Hester Baer

Hester Baer is a Professor of German Studies at the University of Maryland, affiliated with the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Cinema and Media Studies. Her work bridges German film, feminist theory, and environmental humanities. She has held leadership roles, including Department Head of German Studies (2015–2019) and editorships for Feminist German Studies and the German Quarterly. Educated at Washington University (Ph.D. in German, 2000), she has DAAD fellowships and postdoctoral training at Duke University. Her research explores gender in German cinema, neoliberalism’s impact on culture, and post-Fukushima environmental narratives. Recent projects include co-editing Babylon Berlin, German Visual Spectacle (2024) and Nuclear Futures in the Post-Fukushima Age (2024). Awards include a Fulbright (2004) and Mellon Humanities Fellowship (2023–25).

• Education: Ph.D. German, Washington University; DAAD fellowships in Berlin/Tübingen/Vienna
• Grants: SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2022–24), Mellon Fellowship

Her teaching spans film theory, feminist media studies, and German literature. She co-leads a research initiative on futurity in environmental activism with Michele Mason. Current projects include a monograph on feminist film history with Angelica Fenner and work on the Ulm Film School (1962–68).