funded by the Mellon Foundation, making continued strides toward completion of her manuscript.

Cynthia's recent academic-facing, peer-reviewed publications include a conversation on the significance of cross-racial collaboration in academic pursuits with Amy Lynne Hill, titled “The Necessary Vulnerability of Cross-Racial Collaboration: A Conversation,“ published in Feminist German Studies. Other publications credited to Cynthia include “Genetics in the X-Men Film Franchise: Mutants as Allegories of Difference,” in the journal Frontiers in Genetics, a solo article “Germans and Genes on Screen: Marvel’s X-Men Films,” and an edited volume chapter entitled ”The Promise of Agency: Photographs and Value in Tattoo (2002)“ in Moving Frames: Photographs in German Media. Her inaugural article was published in 2020, entitled “Lang’s Fury Continues to Resonate in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement.” Current research projects include autoethnographic explorations, investigations into the complex intersections and anxieties surrounding the physical body and generative artificial intelligence (AI), and critical analyses of the #Tradwife trend.

On the front of public scholarship, Cynthia provided introductory remarks to a public screening of Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) at Filmhaus Nürnberg while visiting the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. She also had a cameo on the ARD series PlusMinus.

In addition to her research, Cynthia is increasingly engaged in fostering cross-cultural literary dialogue, particularly through her work with contemporary authors based in Germany whose writings are being translated into English for American audiences. Notably, she participated in a conversation with author Sharon Dodua Otoo in celebration of the American English translation of Ada’s Room (2023), further deepening her commitment to transnational literary exchange. Further, with fellow German scholar Dr. Anjeana Hans, Cynthia recently engaged in a conversation with German author Thomas Blubacher, who had his translated book Weimar Under the Palms: Pacific Palisades, German Exiles, and the Invention of Hollywood published by Brandeis University Press in fall 2025.

When it comes to her teaching, some of Cynthia's favorite course offerings include “Afro-German History & Culture,” “Body Modification in German History,” and “Women in German Media.” In addition to her advanced German courses, she greatly enjoys teaching introductory courses to the German language.

Cynthia’s “why” for pursuing a career in Academia:

I decided to pursue a career in Academia because I’m drawn to the manifold ways German and U.S. American histories have long been intertwined, revealing complex and ever-shifting points of cultural exchange. Exploring these oscillating intersections allows me to better understand how ideas, values, and identities travel and transform across contexts. At the core of my motivation is collaboration: I believe knowledge is most meaningful when it is created together, through dialogue and shared inquiry that bridges perspectives and communities.

Teaching plays a central role in this collaborative vision. I deeply value the dual-directional nature of education fostered through seminar-style teaching, which empowers students to customize their learning paths while cultivating soft skills such as presenting and defending an argument, articulating one’s thoughts in a semi-professional setting, and investing in the growth of oneself and one’s peers.