About

I’m a sixth year-PhD Candidate in the Department of German and Scandinavian at the University of Oregon. I study late 20th and early 21st century German literature with focus on questions of migration, postmigrancy, borders, and coloniality as well as approaches to decolonize German studies. For my dissertation project, I'm particularly interested in examining the writings of German-Bosnian author Saša Stanišić and the role homodiegetic and heterodiegetic narratives play in his novels as methods of survival.

During my doctoral studies, I have completed the Translation Studies Specialization and the "New Media and Culture"-Certificate at the University of Oregon. Furthermore, I have been teaching German language classes on all three levels my department offers (100, 200, 300). In total, I've taught German culture and language classes to several hundred undergraduate and graduate students. [You can learn more about my teaching experience here]

Apart from my research focus, my scholarship as well as my contributions to the life and development of the department are characterized by curiosity and initiative: Since my start at the UofO, I've served as the Graduate student representative, 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]

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 Eugene, Oregon with my wife, our newborn 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.