Meet the Berlin Faculty
Classes at the Berlin Program are taught by local faculty, the Center Director, and by Stanford Faculty in Residence. Many instructors hold regular appointments at German universities or have served in prominent positions in policy organizations, research institutes, and editorial boards. Most non-language courses are taught in English, but customarily there is at least one seminar taught in German each quarter.
Faculty in Residence
Each quarter, one Stanford professor serves as Faculty in Residence in each of the BOSP program locations. These faculty teach classes in their own disciplines, developing courses that incorporate unique features of the local culture and environment or that provide comparative perspectives on a particular topic. View a list of current and future faculty.
Local Faculty
Diana Böbe (Instructor)
Diana studied at the Freie Universität Berlin as well as the Université d’Orléans, France (M.A. in American Studies, French and Latin American Studies, 2008), and the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, France (M.A. in German Studies, 2011). She has taught German as a Foreign Language at Nice University in France, and since September 2011, she has been a language instructor at the Stanford University Program in Berlin. Since October 2015, Diana has also been teaching for the Technical University Berlin (Department: German as a Second Language) where she prepares prospective subject teachers to integrate language promotion for students with German as a first or second language in everyday lessons.
Diane's courses include 1Z - Accelerated First and Second Quarter German, 3B – German Language and Culture, 21B - Intermediate German, and 24B - Advanced German.
Uli Brueckner (Lecturer)
Uli studied political science, German Literature, and European Studies in Würzburg and Berlin. His fields of interest are European integration, Political Economy, Cultural Policy and Diplomacy. From 1994-2002, he held the Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration at the Department of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin. He was also a visiting professor in Szczecin, Shanghai, Stanford, Moscow, Paris and Ljubljana. In 2003, Uli Brückner was appointed EU Jean Monnet Professor at Stanford University/Berlin. He works with the European Commission, the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the institute for cultural diplomacy in Berlin.
Uli organizes the H.G. Will Study Trips of BOSP Berlin to new and future EU member states.
Uli's courses include A People's Union? Money, Markets, and Identity in the EU and Shifting Alliances? The European Union and the USA.
Timur Flissikowski (Lecturer)
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Timur Flissikowski studied physics at Humboldt University in Berlin and received his PhD in 2004. He is a senior scientist at a research institute investigating optical and electronic properties of semiconductor microstructures mostly in the ultra-fast time domain. He has over 30 years of experience in the designing of analog and digital electronic circuits and burns for hands on experiments and teaching.
He is running a basic electrical engineering class including lab work and practical construction of electronic circuits.
Wolf-Fabian Hungerland (Lecturer)
Fabian received his Ph.D. in economics at Humboldt-University of Berlin in 2018, where he specialized in international economics and economic history. His research focuses on German economic history and globalization in the long run. In parallel, Fabian has been working as an economist for Berenberg Bank since 2012. With Berenberg, he covers emerging markets, particularly Eastern Europe. Before all this, Fabian obtained a master's degree in economic history at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Göttingen. He also studied at University of Warwick and the Kiel Institute of the World Economy. In his free time Fabian enjoys a good hike or canoe trip with camping, he likes to swim -- and tries to learn the tabla.
Fabian’s courses include Globalization and Germany
Martin Jander (Lecturer)
Martin was born in Freiburg. During his studies of German, History, Sociology, and Political Science in the late 1970s and early 1980s in West-Berlin, he became interested in opposition in the East Germany, a topic that continues to be one of his main fields of research, both in his graduate work (Ph.D. in Political Science at FU Berlin in 1995), and as researcher at FU Berlin. He has been teaching German and European history in the Berlin programs of New York University and FU-BEST since 2001, and started teaching in the Stanford Program in 2007. German left-wing terrorism is presently one of his fields of research in a project of the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung. His many publications include "Formierung und Krise der DDR-Opposition" (Berlin, 1996) as well as teaching materials on various German historical topics for “Geschichte betrifft uns” (Aachen) and several guide-books focused primarily on Berlin.
Martin's courses include The Long Way to the West - German History from the 18th Century to the Present and Berlin vor Ort.
Wolf-Dietrich Junghanns (Lecturer)
Wolf studied philosophy at the University Rostov on Don, Russia (Diploma 1984), and at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Dr. phil. 1990). He has taught at the Technische Hochschule Magdeburg (1984-86), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1986-87, 89-90), Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA (1992). In addition to teaching, Wolf serves as coordinator of the "Krupp Internship Program for Stanford Students in Germany."
Research: Fields of interest are social and political philosophy, intellectual history, cultural studies, and sports studies (esp. boxing). Numerous publications on sports-related topics, such as: Schmeling 21. Das "deutsche Boxidol" in Monumenten und Biographien. Berliner Debatte Initial. Sozial- und geisteswissenschaftliches Journal, 22 (2011) 2, 111-175.
Wolf's courses include Theory from the Bleachers: Reading German Sports and Culture (Winter Quarter) and Sports, Culture and Gender in Comparative Perspective (Spring Quarter).
Sylvia Klötzer (Lecturer)
Sylvia received her Master's degree in German Language and Literature from Freie Universität (FU) in Berlin, Germany in 1987, her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992, and her Habilitation in Cultural Studies at the University of Potsdam in 2005. Teaching and research positions include 1991/2 Prof. at Williams College, 2005 at UMass Amherst; postdoc and researcher at the Potsdam Center for Contemporary History (ZZF) 1995–2000; she has been teaching at Potsdam University (Institut für Germanistik) since 2006 and at the Stanford Program in Berlin since 2009.
Her publications include Satire und Macht: Film, Zeitung, Kabarett in der DDR. Köln 2006. and Aussichten. Deutsch als Fremdsprache für Erwachsene.(co-author). Stuttgart: 2011, 2012.
Sylvia's courses include German 1Z - Accelerated First and Second Quarter German and German 2Z - Accelerated Second and Third Quarter German.
Christine Korte (Lecturer)
Christine Korte is a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dahlem Humanities Center in Berlin and currently teaches at Stanford University in Berlin and at NYU Berlin. She holds a Ph.D. in Communications and Culture from York University in Toronto.
Her research focuses on contemporary Berlin theater and cinema, as well as West Berlin punk and new wave. Her current project, Staging Diversity: Negotiating Post-National Identities in Berlin Theater, examines how institutions such as the Volksbühne, Maxim Gorki Theater, and Schaubühne are responding to calls for greater diversity and rethinking German identity and the theatrical canon.
Christine has taught at the University of Toronto, York University and Notre Dame. In addition to her scholarship, she is a dancer and synth-pop enthusiast.
Friederike Knüpling (Lecturer)
Friederike received her PhD in German Studies from Stanford University. She previously studied Modern German Literature, Philosophy, and Political Science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. She has taught German literature, academic writing, and language at Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and at the Stanford Bing Overseas Studies Program in Berlin. Since 2018 she has also been co-founder of the award-winning online platform LALIA Berlin, where she develops and teaches proficiency-oriented German language courses grounded in communicative and student-centered pedagogical approaches.
Leah Muir (Lecturer)
Composer Leah Muir’s music has been performed by many international venues such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bruckner Orchester Linz with Dennis Russell Davies and David Friedman, the Münchener Biennale, Wien Modern, MärzMusik, Academy Schloss Solitude, Wiener Konzerthaus, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Aspen Music Festival, June in Buffalo, Ars Electronica, Soundtrack Cologne, as well as many established new music ensembles and soloists. Muir is a lecturer at the Berlin University of the Arts where she is the Artistic Director and cofounder of Ensemble ilinx, Studio for New Music at the Berlin University of the Arts in conjunction with Prof. Elena Mendoza. Ensemble ilinx plays repertoire from the 20th and 21st century whereas the concert series Zoom + Focus is only for student composers, where over 150 new compositions from students have been premiered over the last 5 years. Many of these productions are in collaboration with Klangzeitort—Institut für Neue Musik UdK HfM, an organization of the Berlin University of Arts and the Hanns Eisler Conservatory, which sponsors new music concerts and other transmedial productions of which she is also a member of.
Leah’s courses include: Ways of Hearing: Exploring Berlin through its Music
Matthias Pabsch (Lecturer)
Matthias received his PhD in 2001 at the Institute of Art and Visual Studies, Humboldt University Berlin. He is an Artist and Architectural Theorist. In 2010, he was appointed Adjunct Professor at Duke University, and he has been teaching at the Stanford Program in Berlin since 2006.
His work as an artist has been shown widely, both in Germany and internationally. His publications include “Architektur und Städetbau am Potsdamer Platz “(1998) and “Pariser Platz – Architektur und Technik. Vom manuellen zum digitalen Zeitalter” (2002).
Matthias's courses include Cityscape as History: Architecture and Urban Design in Berlin and Berlin vor Ort.
Claudia Stehr (Lecturer)
Claudia studied at the Universities of Braunschweig/Germany (M.A. in English Literature, Linguistics and Media Studies, 2006 and GFL diploma, 2006) and at the University of Waikato/New Zealand (BA hons in Screen and Media Studies, 2003). She has taught German in Lyon/France, as well as other university programs in Berlin (Duke University, University of Notre Dame, Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität and Technische Universität Berlin). Claudia also holds a tenured position at the Goethe Institute. Her particular interests include film and theater studies, music (organ / piano) and phonetics.
Claudia's courses include 2Z - Accelerated Second and Third Quarter German, 3B – German Language and Culture, 21B - Intermediate German, and 24B - Advanced German.
Ufuk Topkara (Lecturer)
Ufuk Topkara is a Professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, specializing in Comparative Theology from an Islamic perspective. His research bridges Islamic theology with contemporary philosophy and Jewish and Christian traditions, while also addressing critical intra-Muslim comparative questions. He completed his academic training in History and Philosophy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University. He has served as a guide at the Jewish Museum Berlin, a role that complements his long-standing commitment to interreligious dialogue. His work also extends to the intersection of religion, democracy, and social justice.