Ricarda Freudenberg

Ricarda Freudenberg is a Professor of German Language and Literature with a focus on Literature Didactics at Pädagogische Hochschule Weingarten, where she has served since 2015. She currently holds the position of Dean of Faculty II (since 2022) and previously acted as Study Dean (2017–2022). Her academic trajectory includes a PhD from Friedrich Schiller University Jena (2010) and earlier roles as a secondary school teacher and research assistant.

Education and Career:

• 1991: Abitur (Detmold)
• 1991–1998: Studied German and Philosophy at Universities of Göttingen and Tübingen
• 1998: First State Teaching Examination
• 1999–2001: Legal traineeship (Jena)
• 2001: Second State Teaching Examination
• 2001–2010: Secondary school teacher (Weimar/Jena)
• 2003–2015: Teaching/Research at Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• 2010: PhD conferred
• 2013–2015: Substitute Professor at University of Greifswald
• 2015–present: Professor at PH Weingarten

Research Focus: Her work centers on literature didactics, emphasizing literary competence acquisition, children's/youth literature, digital media in education, reading socialization, and empirical task research. She investigates how prior knowledge influences text comprehension and develops didactic frameworks for literary education.

Publications: Recent works (2020–2024) predominantly explore perspective understanding in literary education through the PAuLi research project, blending empirical studies with didactic theory. Her scholarship consistently addresses contemporary issues in German literature pedagogy, including digital tools, aesthetic experiences, and socio-political themes in youth literature.

Advising: She supervised doctoral candidate Katharina Rist (2022), whose research examined children's reception of visual narratives in picture books.

Academic Service:

• Editorial board member: Didaktik Deutsch (since 2022)
• Executive committee: Symposion Deutschdidaktik (2018–2022)
• Consultant: VERA 6 educational assessment (since 2014)
• Memberships: German Association of Germanists, Society for Children's/Youth Literature Research
• Research projects: Lead researcher for PAuLi (Perspective Understanding in Literature Education)