My name is Isabell and I am a fourth year Phd candidate in German Studies in the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages. Before coming to UConn, I worked as a German instructor and academic advisor at the Universidad Paraguayo Alemana in Paraguay. I am very passionate about teaching, especially teaching for social justice, and I was fortunate enough to be teaching a variety of German language and culture classes over the last three years at UConn.
My educational background is in Cultural Studies. I hold a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany, as well as graduate certificates in Media Studies and Gender Equality from the University of Oslo, Norway. Currently, I am pursuing graduate certificates in Human Rights and Intersectional Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity and Politics (IIREP).
As a first-generation student, I care deeply about social justice and diversity in higher education. Together with two of my professors, I have co-founded the Decolonizing Area Studies initiative. In addition, I am a strong advocate for the humanities, the public humanities in particular.
My interdisciplinary background and my commitment to social justice are also reflected in my research. In my dissertation project, I combine research in media and cultural studies with questions of how Germanness, (national) identity and belonging are (re)defined. I am particularly interested in the digital realm and the opportunities it affords to not only draw a much more diverse, but also a more adequate picture of Germanness in the 21st century.
Over the next academic year, I hope to fully immerse myself in my dissertation. After two years of coursework, and another year full of conferences and exams, I am excited to dive even deeper into my research and writing. During my time at Greenhouse Studios, I hope to acquire the necessary skills to conduct and communicate, effectively and creatively, the social media research that lies at the heart of my dissertation. I seek to learn more about data mining, social network and sentiment analysis. In addition, it is my hope that, through collaborating with the Greenhouse Studios team, I am able to also incorporate the voices of the German activists I am working with into my research in new and meaningful ways.
At this point of my career, I am open to opportunities both inside and outside of academia. Either way, I hope to continue building bridges between those worlds and to contribute to making education more just and equitable.
In my free time I like to listen to podcasts, go for walks and explore the New England Region. And I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Dark Academia (the decolonized version, please!). The aesthetics of haunted libraries, dusty bookshelves, reading and writing by candlelight just always cast a spell on me 🙂