Thomas Kater

Dr. Thomas Kater is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change” at the University of Münster. He holds a PhD in German Literature (2022) and specializes in literary theory, aesthetics, 17th/18th-century German literature, and contemporary literature. His research focuses on publishing practices, materiality, and mediality of literature, with notable contributions to open-access publishing via Textpraxis.

Education: Studied German, Philosophy, and Catholic Theology at the University of Münster and the University of Agder (Kristiansand, Norway). Doctoral thesis: Status und Funktion: Zu Theorie und Praxis des literarischen Werks (2022).

Research Interests: Explores interdisciplinary frameworks for understanding literary concepts, material culture of texts, and digital transformation’s impact on cultural access. Key areas include the ontology of literary works, postfactualism in literary studies, and comparative methodologies across humanities disciplines.

Publications: Authored a monograph (Status und Funktion, 2024), co-edited Werk-Zeuge (2020), and contributed to leading journals like Zeitschrift für Ästhetik and arcadia. Focuses on conceptual debates about literary works, mediality, and historical publishing practices.

Grants & Teams: Collaborates with the Research Group “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Transformation”. Previously served as a visiting junior professor for children’s literature and co-editor of Textpraxis (2017–2021).