Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
PhD in Comparative and World Literature, August 2023
Minor in Cinema Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Major Languages: German and French
Dissertation Title: “Redeeming ‘Decadent’ Europe: Vicarious Reparation in the Catholic Revival in Germany and France (1870-1945)”
MA in General and Comparative Literature, May 2015
Certification in Teaching German as a Foreign Language
Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
MA Thesis Title: “Thomas Manns Joseph und seine Brüder im Kontext des Midrasch”
BA in Comparative Literary Traditions and German, summa cum laude, May 2011
Minor in French
University of Dallas, Irving, TX
Phi Beta Kappa
Lecturer of German and French, August 2023-present
Department of Modern Languages and Classics, Franciscan University of Steubenville
German Language and Literature Instructor, August 2017-May 2023
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois
Comparative Literature Instructor, August 2015-May 2021
Department of Comparative and World Literatures, University of Illinois
Literature Instructor, August 2015-May 2021
Department of Comparative and World Literatures, University of Illinois
Courses Taught at FUS:
GRM 101-102: Elementary German I/II
GRM 201-202: Intermediate German I/II
GRM 436: Introduction to German Cinema (special topics course)
GRM 436: German and Austrian Spiritual Writers (special topics course)
GRM 436: German Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends (special topics course)
GRM 305: German Through Film and Readings I
GRM 488: Advanced German Grammar and Reading Comprehension (special topics course)
GRM 428: Issues in German Culture & Literature II: From 1700 through 1849
GRM 500: German for Reading Knowledge
FRN 500: French for Reading Knowledge
Research Interests:
19th and 20th Century Literature in German, French and English; 20th Century Catholic Revival; Catholic women authors, especially Gertrude von le Fort; Catholic Theology in literature, especially literary explorations of vicarious reparation; Personalist Philosophy in literature
Research Fellowships:
- Doctoral Research Fellow, Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, Marbach, Germany, June-July 2022
- Summer Residency, Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project, June-July 2019
Publications/Translations:
- Translation from German to English of Epilogue to God Without a People? The Church and the Crisis of Faith by Bishop Stefan Oster, trans. Beate Engel-Doyle and Karl F. Hahn, Franciscan University Press: Steubenville, 2024, pp. 209-228.
- Translation from German to English of scholarly article: “A Constructive Net of Negation: The Poems of Mila Haugová” by Walter Koschmal, in Slovak Literature Abroad: Collected Essays, Centre for Information on Literature: Bratislava, 2015, pp. 24-36.
Honors and Awards:
- Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project Travel Stipend, Summer 2022
- Max Kade Dissertation Grant, American Friends of Marbach, Summer 2022
- University of Illinois Graduate College Conference Presentation Award, Spring 2022
- Ruth E. Lorbe Excellence in Teaching Award, UIUC Germanic Language and Literatures, Spring 2019
- University of Illinois List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, 2016, 2018-2022
Professional Memberships:
- American Association of Teachers of German
- Conference for Christianity and Literature
Select Conference Presentations:
- Anderson University, Anderson, SC
- “‘Do What You Wish:’ Memory, Desire, and Discernment in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story.” Paper presented at the Southeast Regional Meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature, October 23-25, 2025.
- Universidad Anáhuac México, Huixquilucan, Mexico
- “ ‘I Love, Therefore I Am:’ Gertrud von le Fort’s Personalist Response to Nietzsche’s Claim that Christianity is Decadent.” Paper presented at the 1st World Congress on Personalism, August 1-5, 2022.
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
- “Surrender as Resistance? The Power and Precarity of Gertrud von le Fort’s The Eternal Woman as Anti-Fascist Gender Theory.” Paper presented at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, April 21-23, 2022.
- University of Dallas, Irving, TX
- “Seasons of Civilization: A Model for Hope in the Catholic Revival Novels of J.K. Huysmans and Gertrud von le Fort.” Paper presented at the Braniff Conference in the Liberal Arts: For Every Time, A Season, March 4-5, 2022.
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
- “Vicarious Suffering as Prophetic Witness: Gertrud von le Fort’s Rewriting of a Counterrevolutionary Trope.” Paper presented at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, April 22-24, 2021.
- Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT
- “Divine (Anti-) Arithmetic: Vicarious Suffering in the Literary Catholic Revival.” Paper presented at The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: Challenges and Opportunities for the Catholic University in the 21st Century conference, October 29-31, 2020.
