Senior Instructor I of German, Oregon State University, 2024-present
Instructor of German, Oregon State University, 2016-present
Advisor for the International Degree, Oregon State University, 2019-2020
Associate Professor of German, University of Rochester, 2015-2019
Assistant Professor of German, University of Rochester, 2007-14
Ph.D. Germanic Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, August 2006
M.A. German Literature, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 1999
B.A. English and German, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, June 1996
2024 “‘Critical Truths’: Documenting Disillusionment in the Films of Helke Misselwitz, Petra Tschörtner and Angelika Andrees.”
Documenting Socialism: East German Documentary Film. Eds. Seán Allan & Sebastian Heiduschke. Oxford: Berghahn.
2022 How to Make the Body: Difference, Identity, and Embodiment. Visual Cultures and German Contexts. Co-edited with
Thomas O. Haakenson. New York: Bloomsbury.
2022 “For the Porn Connoisseur: Cinema Joy.” How to Make the Body, pp. 119-137.
2018 “Gendered Spectacle: The Liberated Gaze in Der Strass.” Co-authored with Sebastian Heiduschke.
Gender and Sexuality in East German Film: Intimacy and Alienation. Eds. Kyle Frackman and Faye Stewart. Rochester:
Camden House, pp. 249-268. (invited)
2016 Mothers, Comrades, & Outcasts in East German Women’s Film. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
2015 Spectacle. German Visual Culture. Vol. 2. Co-edited with Thomas O. Haakenson. Oxford: Peter Lang.
2015 “Gudrun is Not a Fighting Fuck Toy: Femininity, Terrorism and Spectacle in The Baader-Meinhof Complex and The
Raspberry Reich.” Spectacle. German Visual Culture, 187-216. (invited)
2012 “Narrating Women's History in Winter adé.” DVD essay. October. DEFA Film Library, University of Massachusetts-Amherst:
1-9. (invited)
2009 “A Few Good Men: Gender, Ideology and Narrative Politics in The Lives of Others and Goodbye, Lenin!” Women in
German Yearbook 25: 100-126.
2007 “Image, Voice and Truth: Narrating Women’s History in Helke Misselwitz’s Winter adé.” Seminar 43.4:411-426.
1998 “Christianopolis: A Woman’s Dystopia?” Focus on Literatur 5: 73-83.
Would-Be Heroes. (documentary film in post-production, co-produced with Sebastian Heiduschke)
‘F*ck me for the Revolution!’: The Political Pornography of Bruce LaBruce. (article in progress)
2025 “Designing an Advanced DEI Course for German Majors.” Coalition of Feminists in German Studies Annual Conference,
University of Massachusetts – Amherst, November.
2023 “Teaching Social Justice in the Language Classroom.” Coalition of Women in German Annual Conference, Portland State
University, November.
2023 “Maximizing the ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Learning With UDL.” Ecampus Faculty Forum, Oregon State University, May.
2017 “Transparent and the Affective Politics of Being a Feminist Killjoy.” Seminar: Feminist Scholar-Activism and the Politics of
Affect. German Studies Association Conference, Atlanta, October.
2017 “Would-Be Heroes: The DDR-Kinder of Namibia.” Coalition of Women in German Conference, University of Calgary/Banff,
October.
2015 “Sex Work: Aesthetics and Politics.” Seminar: New Feminist and Queer Approaches to German Studies. German Studies
Association Conference, Washington DC, October.
2015 “Sex and/as Work.” Coalition of Women in German Conference, University of Calgary/Banff, October.
2014 “Paradise Lost: Family, Alienation and Affect in Ulrich Seidl’s Paradies Trilogy.” German Studies Association Conference,
Kansas City.
2012 “Protest - Widerstand - Absage: Femininity and Terrorism in The Baader-Meinhof Complex.” German Studies Association
Conference, Milwaukee, October.
2012 “The Divided Subject: Helke Sander's All-Round Reduced Personality (ReDuPers).” Northeast Modern Language
Association, Rochester, March.
2010 “Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder geschehen": Reassessing DEFA Frauenfilme in a Post-Socialist Culture.” German
Studies Association Conference, Oakland, October.
2009 “‘Documenting’ Women’s History: Helke Misselwitz’s Winter adé.” Images of Memory in East German Documentary Films.
German Studies Association Conference, Washington D.C., October.
2009 “Kino-Eye: Observing Bodies in Ulrich Seidl’s Import Export.” Northeast Modern Language Association, Boston, February.
2008 “Good Bye, Lenin; Hello WTO: Post-Socialist Identity in Hans-Christian Schmid’s Lichter.” Cinema and Social Change in
Germany, University of Waterloo, May.
2008 “Good Stasi/Bad Stasi? Wiedergutmachung and Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Das Leben der Anderen.” Northeast
Modern Language Association, Buffalo, April.
2005 “Lots Weib. East German Film and the Limits of the Law.” German Studies Association Conference, Milwaukee,
September.
2003 “Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet: East German Romantic Drama and the Politics of Everyday Life.” German Studies
Association Conference, New Orleans, September.
2000 “East German Women Before and After the Wende: Definitions of Equality Embedded in Paid and Unpaid Labor.” East
Germany Revisited: Research Perspectives Ten Years After, Berlin, University Utrecht, Freie Universität-Berlin, Stiftung zur
Aufarbeitung der SED Diktatur, October.
2000 “Masochism Shaped by Gender: An Analysis of Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Klavierspielerin.” 20th-Century Literature
Conference, University of Louisville, February.
2020 “Feminism & Pornography.” California College of the Arts, May.
2016 “Socialist Feminism: Luxemburg and Kollontai.” Converse College, March
2014 “Marxism and Feminism.” Converse College, April.
2014 “Reproduction as Resistance: Motherhood in the East German Cinema.” Global Film Symposium, Rochester Institute of
Technology, April.
2012 “All My Girls.” Introductory Lecture, University of Scranton, November.
2012 “Film and Psychoanalysis.” Introductory Lecture, Converse College, March.
2008 “The Most Important Art? Lenin and Post-Wende German Film.” Got Art? Intersections of Art and Politics in German
Culture, DAAD Weekend, Cornell University, September.
2006 “Rebels with a Cause: An Introduction to East German Film.” Minnesota Humanities Commission Teacher Institute
Seminar, Saint Paul, April.
2006 “Imagining East Germany: Post-Wende Representations of the GDR.” Minnesota Humanities Commission Teacher
Institute Seminar, Saint Paul, April.
2004 “Christa Wolf’s Der geteilte Himmel.” Guest Lecture, German Short Prose (German 257), Gustavus Adolfus College, St.
Peter, Minnesota, December.
2024 Participant, “Research Insights: How Students use AI in Learning,” Ecampus Faculty Forum, Oregon State University, May.
2024 Participant, “Web Tools for Interactive Learning Experiences,” Ecampus Faculty Forum, Oregon State University, May.
2023 Participant, Course Adaptation and Design Institute, Core Education, Oregon State University, September.
2023 Examiner Certification, Goethe-Prüfung (Level B2), March.
2022 Participant, “Structuring Inclusive Discussions,” Coalition of Women in German Conference, Portland State University,
November.
2022 Participant, “Sprechen, Sprachanlässe, Sprachspiele,” Klett Online Seminar, July.
2022 Participant, “Effective online group work is not a fantasy world,” Ecampus Faculty Forum, Oregon State University, May.
2022 Participant, “Practical tips to foster lively, creative discussions,” Ecampus Faculty Forum, Oregon State University, May.
2022 Sparkshop: Engaging Students in Successful Cooperative Learning Experiences, OSU Center for Teaching and Learning,
January.
2021 Redeveloping an Online Course (Ecampus), Oregon State University, fall.
2020 Examiner Certification, Goethe-Prüfung (Level A2), March.
2017 Developing an Online Course (E-Campus), Oregon State University, spring.
2016 Participant, Grant Writing in the Humanities, University of Rochester, May.
2015 DEFA Summer Film Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, July.
Oregon State University, 2016-present
GER 111, 112, 113 First-Year German (fall, winter, spring 2016)
GER 211, 212, 213 Second-Year German (annually since fall 2017), redeveloped 2021-22
GER 311, 312 Third-Year German (annually since fall 2021) redeveloped 2022
GER 341 Survey of German Literature: 18th-19th Century (fall 2016)
GER 342 Survey of German Literature: late 19th- to early 20th Century (winter 2017)
GER 343 Survey of German Literature: early to late 20th Century (fall 2018)
GER 349 Selected Topics: “Eine Kultur der Schrift” (spring 2021)
GER 361 Critical Issues: New German Cinema, 1962-1982 (spring 2020)
GER 362 Divided Screen: German Cinema, 1945-1990 (spring 2019)
GER 363 Contemporary German Cinema, 1989-present (spring 2018)
GER 412 Fourth-Year German (annually since winter 2022), redeveloped 2022
GER 413 Fourth-Year German (spring 2021), redeveloped 2020
GER 430 Discourses of “Otherness”, developed 2024 (DPO-Advanced, Core Ed)
WLC 231 German Dictatorships: Nazis and Communists, redeveloped 2023 (Humanities General, Core Ed)
Berlin: Tales of a City
Cinema and Revolution: The West German Avant-garde
Feminism and Porn
Films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Gender and Sexuality in the 20th Century
Germany Year Zero: Post-War German Literature, 1945-89.
Hollywood Behind the Wall: An Introduction to East German Cinema
Introduction to the Art of Cinema.
Introduction to German Cultural Studies
Introduction to German Literature
Marx & Marxism
Men of Marble, Women of Steel: Introduction to East European Cinema.
Mothers, Comrades & Whores: Women in Post-War German Cinema
New Austrian Cinema
Survey of German Literature
Women’s Studies Colloquium
Oregon State University
2019-2020 Advisor for the International Degree
During my tenure as Advisor for the International Degree, I worked closely with Dr. Bradley Boovy to overhaul degree requirements prior to its relaunch in CLA. I was primarily responsible for assisting Dr. Boovy in designing learning outcomes and assessments for both the International Degree (ID) and the Global Learning Certificate (GLC), brainstorming a brand for both the ID and the GLC, and drafting the final degree proposal. Upon launch, I actively advised students interested in pursuing the ID and the GLC and helped maintain a database of students interested and already enrolled in the ID and GLC.
University of Rochester – Undergraduate Advising
2008-2018 Undergraduate Advisor for German
2013-2017 Undergraduate Advisor for Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies
2007-2015 Pre-Major Advisor
2017 Nico Tavella, Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies, B.A. (honors thesis)
2013 Hilary Wermers, English, B.A. (honors thesis)
2012 Elizabeth Sciavolino, Stage & Screen Culture, B.A. (honors thesis)
University of Rochester – Graduate Advising
2015-2018 Jonathan Strassfeld, History, Ph.D. (committee member)
2015-2018 Lyle Rubin, History, Ph.D. (committee member)
2013-2018 Alison Grenert, English, Ph.D. (committee member)
2018 Louisa Potthast, Comparative Literature, M.A.
2017 Julianne Heck, English, Ph.D. (committee member)
2017 Lina Zigelyte, Visual & Cultural Studies, Ph.D. (committee member)
2016 Daniel Stächelin, Literary Translation Studies, M.A.
2016 Erin Palombi, Literary Translation Studies, M.A.
2015 Olga Tchepikova, Comparative Literature, M.A.
2008 Melanie Zimmermann, Comparative Literature, M.A.
2007 Ellen Gormans, Comparative Literature, M.A.
2024-present Member, Germanists for Palestine Research Cooperative; Diversity, Decolonization, & the German Curriculum
2024 Member, Coalition for Women in German BDS Working Group
2024 Peer Reviewer, Berghahn Books
2022-2025 Steering Committee Member, Coalition of Women in German, November.
2016-present Peer Reviewer, Feminist German Studies.
2024 “Freude am Schreiben: Eine kurze Einführung in die Kurrentschrift.” Lecture at the Deutsche Sommerschule am
Pazifik, Portland State University, July.
2023 “Künstliche Intelligenz und die Verwandlung der Menschlichkeit.” Lecture at the Deutsche Sommerschule am
Pazifik, Portland State University, July.
2019 “Solidarität: Baustein des Sozialismus.” Lecture at the Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, Lewis & Clark
College, July.
2018 “What's Love Got to Do with It? Love in the GDR.” Lecture at the Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, Lewis &
Clark College, July.
2016 Co-organizer with Bradley Boovy, Seminar: Materialism, Affect & Queer Relationality in German Studies, German
Studies Association Conference, San Diego, October.
2016 Peer Reviewer, Camden House.
Oregon State University, School of Language, Culture & Society
2023 SLCS Working Group – Baccalaureate Core/General Education
Oregon State University, World Languages & Cultures
2020 “Gender in the GDR: Women's Rights are Socialist Rights!” Beyond the Wall Roundtable, German Campus Week, Oregon
State University, November.
2017 “Women of the Alt-Right.” Introductory lecture, Oregon State International Film Festival/German Campus Week, Oregon
State University, November.
University of Rochester, College of Arts & Sciences
2015-2018 Curriculum Committee.
2016 Fulbright Committee.
2016 Panelist, post-screening discussion, On Film: Queer Longings, December.
2013-2015 Administrative Committee.
2014 Introductory remarks, “Breaking the Frame Festival” with Carolee Schneemann and Marielle Nitoslawska, November.
2010 “Mad Men and Alpha Wives: Feminism in ‘Post-Feminist’ Culture.” Keynote Address, Susan B. Anthony Institute
Undergraduate Conference, March.
2009 Panel chair, “Bodies & Selves,” Susan B. Anthony Institute Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference, April.
2008 “Women of Steel: Reading East German Women’s Films.” Research Rochester, October.
University of Rochester, Modern Languages & Cultures (MLC)
2017-2018 German Section Head.
2017-2018 Comparative Literature Committee.
2011-2018 Chair, Speakers Committee.
2016 Keynote address, MLC Commencement Ceremony, May.
2016 “What is Censorship?” Comparative Literature 101E, March.
2009-2015 Cologne Fellowship Coordinator (bi-annually).
2012 Keynote address, MLC Commencement Ceremony, May.
2011 Invited lecture, “Scenes from a Marriage: Gender, Voice & Romance in East German Film." Research in Progress
Series, March.
2011 Berlin Summer Abroad Program Coordinator.
2009-2011 Assessment Committee
2008-2010 Representative to Faculty Council.
2009 Chair, Undergraduate Conference, April.
2008 Berlin Summer Abroad Program Coordinator.
2008 Co-Organizer, Rainer Simon DEFA Filmmaker’s Tour, October.
2007-08 German Section Head.
2007-08 Study Abroad Committee.
University of Rochester, Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies
2015-2017 Chair, Curriculum Committee.
2016 Panel chair, Transparent Symposium, December.
2016 Panelist, post-screening discussion of Sworn Virgin, Women's History Month Film Series, The Little Theater, March.
2013 Panelist, post-screening discussion of The Last Clinic, Women's History Month Film Series, The Little Theater, March.
2013 Panelist, post-screening discussion of Forbidden Voices, Women's History Month Film Series, The Little Theater,
March.
2013 Panelist, post-screening discussion of The Motherhood Archives, Women's History Month Film Series, The Little
Theater, March.
2012 Panelist, post-screening discussion of Miss Representation, Women's History Month Film Series, The Little Theater,
March.
2011-2012 Co-Sponsorship Committee.
2011-2012 Speakers Committee.
2011 “Happily Ever After? The East German Marital Problem Film.” Focus on the Future Series, November.
2008 “A Few Good Men (and One Bad Woman): Reading Gender in Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others.” Research
Seminar, April.
2007 Panelist, “Women in the Workplace: The Balancing Act,” Women’s Caucus and Alpha Phi, University of Rochester,
January.
University of Rochester, Film & Media Studies (FMS)
2007-2018 FMS Executive Committee.
2015 Jury member, Gollin Film Festival, April.
2013 Co-organizer, Central New York Experimental Film Series (CNYX), University of Rochester and Syracuse University,
April.
2010 Jury member, Gollin Film Festival, April.
2008 Panelist, Polish Film Festival, Rochester, November.
2025 Organizer, “Censorship and Suppression: Solidarity with Palestine in Germany and German Studies.” Coalition of
Women in German, March.
2024 Organizer, Coalition of Women in German Support and Solidarity Series for Palestine.
2016-2018 Member, Women’s History Month Film Series committee, The Little Theater.
2016-2018 Co-Organizer with Sebastian Heiduschke, Oregon State International Film Festival, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis.
2016 Co-Organizer with Sebastian Heiduschke, dasfilmfest, The Little Theater, Rochester, October.
2014 Panelist, “Motherhood in Film,” Ideas Matter – WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, May.
2012 Guest speaker, discussion of film Miss Representation, 1370 Connection, WXXI radio, March.
Coalition of Feminists in German Studies (formerly Women in German)
Oregon State University awards of recognition
2021 Nominee, Ecampus Excellence in Online Teaching and Student Engagement Award.
2020 Nominee, Ecampus Excellence in Online Teaching and Student Engagement Award.
University of Rochester awards of recognition
2015 Nominee, Professor of the Year, Students’ Association Government.
Field-Specific Awards
2010 Best Article Prize for “A Few Good Men: Gender, Ideology and Narrative Politics in The Lives of Others and Good Bye,
Lenin!”, Coalition of Women in German.
Competitive Awards/Grants/Fellowships/Scholarships
2003 Humanities Institute Fellowship, University of Minnesota.
2002 DAAD Fellowship, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
1996 Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, Geschwister-Scholl Gesamtschule, Göttingen, Germany.