A Warm Welcome to Prof. Dr. Birte Christ, Professor for English Philology (North American Literature) at the Department of English
Freiburg, 20/11/2025
Prof. Dr. Birte Christ has been back at her alma mater since 1 October 2025. The professor of English philology, who studied and earned her PhD at the University of Freiburg, speaks in our interview about freedom of research in literary and cultural studies and explains why she wants to encourage her students to engage in critical thinking.
What fascinates you about your research?
In the context of my DFG-funded Heisenberg Professorship on the topic ‘The Cultural Work of Popular Forms: Transnational and Intersectional Perspectives in American Studies’, I’m analysing the role of American literature on the German book market of the post-war era from 1945 to 1977 in one project. In another project, I’m studying how American and British texts, films, and television productions portray solitary confinement on the basis of narratological and aesthetic aspects. I relish being able to work in a transnational context and not being bound to any canon, and I also enjoy the freedom to reflect on the broad cultural or even ideological significance of media portrayals: How does a text, a film, or an advertisement want us to see the world? To what extent does the historical context – particularly with regard to the USA – help shape politics to this day? I find that very fascinating.
What approaches do you find in your research for addressing challenges of the present and future?
We’re currently experiencing a trend towards polarization on various levels. Black-and-white thinking is appearing ever more strongly in crisis situations, because polarization supposedly promises simple solutions to complex problems. With my research, I want to raise awareness for the fact that most things in the world are complex and should also be allowed to be that way. I therefore want to encourage others to think in a complex and critical way – an important ability for finding solutions to big political and social tasks.
What do you want to pass on to your students, and what do you get out of teaching yourself?
Don’t give up on the USA, in spite of the recent developments! As an American studies scholar, I consider it very important to focus on the longue durée, long historical phases, in my teaching and not to panic intellectually – even though we must of course take a stand against autocratic politics of all kinds. In addition, I would like to motivate my students to stay curious and to not be satisfied with simple answers – I myself manage to do that best during discussions in the seminar room.
What issues are you most concerned about personally at the moment outside of your research?
As presumably all of us: war and violence – and how we can prevent them from happening. But that’s also a topic of my research: The reading culture of the post-war years focused very strongly on how to prevent war and how to practise democracy.
What are you especially looking forward to in Freiburg?
To my new colleagues and the opportunity to help shape a young and dynamic faculty in terms of content and personnel. In the medium term, I also look forward to holding my seminar ‘Christmas Movies’ again, in which we shed critical light on classics of this genre and the motifs and stereotypes that appear in them. And to the French fries in the cafeteria, which I still have good memories of.
Infobox
Name: Prof. Dr. Birte Christ
Professorship: Professorship for English Philology (North American Literature) at the Department of English, University of Freiburg Faculty of Philology
Research foci:
- Reading culture / reading culture in the digital age
- Law and literature
- Literature of the 17th century to the present
- Diversity studies
- Contemporary politics and gender issues
- Instapoetry
Participating in Cluster of Excellence/Initiative? No