Stuart Taberner

Stuart Taberner is Professor of German Literature at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds. He is also Director of the university’s Horizons Institute, where he leads interdisciplinary research addressing global challenges. He previously held leadership roles including Head of Department and Director of the Leeds Humanities Research Institute, and serves on the AHRC Advisory Board.

• University of Cambridge – BA, PhD
• University of Chicago – MA
• University of Leeds – MA in Modern Jewish Studies

His research focuses on German literature after 1945, particularly post-1989 writing, Holocaust memory, German-Jewish identity, transnationalism, migration, and the role of the arts in global development. He explores how literature engages with trauma, memory, ageing, and cosmopolitanism, especially in German and South African contexts. His work critically examines the interplay between politics, national identity, and literary representation.

His recent publications and funded projects reflect a sustained engagement with Holocaust literature, memory circulation, and interdisciplinary impact. He leads the AHRC Major Research Project Rethinking Holocaust Literature: Contexts, Canons, Circulations, involving over 40 international researchers. His prior projects include Traumatic Pasts, Cosmopolitanism, and Nation-Building and PRAXIS, which evaluated the impact of arts and humanities research on global development and the SDGs.

• AHRC Fellowship
• Leverhulme Trust Major Research Grant
• British Academy International Networks Award
• AHRC Follow-on Funding for Impact (Holocaust exhibition and dance performance)
• Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Fellowship

Taberner actively supervises PhD students in areas including German Jewish literature, world literatures, memory studies, and post-unification German fiction. He has secured significant research grants and collaborates internationally, notably with the University of Cape Town. His public engagement includes exhibitions, performances, media interviews, and policy advising for UKRI and government departments. He leads research groups in German History, Literary Studies, and the Centre for World Literatures.