About

I'm in my second year as Instructor of German in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Weber State. Next to my course load (four classes each semester), I am organizing our German Club and advise students interested in the German minor. Drawing on my experiences in service positions during my Graduate Studies, I am also learning my way around departmental and University committees. At Weber State, my main focus is on sharing my excitement for the German language, culture, and the country's diversity with students. Whether I am teaching first- or second-year language or cultural classes (film, literature,...), I always emphasize personal applicability, transparency, and accessibility. [You can learn more about my teaching experience here] 

In May 2023, I defended my dissertation at the University of Oregon. My dissertation focused on the writings of German-Bosnian author Saša Stanišić and the role homodiegetic and heterodiegetic narratives play in his novels as methods of survival. In the project, I read texts by Stanišić alongside concepts such as postmigrancy and decoloniality. The approach of the decolonial couplet enabled me to introduce philosophy of African and Caribbean thinkers into the project. [You can learn more about my dissertation and my research here] During my doctoral studies, I completed the Translation Studies Specialization and the "New Media and Culture"-Certificate at the University of Oregon. 

Apart from my research and teaching, my scholarship as well as my contributions to the life and development of the department are characterized by curiosity and initiative: I served as the Graduate Student Representative of the Department of German and Scandiniavian for five years at the UofO, participating in faculty meetings and functioning as mediator and link between the graduate cohort and the faculty. I also organized the department's first Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference in almost a decade, bringing together sixteen scholars from seven universities and nine different disciplines. [You can see recordings of the conference panels here] In my first year at Weber State University, I took over the organization of the German Club. During Black History Month, I organized a screening of the documentary Audre Lorde - The Berlin Years. I also created eight posters portraying an important Afro-German of past and present (politicians, activists, poets, athletes, musicians), each with a QR code linking to a brief overview website I created for each person. These posters hang in Elizabeth Hall throughout the whole month. 

Prior to my doctoral studies in 2017, I did my Bachelors in Scandinavian Studies and English at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen in Southwest Germany. During that time, I worked as a freelance journalist for a local newspaper ("Gäubote"), covering local politics, events, and people. Before my Bachelors, I gathered experience in the field of journalism through freelance work and internships. I believe that my work and experiences in journalism inform my scholarship, both in how I approach my research and the people I come in contact with. 

I was born and raised in a small village in Southwest Germany, about eight miles west of the city of Stuttgart. Currently, I live in North Salt Lake, Utah with my wife, our 3-year old son, and our little pup. Aside from my academic pursuits, I enjoy cooking, American football, soccer (or Fußball as it is called in Germany), and reading.