Derek Hillard

Dr. Derek Hillard is a Professor and Director of International and Areas Studies in the Department of Modern Languages at Kansas State University. His research focuses on Modernism, German literature, emotion in the arts, poetry, and the works of Paul Celan. He holds a Ph.D. in Germanic Studies from Indiana University (2001).

Education:

• Ph.D., Germanic Studies, Indiana University, 2001

Research Interests:

• Modernist literary theory
• German poetry and poetics
• Emotional expression in art and literature
• Paul Celan's transnational reception

His publications include Poetry as Individuality: The Discourse of Observation in Paul Celan (2010) and co-edited Feelings Materialized: Emotions, Bodies, and Things in Modern Germany (2020). Recent articles explore themes like aesthetic empathy in early 20th-century Germany and the role of pain in Ernst Jünger's photography analysis.

Teaching focuses on advanced German language courses, cultural studies, and topics like Vienna 1900 and German translation studies. Office located in Eisenhower 215.