Oliver Lubrich

Oliver Lubrich is a full Professor of Modern German Literature and Comparative Literature at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He previously held a Junior Professorship in Rhetoric at the Free University of Berlin (2008–2011) and was part of the Cluster of Excellence “Languages of Emotion.” He has held visiting professorships at the University of Chicago, California State University, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), and Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), as well as fellowships in Freiburg and Berlin.

Lubrich’s research focuses on rhetoric, experimental rhetoric, literature-science intersections, travel literature, and the works of Alexander von Humboldt. He co-edited key editions of Humboldt’s texts, including Kosmos and Zentral-Asien, and directs the Berner Ausgabe of Humboldt’s complete writings. His recent monographs include Humboldt oder Wie das Reisen das Denken verändert (2022) and Botanik in Bewegung (2019). He leads the Volkswagen Foundation-funded project Die Affekten der Forscher and collaborates with neuroscientists on experimental rhetoric studies.

Lubrich’s work on international testimonies from Nazi Germany includes Travels in the Reich (2010) and Reports from the Drop Zone (2007). His interdisciplinary projects bridge literature, science, and history, emphasizing Humboldt’s legacy, colonialism/postcolonialism, and affective dimensions of research. He advises doctoral candidates like Annie Pfeifer and Seán Williams, and his grants include Swiss National Science Foundation support for Humboldt’s essays edition.

His academic leadership includes the Friedrich Dürrenmatt Visiting Professorship for World Literature. Notable collaborations involve evolutionary biologists, ethnologists, and neuroscientists, reflecting his commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue. Lubrich’s publications span monographs, edited volumes, and articles in journals like Language, Cognition and Neuroscience and Oxford German Studies.