Lara Ehlis

Lara Ehlis serves as a Researcher and Equal Opportunities Officer in the Department of General Literary Studies at the University of Wuppertal, where she has held a research assistant position since September 2019 under Prof. Dr. Ursula Kocher. Her academic profile bridges institutional service with cutting-edge literary scholarship focused on non-anthropocentric narrative frameworks.

Ehlis completed her educational trajectory at the University of Wuppertal:

• Bachelor of Arts in German Studies and Spanish (2010–2014)
• Master of Arts in General and Comparative Literary Studies (2014–2019)
• ERASMUS exchange at Universitat de Lleida, Spain (2011–2012)
• Internship at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2014–2015)
• Tutoring residency at University of Delhi, India (2016)

Her research pioneers intersections between mycology and literary theory, examining how fungal networks model rhizomatic storytelling that challenges human exceptionalism. As lead investigator of the doctoral project "Fungi in/as Fiction," she analyzes contemporary works like Georg Klein's Miakro through posthuman and ecocritical lenses. Her scholarship actively shapes the emerging More-than-Human Humanities paradigm, with particular emphasis on liminal spaces and non-linear temporalities in narrative structures.

Recent publications reveal a cohesive trajectory exploring literature's capacity to materialize future possibilities. Co-edited volumes like Literature and the Future (2024) establish foundational frameworks for studying anticipatory narratives, while her fungal-focused research demonstrates how biological metaphors generate radical narrative alternatives to anthropocentric worldviews. This work consistently engages climate crisis representation and posthuman subjectivity across genres from speculative fiction to horror.

Though her professional career lacks major scientific awards to date, Ehlis received the Deutschlandstipendium during her studies (2012–2014), funded by the Dr. Werner Jackstädt Foundation.

As an early-career researcher, she has not yet supervised graduate students. Her academic service includes co-organizing the 13th Student Congress of Comparative Literature (2022) and serving as co-editor for the student-run literary magazine Auf der Höhe. Current funding derives from her university research assistant position supporting doctoral work.

Ehlis actively participates in the Narrative Research Group (AG Erzählforschung) at Wuppertal, collaborating on theoretical developments in narratology while contributing to the university's literary magazine initiatives and upcoming study days like "Guilty (dis)pleasures" (2025).