My research combining social, economic, and business history bridges specializations, subjects, regions, and theories, and includes work on the history of globalization; religion and modern capitalism; the history of Germany, North America, and Russia/the Soviet Union; and institutional theory. This research is focused on how actors and institutions interact to shape historical change, and combines study of the social, political, economic, and cultural influences on capitalism and society. These themes have been a consistent yet evolving research interest since the start of my career, and are reflected in my publications on the transnational history of Siemens, German-Soviet economic relations during the Weimar Republic, Anabaptist (Mennonite/Amish/Hutterite) religion and socio-economic development in North America, moral economy and—most recently—on German-Soviet/Russian energy relations at the end of the Cold War. My contributions to the field, the academy, and the public include service on cross-disciplinary university committees and working groups, and by communication across media outlets, including periodicals, TV, and radio.
Areas of Interest
Social, Economic and Business History; Moral Economy; History of Globalization and Transnational Relations; Religion and Modern Capitalism; Energy History; Germany, North America, Russia/the Soviet Union; Institutional Theory
Academic Appointments and Related Professional Experience
Full Professor of History of Modern Societies, Bielefeld University (current)
Postdoctoral researcher (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, equivalent to Assistant Professor), Humboldt University of Berlin, 2012-2014
Project coordinator, feasibility study on the corporate history of OSRAM, 2013–2014
Book Author, Maria Foundation and Werner Siemens-Foundation, 2010–2012
Lecturer, Heidelberg University, 2011
Education
Habilitation, History, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2022
Ph.D., summa cum laude, History, University of Konstanz, 2009
M.A., History and Political Science, University of Konstanz, 2004
Berlin Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education, 2015
Fellowships and Awards
Bielefeld University, Teaching Grant for Course Development, 2024.
Humboldt University of Berlin, Bologna.lab funding for digital teaching methods, 2017
Humboldt University of Berlin, Freiräume-Grant, 2017
Feodor Lynen Postdoctoral Fellowship (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation), University of California, Los Angeles, 2015–2016
Nominated for the Humboldt University of Berlin Teaching Prize, 2015
Postdoctoral Fellowship, German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., 2011–2012
Dissertation Prize, Konstanz County, 2012
Doctoral Scholarship, German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes), 2006–2009
Visiting Scholarship, Columbia University, New York, 2006–2007
Visiting Scholarship, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, 2005–2006