Meet the people behind the Durden Dickinson Bremen Program: Dr. Janine Ludwig

Janine Ludwig is a literary scholar, co-editor of Dickinson’s literary journal Glossen (with Prof. McGaughey), Vice Head of the Institute for Cultural German Studies at the University of Bremen (ifkud), and Chairwoman of the International Heiner Müller Society. She studied Contemporary German Literature, Philosophy, and Theater Studies/Cultural Communication in Göttingen, San Diego, and Berlin. She is an expert on East German and post-war literature, but also an all-rounder with interests in medieval history, politics, and film.

Aside from numerous articles on a range of topics, she has published two books on the playwright Heiner Müller (“Ikone West” and “Macht und Ohnmacht des Schreibens”) and, together with Mirjam Meuser, two edited volumes on post-GDR literature: “Literatur ohne Land?”. Another edited volume with a colleague, Carsten Gansel, on the 68 movement is in print.

Dr. Ludwig teaches regularly at the Departments of Cultural and German Studies at Uni Bremen: seminars on German-American cultural history and relations, including German immigration, but also on literature, intercultural studies, German as a foreign language, and recently on Wende or post-reunification novels (publication underway).

She is a fan of the city’s soccer club “Werder Bremen” and a news freak; she enjoys trivia nights as well as a good German intensive debate on pretty much anything. Having been the Academic Director in Bremen since 2009, she was disheartened about the Covid break that the program had to take and misses students being around. She is looking forward to re-opening soon!

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