Staff profile

I undertook my undergraduate studies in German Literature, Politics and Sociology at the Humboldt University, Berlin and have an MA and PhD in German from Durham. My research and scholarship interests focus on aspects of German literature, history and culture from the mid nineteenth-century onwards, including: colonialism, travel writing, nationalism, protest movements, cultural memory, and the relationship between gender, politics and language. I supervise undergraduate dissertations in the above areas as well as teaching and coordinating modules in language, interpreting, translation, literature and culture across the German Studies programme.

My commitment to offering our students the best possible learning experience in an inclusive and supportive learning environment underpins my research into enhancing pedagogical practices. I am Lead Researcher on a project investigating the holistic impacts of assessment practices on student wellbeing, which was presented at the 2024 Advance HE national conference ‘Mental Wellbeing in HE’. My interest in gender, language and politics informs my current research into embedding discourse on gender-inclusive language into German language-teaching through critical translation activities.

Alongside my teaching and research, I have undertaken a number of roles within the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, including Chair of Language Provision Committee, Deputy Director of Undergraduate Education, Director of German Studies and Deputy Head of School. I am currently the School’s Decolonising the Curriculum Academic Lead and Steering Group Member of the university EDI Network women@DU. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am very interested in the promotion of German language and culture in the UK and play an active role in MLAC’s outreach activities.

Modules Taught and Coordinated:

Berlin, City of Diverse Cultures (Level 3)

Heroes and Myths of German History (Level 2)

Identity and Politics in the German-speaking countries (Level 1)

Negotiating the Past of the German-speaking countries (Level 2)

Remembering the Holocaust in postwar German Culture (Level 3)

German Interpreting (Level 3)

German Language 1A (Oral, writing, grammar, translation)

German Language 1B (Oral, writing, grammar, translation, listening)

German Language 2A (Oral, writing, grammar, interpreting)

German Language 4 (Oral, writing)

Supervision:

MA Translation specialist project supervisor (German-English)

Dissertation supervisor School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Dissertation supervisor Combined Honours in Social Sciences

Indicators of Esteem:

September 2023, Enhancing Accessibility Grant

October 2022, Senior HEA Fellowship

September 2022, Nomination for Durham University Learning and Teaching Awards ‘Unsung Hero of Teaching and Learning’

September 2021 - August 2022, Durham University Aspiring Leaders programme

September 2019 - October 2022, Director of North East German Network

June 2018 - June 2019,  Goethe Institut Examiner

Selected Publications and Conference Presentations:

Conference Presentations:

October 2024 ‘Developing Multilingual Gender-Inclusive Language Guidelines in a School of Modern Languages and Cultures in the UK’. Co-presented conference paper presented at ‘Gender-inclusive language in a multilingual Europe: institutional policies, their applications, and AI-related developments’ hosted by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

May 2024 ‘Embedding Student Wellbeing in Continuous Assessment Practices’. Co-presented conference paper presented at the ‘Mental Wellbeing in HE’, Advance HE conference, Leeds UK.

September 2022 ‘Integrating ab-initio students into final year language and content modules: challenges and successes’. Conference paper presented at the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland Annual Conference.  

March 2021 ‘Scientific discovery and narratives of cultural superiority’. Conference paper presented at the European Social Science and History annual conference, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.

April 2018 ‘An integrated approach to language learning for advanced learners’. Conference paper presented at UK Lingua, Durham University, UK.

June 2013 'Time and Identity in Nineteenth-Century German Travel Writing'. Conference paper presented at ‘About Time: Conceptualising and representing temporality in German, Swiss and Austrian culture’, Women in German Studies annual conference hosted by University College Dublin, Ireland

September  2012, ‘The British Threat in Africa: Anglo-German Conflict and the Rise of German Nationalism in Colonial-Era Travel Narratives’. Conference paper presented at ‘Discourses of Reform, Experimentation and Protest in Wilhelmine Culture’, IGRS, London, UK.

March 2010 ‘Anglo-German Tensions on African Soil and the Rise of German Nationalism during the German Colonial Era’. Conference paper presented at the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland Annual Conference, hosted by the University of Reading, UK.

Chapter in Book:

2021 ‘The Role of US Railroads in the German Expansionist Mindset’, in German and United States Colonialism in a Connected World: Entangled Empires (Palgrave), pp.63-81.

2011 ‘Time, Identity and Nation in German Travel Writing on Africa, 1848-1914’, in Perraudin and Zimmerer (eds.), German Colonialism and National Identity, Routledge, pp.21-32.

2008 ‘Kafka’s The Penal Colony: Reflections of German Colonialism and National Identity’, in Buxton, Campbell, Dawe and Hugueny-Léger (eds.), Reflections: New Directions in Modern Languages and Cultures, Cambridge Scholars, pp.129-144.

Edited Book:

2008 Reflections: New Directions in Modern Languages and Cultures, Cambridge Scholars, 161 pp.

Journal Article:

2016 “Time and the Other in Nineteenth-Century German Travel Writing”, Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies [Special section ‘Travel Writing and Knowledge Transfer], 6 (3), pp 99-116.

2011 “The British Other on African soil: the rise of nationalism in colonial German travel writing on Africa”, Patterns of Prejudice [Special issue ’German Nationalist and Colonial Discourse’], 45 (5), pp.417-434.