My educational and research pursuits have always been very closely tied to my personal experiences. Having grown up surrounded by the distinctive mix of cultures peculiar to New Mexico along with a lively appreciation for my family heritage from Denmark and German-speaking Europe, which included among other things emigration to America in order to join a minority religious tradition, I have long had the sensation of living “in between” cultural, social, and linguistic traditions. At times that has been painful, as I have everywhere felt somewhat like an outsider looking in. But perhaps for that very reason I have also always felt compelled to explore other cultures more deeply—and thereby also my own “in betweenness”—both through my academic studies in Comparative Literature and Germanic Studies and through living in Brazil, England, Austria, and Germany, along with various parts of the United States. In addition to learning languages and experiencing first-hand various cultural instantiations of the human experience, other personal hobbies include trail running, camping, playing the violin, creative writing, stargazing and woodworking (these last two with considerably more enthusiasm than knowledge or skill), and spending time with my wife and children.

Ph.D., Germanic Studies & Comparative Literature (joint degree), Indiana University Bloomington (2011)

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany), dissertation research (2009-2010)

Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), graduate course work (2004-2005)

M.St. (Master of Studies) with distinction, German, University of Oxford (2003)

B.A. with University Honors, Comparative Literature, Brigham Young University (2001)

Austro-American Institute of Education, Vienna, undergraduate course work (1999)

Associate Professor of German, U.S. Air Force Academy (July 2015–present)

Assistant Professor of German, U.S. Air Force Academy (August 2011–June 2015)

Instructor of German, U.S. Air Force Academy (July 2010–July 2011)

Humboldt Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation, Berlin (host: Professor Joseph Vogl, HU-Berlin) (2017-2018)

Outstanding Academy Educator, U.S. Air Force Academy (2014)

Fulbright Fellowship, Baden-Württemberg Seminar for American Faculty of German and German Studies, Tübingen (2011)

Fulbright Research Fellowship, Tübingen (host: Professor Bernhard Greiner, Tübingen) (2009-2010)

Visiting Scholar, Kierkegaard Library, St. Olaf College (2008)

Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship, Scandinavian Studies, U.S. Department of Education (2007-2008)

Academic Exchange Fellowship, Freie Universität Berlin (2004-2005)

German literature and thought, especially from the 18th century to today

Comparative Literature (German, English, French, Scandinavian, and Portuguese language traditions)

Aesthetic philosophy

Literature and music

Literature and religion

Publications have included a dissertation on Heinrich von Kleist and peer-reviewed journal articles on Kant, Goethe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Coleridge, Moses Mendelssohn, Kierkegaard, and Bonhoeffer. My current book project (in the final stages of writing as of November 2018) is titled Grace Out of Breath: Stammering and Grace from Luther to Kierkegaard.