Stephen Kern

Stephen Kern is a Humanities Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University, where he has held this rank since 2004. Previously, he served as a Distinguished Research Professor at Northern Illinois University before joining Ohio State in 2002. His research focuses on modern European and American cultural and intellectual history, with specializations in modernism, technology and culture, and the intersections of religion, environment, and science.

Key research interests include the cultural history of time and space, causality in science and literature, and the impact of modernist thought on religion and art. His work has been translated into multiple languages and he actively engages with interdisciplinary topics such as beginnings, origins, and foundations in European and American thought (1850-1930).

Recipient of prestigious fellowships including ACLS, NEH, Rockefeller, and Guggenheim, Kern also received the Ohio Academy of History Distinguished Historian Award in 2007. His current projects explore conceptual frameworks for understanding beginnings across disciplines.