Born 1968 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Early love of Thor comic books, rock & roll, the saxophone.
My first exposure to German came when singing out of the Lutheran Hymnal in church when I was a boy (I found it intriguing that “Heilig Geist” and “Holy Ghost” were so similar…). Spent a semester in 1986-87 in Germany, attending a Gymnasium in Hamburg before graduating High School back in Ann Arbor.
Undergraduate studies at Northwestern University. Junior Year Abroad was in Heidelberg in 1989-90 – which by any measure was an eventful year in German history. Graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern in 1991, double-majoring in Theater and German Literature. Then to Cambridge for graduate studies at Harvard.
Ph.D. 1999 from Harvard University, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.
2002 - 2011, Assistant Professor, Washington University in St. Louis.
2011 - 2015 Waldorf School of St. Louis
2015 - 2018 Madison Waldorf School
2018 - German teacher in Ladue School District, Ladue MO
Research grants awarded from the Fulbright Foundation (1997-1998 in Göteborg Sweden) and the DAAD (2007-2008 in Bamberg, Germany).