Researcher Summary
I am a German-Australian with a background in trade unionism, community work & the creative arts, especially music. Prior to moving to Aotearoa/NZ 20 years ago, I lived in Japan, Italy & Belgium. Whilst in Brussels I studied French & creative writing. For the past 15 years I have been dedicated to close readings of Freud & Lacan as well as contemporary feminist French philosophers, enabling new insights into my curiosities regarding theoretical and creative expressions of subjective antagonisms.
Currently I am working on two projects: A book on musicologist & philosopher, Jankélévitch's theory of stoic ‘political refusal’ following the Holocaust, from a Lacanian perspective. I am also interested in the experience of performing music/s during wartime.
I have completed editing a collection of essays, 'Psychoanalysis and Stupidity' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023) which puts the experience of encountering stupidity as a specific philosophical, subjective, & social curiosity.
Among other things, I have published texts on psychoanalysis, the status of curiosity, creativity, subjectivities & ontology, as well as translating German & French texts to English.
My editorial commitments currently are:
* Co-founder and ed. (with Mike Grimshaw):'Continental Thought & Theory'
* Advisory board: 'CounterFutures: Leftist Thought in Aotearoa/NZ' & 'Emerging Conversations in the Global Humanities' (Parlor Press)
* Ed. board: 'Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies' (Brill)
Currently I supervise postgraduate students whose research questions focus on: music & emotions; Asia-Pacific feminism(s); contemporary French philosophy & ‘hospitality’; & filmic depictions of war. I am currently full to capacity & will be on sabbatical Jan-July '23, residing in Slovenia & Germany.