Beatrice Gründler

Prof. Dr. Beatrice Gründler is a leading Arabist at the Free University of Berlin, affiliated with the Department of History and Cultural Studies and the Frederick Schlegel Graduate School for Literary Studies and Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies. Her research focuses on the intersection of Arabic literature with cross-cultural exchanges, particularly through works like Kalila and Dimna.

• Education: Studied at Strasbourg, Tübingen, and Harvard (PhD, 1995); taught at Yale and Dartmouth before joining Freie Universität Berlin in 2014.
• Research: Explores Classical and Middle Arabic literature, digital editions of ancient texts, and the cultural evolution of Arabic prose. Investigates multilingualism in historical contexts, including Aristotle's Poetics translations.
• Awards: Honored with Germany’s Leibniz Prize (2017) and the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (2017), totaling 2.4 million euros, to advance her work on Kalila and Dimna.
• Students: Supervises PhD candidates in projects spanning Arabic codicology, literary theory, and postcolonial narratives in Middle Eastern texts.
• Collaborations: Works with the Dahlem Humanities Center and international institutions to bridge cultural divides in literary scholarship.