I’m a political scientist specializing in political theory, political philosophy, and the history of ideas. My fields of expertise include the classics of political theory, political myths, theories of the welfare state, power of interpretation, and Hegel’s political theory.
I received my doctorate (PhD) from Rostock University, Germany with a thesis on Hegel’s contribution to the intellectual history and political theory of the welfare state. I studied political science and history at Heidelberg University, Germany and Aarhus University, Denmark.
Recently, I had the honor of joining Boston University as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar to work on Hegel’s political theory. After my graduation I worked as a research associate in political theory and the history of ideas at Rostock University and as a research fellow at the DFG-funded graduate college “Power of Interpretation. Hermeneutic Hegemony and Hermeneutic Conflict in the Context of Religions and Belief Systems”. In addition, I held lectureships in political science and philosophy. Currently, I am working as an academic advisor for a project in science communication.
Among the topics I published on are the discoursive history of Rawls’ theory of justice, the role of political myth in the English Civil Wars, the intellectual history of interpretative power, the Hegelian forefathers of the German welfare state, the problems of defining political extremism, how belief systems may help us to analyze conflicts, and the narrative of Evolutionary Psychology.
A book as well as more papers on Hegel’s social and economic theory are in preparation.
I taught various seminars on democratic theory, climate change and civil disobedience, and Hegel’s political theory.
On several occasions I gave talks on topics such as Hobbes’ political theory, the role of skepticism in a culture of controversy, the interpretations of social questions through time, climate change and civil disobedience, Hegel’s political theory, and political myths in the English Civil Wars.