PD Dr. Kirsten Twelbeck
| Telefon: | +49 821 598 - 3558 |
| E-Mail: | kirsten.twelbeck@wzu.uni-augsburgwzu.uni-augsburg.de () |
| Raum: | 206 (U) |
| Adresse: | Universitätsstraße 1 a (innocube), 86159 Augsburg |
Kontakt:
WZU Environmental Humanities:
kirsten.twelbeck@wzu.uni-augsburg.de
IDK Um(welt)denken / Re-Thinking Environment:
twelbeck.idk@wzu.uni-augsburg.de
IDK Um(welt)denken-Website:
https://rethinking-environment-idk.de/
Current Research Projects
- The Power of Wheat (from a transatlantic and transnational perspective) (WZU Augsburg Research Group) (monograph, work in progress)
- Overcoming Ecological Ambivalence: Perspectives from the Environmental Humanities. Ed. with Simone Müller and Matthias Schmidt, London: Routledge (anthology, to be published in 2024).
- Narratives of urban resilience
Other Research Interests (American Studies)
- American Literatures and Cultures from the 19th century to the present
- Life Writing
- Visual Culture (esp. painting, photography, performance art) and graphic narratives
- Citizenship and Democracy from the 19th century to the present
- Gender Studies
- Literature and Medicine/Medical History
- Disability Studies
- Asian-American, Postcolonial, Diaspora Studies
- Holocaust Studies
- Transatlantic Relations (with a focus on German-American cultural interactions)
About
Kirsten Twelbeck grew up in Southern Germany and South Africa. She studied American Studies and Theater & Drama in Erlangen, Berlin, and Bloomington (Indiana, USA). She received her Ph.D. from the Free University, Berlin (John F. Kennedy Institute), focusing on cultural (self) representations of Korean Americans in the United States (No Korean is Whole, Wherever He or She May Be, 2002). She then worked, for over a decade, as assistant professor at the University of Hannover, where she did her habilitation (second book project) on the fears and desires of white Americans from the northern states (Beyond the Civil War Hospital, 2017). Since 2014, she has held visiting professorships at various German universities, where she lectured and taught many courses in American Studies and in the Environmental Humanities. She joined the WZU as coordinator of the Environmental Humanities section and as researcher in October 2019 and now works for the PhD program "Re-Thinking Environment. The Ecological Transformation of Society" in 2021. The program is an interdisciplinary cooperation between the University of Augsburg and Munich's Maximilians-University, and financed by the Elite Network of Bavaria. Kirsten Twelbeck is the coordinator of the program, part of the interdisciplinary advisory team, and belongs to the steering committee. Her current research at the intersection between Environmental Humanities and American Studies focuses on wheat, earthquakes, and the role of cultural artifacts in building optimism.
CV
Education
2014
|
Habilitation (2nd book project) in American Studies (Leibniz University, Hanover). Title: “Transcending the Civil War Hospital: Northern Reconstruction Writing and the 'Rules of the Democratic Game' (1861-1882).” Advisors: Prof. Dr. Ruth Mayer (Hanover), Prof. Dr. Heike Paul (Erlangen-Nuremberg). |
2000
|
Ph.D. in American Studies (John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Free University Berlin). Title: “No Korean Is Whole - Wherever He or She May Be: Konstruktionen von Korean America seit 1965.” Advisors: Prof. Dr. Winfried Fluck, Prof. Dr. Heinz Ickstadt (JFK, FU Berlin). |
1992
|
Magistra Artium in American Studies (John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Free University Berlin). Title: “Autobiographien von Immigrantinnen Perspektiven für einen multikulturellen Pluralismus?” Advisors: Prof. Dr. Ulla Haselstein, Prof. Dr. Winfried Fluck (JFK, FU Berlin). |
1990 |
American Studies and Theater & Drama at Indiana University, Bloomington (IN). |
1987-1992 |
American Studies (JFK, FU Berlin) and Theater & Drama. |
1985-1987
|
English and American Studies, Theater & Drama, Spanish, Political Science (Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, B.A.) |
Professional Experience
| Since Fall 2019 |
Coordinator of the International Doctoral Program "Re-Thinking Environment. The Ecological Transformation of Society." The 4-year program is an interdisciplinary cooperation between the University of Ausburg and Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians-University and financed by the Bavarian Ministry (Elite Network of Bavaria). Further information: https://rethinking-environment-idk.de/ |
2019 |
Coordinator of Environmental Humanities and Researcher at the WZU, Augsburg University. |
2018-2019 |
Guest Professorships at the Universities of Augsburg and Regensburg |
2016-2018 |
Student Life Director and lecturer at CIEE Global Institute Berlin. |
2014-2016 |
Guest Professorships at the Universities of Göttingen, FU Berlin, Hanover. |
2009-2014 |
Assistant Professor at Hanover University. |
2006-2009 |
Researcher at the John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Grant by the German Research Foundation. |
2002-2006 |
Assistant Professor at Hanover University. |
2000-2002 |
Assistant Professor (50%) at the John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Free University, Berlin. |
Furthermore:
|
Radio journalism, Walter de Gruyter Publishing, head of the department of Asia-Berlin-relations at Berlin Partner. |
Publications
Simone M. Müller, Matthias Schmidt, Kirsten Twelbeck (Hg.)
Ecological Ambivalence, Complexity, and Change:
Perspectives from the Environmental Humanities,
270 pages, Routledge
London, 2025
173,50€ (paperback or e-book)
ISBN: 978-1-03-262794-6
Additional information about this publication can be found here:
Kirsten Twelbeck
Beyond the Civil War Hospital:
The Rhetoric of Healing and Democratization in Northern Reconstruction Writing,
1861-1882 438 pages, transcript
Bielefeld, 2018
49,99 € (paperback or e-book)
ISBN: 978-3-8394-3465-9
Additional information about this publication can be found here:
Kirsten Twelbeck
No Korean is Whole - Wherever He or She May Be
312 pages, Peter Lang
Dissertation, 2002
94,35 € (paperback)
ISBN: 978-3-6313-8122-9
Additional information about this publication can be found here: