Dr. habil. Alexander Scherr
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Contact Department of English and American Literature and Culture |
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Dr. habil. Alexander Scherr is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of English and an affiliated researcher at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC).
Most of his academic work addresses the power of narrative across media and discourses. He has received his venia legendi in Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies for a Habilitation thesis which has emerged from a DFG-funded research project on “Essayistic Forms of Life in the Anglophone Novel” (see here). Alexander is the author of another monograph (Narrating Evolution, WVT 2017) and co-editor of two volumes on contemporary anglophone literature. His articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Style, Anglia, Amerikastudien, and On_Culture, and in collections published with Ohio State University Press, Routledge, De Gruyter, Palgrave Macmillan, Narr, and WVT. More recently, he has been working on some new output on literary climates of uncertainty, Romantic poetry, postcolonial crime fiction, and free speech narratives.
As a lecturer at the Department of English, Alexander has taught over 40 seminars on Anglophone literatures and cultures. He welcomes proposals for final theses.
Research Fields
Narrative studies
History of prose writing, especially novel and essay
Literature and science
Fictionality and non-fictionality
Anglophone literature(s) in a transnational context
Romantic and Gothic literary traditions
Academic CV (abridged)
| 10/2025- |
Interim Professor of English and American Literary and Cultural Studies: JLU Giessen |
| 10/2022-09/2025 |
Leader of DFG-funded project (Eigene Stelle) on “Essayistic Forms of Life in the Anglophone Novel”: JLU Giessen |
| 04/2021-09/2022 |
Interim Junior Professor of Anglophone Literary, Cultural, and Media Studies: JLU Giessen on parental leave from July to September 2021 |
| 03/2021 |
Offer of Junior Research Fellowship: Center for “Dialogical Cultures”, KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt declined for care-related reasons |
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07/2020 |
Participant at Harvard Institute for World Literature (IWL) |
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04/2016-03/2021 |
Assistant Professor (postdoc): Department of English, JLU Giessen (Chair: Ansgar Nünning) |
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07/-08/2017 |
Visiting Assistant Professor: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) |
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10/2011-02/2016 |
PhD in English and American Literary and Cultural Studies: JLU Giessen |
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05/2014 |
Visiting Researcher: University of Łódź, Poland |
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10/2011-12/2015 |
Assistant Professor (PhD candidate): Department of English, JLU Giessen (Chair: Ansgar Nünning) |
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10/2011- |
Affiliated with International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) |
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12/2009-09/2011 |
Coordinator of the Language Programme: Language Center, University of Bonn |
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04/2003-11/2009 |
M.A. in English Literature, Philosophy, Musicology: University of Bonn |
Awards and Honours
| 2022 |
Best Article Award (German Association for American Studies) |
| 2019 |
Dr. Herbert-Stolzenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching |
| 2013 | Dr. Herbert-Stolzenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching |
Publications (as of July 2025)
For a list of Alexander’s publications, academic talks, and other research output, please click here.
Teaching and Supervision
For a complete overview of Alexander‘s teaching activities, including an anonymous list of final theses supervised by him, please click here.