Javier Samper Vendrell

Javier Samper Vendrell is an Assistant Professor of German at the University of Pennsylvania, with affiliations in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. His research examines LGBTQ+ literature and history in Germany since 1890, focusing on film, television, photography, and print culture.

• Education:
  • M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • B.A., University of Iowa

His work investigates intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and youth within German cultural history, with a particular focus on the figure of the child molester and queer coming-of-age narratives. He co-edited Queer Print Cultures (2025) and authored The Seduction of Youth (2020), which explores Weimar-era debates on homosexuality and youth.

Recent publications analyze fluid gender identity in contemporary literature, queer representation in Babylon Berlin, and intersections between psychoanalysis and sexuality in early 20th-century Germany. Current research for Fear of the Bogeyman traces how fears of child molesters policed sexual norms in German media and moral panics.

Teaching includes courses on German youth cultures, queer history, and global LGBTQ+ narratives. His affiliations span Comparative Literature, Germanic Studies, and interdisciplinary research groups.