Astrid Franke

Astrid Franke is Professor of American Studies at Eberhard Karls University Tübingen's Faculty of Humanities, Department of English, where she has held a permanent position since 2008. Her academic trajectory includes a PhD from Freie Universität Berlin (1998), Habilitation at Frankfurt University (2006), and research appointments at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the John F. Kennedy Institute.

Her research centers on American poetry from the 18th to 21st centuries, with specialized focus on African American Studies, relational sociology (applying Bourdieu and Elias frameworks), and race theory. Key publications include monographs Pursue the Illusion: Problems of Public Poetry in America (2010) and Keys to Controversies: Stereotypes in Modern American Novels (1999), the latter winning the American Studies Network First Book Award. Current projects examine microaggressions in literature and resilience of racial orders within the Collaborative Research Center 'Threatened Orders'.

Her recent scholarly output demonstrates consistent engagement with poetic representations of social structures, particularly through 15+ publications since 2015 analyzing intersections of literature with race, mental health, and kinship networks. The works reveal methodological emphasis on relational sociology applied to American literary traditions, with recurring examination of African American poetic voices and democratic aesthetics.

• American Studies Network First Book Award (1999)

Professor Franke actively contributes to public discourse through media appearances (WDR 5 Politikum interviews), exhibition curation (e.g., 'Abandoned Malls' photo exhibition), and community workshops on racial justice. Her teaching portfolio spans foundational courses like 'Introduction to Literary Studies' to specialized seminars on 'Microaggression and Symbolic Violence in Literature', consistently integrating her research on race, poetry, and social theory. She co-organizes major academic initiatives including the 'Von Selma bis Ferguson' lecture series addressing post-civil rights America.