“The Fantastic Dawn of Affinities: From Alterity to Affinity in Contemporary Fantasy.” Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Heinze, TU Braunschweig, Germany; JProf.’ Dr.’ Judith Rauscher, University of Cologne, Germany.
Research Areas
Ecocriticism and New Materialism
Gender and Queer Studies
Postcolonial Studies
Speculative Fiction
Adaptation and Film Studies
Other Academic Activities
WiSe 24/25
Organizing Team. GeStik Lecture Series "Affekte, Emotionen, Position." University of Cologne.
2024
Workshop Organization "Working in the Archives." Virtual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts. Invited Guests: Phoenix Alexander (University of California), Jeremy Brett (Texas A&M University) and Thomas Dillon (University of Liverpool).
with Melisa Köroğlu and Johanna Pitetti-Heil. "Early Career Researchers Issues XI" gender forum 24.1 (forthcoming).
with Kristin Aubel, Maria Fleischhack, Marion Gymnich and Carsten Kullmann. Dem Tode zum Trotz: Unsterblichkeit und Wiedergeburt in der Phantastik / Defying Death: Immortality and Rebirth in the Fantastic: Symposium 2023 in Magdeburg. Inklings-Jahrbuch für Literatur und Ästhetik / Inklings: Yearbook of Literature and Aesthetics 41. Göttingen: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, 2025.
Articles
"Reimagining Human-Nature Relations Through Asymmetrical Ecological (Inter)dependencies in N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Series." Ecological Inter/Dependencies: Strong Asymmetrical Relations and More-then-Human Worlds. Eds. Jennifer Leetsch and Zeynep Y. Gökce. DeGruyter, forthcoming.
"Depressed Immortals: Immortality and Ecocriticism in Brandon Sanderson's Elantris (2005)." Dem Tode zum Trotz: Unsterblichkeit und Wiedergeburt in der Phantastik / Defying Death: Immortality and Rebirth in the Fantastic: Symposium 2023 in Magdeburg. Eds. Kristin Aubel, Maria Fleischhack, Marion Gymnich, Carsten Kullmann and Aylin Dilek Walder. Inklings-Jahrbuch für Literatur und Ästhetik / Inklings: Yearbook of Literature and Aesthetics 41. Göttingen: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, 2025. 95-111.
"Gothic Nature in Fantasy Fiction: The White Walkers as Dreadful Agents of Nature in Game of Thrones." Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 89, Special Edition "Ecogothic, Monstrosity, and Climate Emergency," eds. Imelda Martín Junquera and Cristina Casado Presa (2024): 69-87. DOI: 10.25145/j.recaesin.2024.89.04.
"Cultural Appropriation of Poland's Fantasy: The Cold War Saga o Wiedźminie Moving into American Mainstream Culture." The Palgrave Handbook of Global Fantasy. Eds. Elana Gomel and Danielle Gurevitch. Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 289-305.
Reviews
of Gero Bauer. Hope and Kinship in Contemporary Fiction: Moods and Modes of Temporality and Belonging. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024. 272 pp. In Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 36.1 (2025): 149-151.
of Natalie Dederichs. Atmosfears: The Uncanny Climate of Contemporary Ecoficition. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2023. 286 pp. In Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 35.3 (2024): 205-207.
of Martin Kuester. More or Less Educational: Literary Godgames in Anglophone Literature from Chaucer to Atwood. Trier: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2022. 143 pp. In Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 35.1 (2024): 233-35.
Talk & Discussion with Assistant Prof. Ahmet Yiki (University of Cyprus). International House. Cologne, Germany.
2025
"'I see a being so human that it becomes inhuman:' Empowering Stories of Queer Affinities." Science Fiction Research Association, Annual Conference 2025 "'Trans People are (in) the Future:' Queer and Trans Futurity in Science Fiction." University of Rochester (NY), USA.
past
2024
"Fantastic Kinship: Affective Belonging in Speculative Fiction." Ringvorlesung "Affekte, Emotionen, Positionen." GeStiK, University of Cologne, Germany.
2024
"The Negative Sublime: Exploring Eco-Anxieties through the EcoGothic in Fantasy Fiction." ." Society for Fantasy Research (GfF), Annual Conference 2024 "Fantastic Climates." University of Kassel, Germany.
2024
"Reconciliation with Nature: Fantastic Stories of Climate Hope." Communicating Climate Hope 2024. Tilburg University, Germany.
2024
"Introducing the Notion of Situated Magic(al) Realism: Hearing the Indigenous Voice in Cameron's Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)." Science Fiction Research Association, Annual Conference 2024 "Transitions." University of Tartu, Estonia.
2023
"When We Disregard Nature: Brandon Sanderson's Elantris (2005) and N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season (2015) as Cautionary Tales." Science Fiction Research Association and Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung, Joined Annual Conference 2023 "Disruptive Imaginations." TU Dresden, Germany.
2023
"Depressed Immortals: Immortality and Ecocriticism in Brandon Sanderson's Elantris (2005)." Inklings Symposium 2023 "Defying Death: Immortality and Rebirth in the Fantastic." Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Germany.
