Sean Franzel

Sean Franzel is a Professor of German and William H. Byler Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at the University of Missouri's College of Arts and Science. His research focuses on 18th- and 19th-century literary, intellectual, and media history, with particular emphasis on Romantic lecture culture, seriality, and transatlantic cultural networks. He has held fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and serves as Vice-President of the Goethe Society of North America. His work bridges media studies, conceptual history, and literary analysis, often examining how print culture shaped intellectual discourse.

Education: Ph.D. in German Studies from Cornell University and B.A. from Reed College. Current research includes projects on German-American journalists and media inventories in 19th-century Germany. He has published extensively, including monographs like Writing Time: Studies in Serial Literature (2023) and edited volumes such as Cultural Journalism in Germany, 1815–1848 (forthcoming 2025).

Research interests span media histories of knowledge dissemination, temporal frameworks in literature, and the intersection of aesthetics with political discourse. Recent articles explore Goethe’s serial works, Koselleck’s conceptual history, and Heine’s revolutionary writings. Franzel’s editorial work includes roles at the Goethe Yearbook and German Quarterly, reflecting his commitment to scholarly communication and cultural critique.