I am a tenured Associate Professor of German at James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia. Before coming to JMU, I taught at the University of Pittsburgh, where I completed my Ph.D. in German studies and a doctoral-level certificate in cultural studies.

At JMU I teach German literature, history, and translation courses, as well as interdisciplinary literature courses for the General Education program. Two of my Gen Ed courses that are open to students of all majors at JMU include: “HUM 200: Great Works: Humans, Animals, Machines” and “HUM 200: Modern Perspectives: Emotions, Minds & Morality.”

My research focuses on the history of emotions, care ethics, animal studies, and relationships between the human and more-than-human world in 19th- to 21st-century German literature and culture. I am the author of the monograph Rethinking Feeling (Bloomsbury, 2026) and co-editor of the books Animals, Machines, and AI (DeGruyter, 2021) and Keywords for Today (Oxford UP, 2018). A third co-edited volume is forthcoming with DeGruyter Brill in 2027. I am also a published literary translator from German to English.

My research has been supported by Fulbright, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Historical Institute, the JMU College of Arts & Letters, and the Madison Caucus for Gender Equality. I spent two year-long research/study trips in Germany at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB) and Freie Universität Berlin.

Serving as a Research Development Associate alongside my faculty role, I have enjoyed the opportunity to help JMU colleagues apply for external funding to pursue their research and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. I believe that expanding support for and access to the humanities, in and beyond higher education, is more urgent than ever in the age of AI, and that pursuing external funding is an essential form of advocacy, institutional engagement, and scholarly leadership.