Natalia Igl

Natalia Igl is an Associate Professor of German-Language Literature and Culture at the Department of Language, Literature and Culture, Østfold University College. She serves as program and subject coordinator for the Master's program in Foreign Languages in Schools (MFRISK), HiØ's contact person for DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), and co-leader of the research group "Literature and Narrative" since July 2024.

Her academic background includes:

• 2022-2023: Studies in practical university and college pedagogy and digital teaching forms at Østfold University College
• Since August 2022: Associate Professor in German-language literature and culture at Østfold University College
• 2018-2021: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow and postdoctoral researcher in general literary studies at the University of Oslo
• 2011-2018: Researcher and lecturer (post-doc) in modern German literature at the University of Bayreuth
• 2006-2011: Researcher and lecturer (pre-doc) in modern German literature at FernUniversität in Hagen and University of Bayreuth, and in German linguistics at Ludwig Maximilians University Munich
• 2011: PhD in modern German literature from the University of Bayreuth
• 2006: Master of Arts (M.A.) in modern German literature, German linguistics and psychology from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich

Natalia Igl's research focuses on German(-language) literature from Romanticism to Modernism, from 'Neue Sachlichkeit' to 'post-migrant' contemporary literature. She investigates illustrated magazines around 1900, the mediality, materiality and multimodality of literature, narrativity in literature and media, cognitive literary studies and narratology, and reader engagement and literary emotions. Her current work explores 'enactive & embodied reader engagement' in narratives of crisis, trauma and illness, with particular interest in the role of emotions in learning and teaching situations.

Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on narrative structures, multimodal literature, and reader engagement. She has extensively researched German modernist literature, post-migrant narratives, and the intersection of cognitive studies with literary analysis. Recent work shows increasing attention to trauma narratives, embodied cognition in reading processes, and the political dimensions of contemporary German literature, particularly regarding migration and identity.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• 2015: University Prize for Excellent Teaching from University of Bayreuth
• 2015: Nominated for Science Prize 2015 at University of Bayreuth
• 2015: Nominated as member of "Junges Kolleg" at "Bavarian Academy of Sciences"

Igl has extensive experience in teaching, supervision, examination, and assessment since 2006, having developed and conducted over 65 seminars and lectures at BA and MA level. Her teaching spans from introductions to literary studies and academic research/writing to literature theory and analysis, literary history, literary genres, cognitive poetics, (transmedial) narratology, multimodality and materiality in literature, literature in relation to other media and film, (inter)cultural studies, and intersections between literary studies and linguistics. She has led significant research projects including the EU-funded MSCA project "Readers as Observers" (project number 794549) and is developing new research on embodied reader engagement in narratives of crisis.

She is actively involved in research groups and collaborations, notably as co-leader of the "Literature and Narrative" research group at Østfold University College, associate researcher in the interdisciplinary project "Literature, Cognition and Emotion (LCE)" at the University of Oslo, and collaborator on various projects including the ELLA-funded symposium "Reading and studying narratives of trauma, crisis and illness" and the DAAD-funded project "UniStart Deutsch."