Seminar für Englische Philologie

Dr. Christina Meyer

Research Interests


  • American newspaper comics and serials
  • Visual Culture
  • Comics Studies
  • Modernity and Mass Culture
  • Media Studies
  • Literary and Cultural Theories
  • Narratology
  • American Popular Culture
  • War Literatures of the 19th/20th Century
  • Trauma Studies
  • Representations of Memory and Trauma

    • Professional Experience


    • Since April 1, 2012: Assistant professor of American Studies and research associate in the English department of the LU Hannover - DFG funded research project: "Series of Multimodal Forms of Narration: The Yellow Kid Newspaper comics of the NIneteenth Century"
    • 1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012: Assistant professor of American Studies, University of Osnabrück, Germany (Institute of English and American Studies, IFAA)
    • Winter term 2010/11: Assistant professor, North American Studies, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany; lecturer at the IFAA, University of Osnabrück)
    • 1 October 2009 - 31 March 2010: Lecturer, American Studies, Institute of English and American Studies, Carl-von-Ossietzsky University of Oldenburg, Germany, third place in the appeal hearing for a Associate Professor in American studies; nomination "Preis der Lehre" (prize for good teaching)
    • 1 October 2007 - 30 September 2009: Assistant professor, American Studies, Carl v. Ossietzsky University of Oldenburg, Germany
    • April 2005 - September 2005: Lecturer for undergraduate-level courses (summer term 2005), Department of English/American Studies, Leibniz University of Hannover
    • October 2002 ? July 2003: Lecturer in the Department of French, Leibniz Unviersity of Hannover; technical and research assistant for the media project "Filmic adaptations of literary works, and syntactic and semantic analysis of political debates;" organizer of the media archive at the Department of French, Leibniz University of Hannoverr
    • June 2001 - October 2002: Student assistant for Erasmus/Socrates exchange program, Leibniz University of Hannover; technical and research assitant for Dr. Gislinde Seybert; tutor in the department of French; assistant in the administration office, Department of French, Leibniz University of Hannover

      • Dissertation and other Academic Grades


      • 2007: Ph.D. in American Studies, LU Hannover (magna cum laude; Thesis: "War & Trauma Images in Vietnam War Representations")
      • 2002: Magister Artium, LU Hannover (Thesis: "Tim O`Brien: Writing the Vietnam War")


        • Post-secondary Education


        • 2003-04: Columbia University, New York, NY, visiting research scholar
        • Winter term 1994/95 - winter term 2001/2002: studies at the Leibniz Universität Hannover (2 majors: English and French - as part of the Romance Languages and Literatures); graduation in 2002
        • October 2000 - January 2000: Romance Language Studies at the Université Paul Valéry III, Montpellier, France

          • Publications

          Monographs and Edited Books:


          • with Shane Denson and Daniel Stein, ed. Transnational Perspectives on Comics and Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads London et al.: Bloomsbury, 2013.
          • with Daniel Stein and Micha Gerrit Philipp Edlich, ed. American Comics Books and Graphic Novels Special Issue of Amerikastudien/American Studies 56.4 (2011).
          • War and Trauma Images in Vietnam War Representations. Hildesheim, Zürich, New York: Olms, 2008.

            • Articles:


            • "How to Use 19th Century Newspaper Comic Supplements in the English Classroom." The Future Past of Comics. Ed. Jared Gardner. Ohio State UP (in preparation).
            • "Popular Culture, Visual Culture." Approaches to American Studies. Ed. Eva Boesenberg, Martin Klepper and Antje Dallmann, 2015 (under review).
            • "Serial Entertainment - Serial Pleasure." Media of Serial Narratives. Ed. Frank Kelleter, 2015; under review
            • "Topographien des urbanen Raums in Zeitungscomics der Jahrhundertwende." Sehnsucht suchen? Amerikanische Topographien aus komparatistischer Perspektive. Ed- Christian Bachmann and Simone Sauer-Kretschmer, 2014. 169-191.
            • with Jens Bonk. "Serializing 'Gravitational Distortions': Techniques of Refutation, Digression and Interruption in The Unwritten." The International Journal of Comic Art 15.2 (Fall 2013): 682-701.
            • "Patriotic Laughter? World War I in British and Amerian Newspaper and Magazine Comics." Heroisches Elend/ Misères de l`héroisme/Heroic Memory. Der Erste Weltkrieg im intellektuellen, literarischen und bildnerischen Gedächtnis der europäischen Kulturen/La Première Guerre mondiale dans la mémoire intellectuelle, littéraire et artistique des cultures européennes/The First World War in the Intellectual, Literary and Artistic Memory of the European Cultures. 2 Vols. Ed. Thomas Stauder and Gislinde Seybert. Frankfurt/M.: Lang, 2013. 1525-1552.
            • With Daniel Stein and Shane Denson. "Introduction: Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads." Transitional Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. 1-12.
            • "Urban America in the Newspaper Comic Strips of the Nineteenth Century: Introducing the Yellow Kid." ImageText 6.2 (2012). Web. 25 July 2012.
            • "George Benjamin Luks and the Comic Weeklies of the 19th Century." Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 3.1 (2012): 69-83.
            • "Teaching Visual Literacy through 9/11 Graphic Narratives?" Teaching Comics and Graphic Narratives: Essays on Theory, Strategy, and Practice. Ed. Lan Dong, Jefferson: McFarland, 2012. 53-65.
            • with Daniel Stein and Micha Edlich. "Introduction: American Comic Books and Graphic Novels." American Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Eds. Daniel Stein, Christina Meyer and Micha Edlich. Special Issue of Amerikastudien/ American Studies 56.4 (2011): 501-529.
            • "'Put it into boxes:' Framing Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers." Trauma's Continuum: September 11th Re-Considered. Special issue of Amerikastudien/American Studies 55.3 (2010). Guest editors: MaryAnn Snyder-Körber and Andrew Gross. 479-494.
            • "'After all disaster is my muse': Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers." American Studies as Media Studies . Eds. Frank Kelleter and Daniel Stein, Heidelberg: C. Winter, 2008. 107-117.
            • "'It's a rerun. Nothing is authentic anymore': Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country." Literatures of War. Eds. Richard Pine and Eve Patten, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2008. 349-379.
            • "Roland Barthes: Fragments d'un discours amoureux." Das Liebeskonzil/Le concile d'amour. Literarische Liebe und metaphorisches Begehren/ Amour littéraire et désir métaphorique. Ed. Gislinde Seybert, Bielefeld: Aisthesis, 2004. 251-274..
            • "The Hardcore and the Gentle." Translation for the art catalogue Sixtina Pt.7-03. Hannover: MWK, 2003.

              • Reviews:


              • Ann-Katrin Colomb. "For Jesus Christ and John Wayne." US-amerikanische Army Nurses und nationales Selbstverständnis im Vietnamkrieg, Trier: WVT, 2012. Review for Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 25.2 (2014): 198-199.
              • Thomas Becker. Comic: Intermedialität und Legitimität eines popkulturellen Mediums, Bochum: Ch. A. Bachmann, 2011. Review for European Comic Art 5.2 (2012): 121-124.
              • Jean-Paul Gabilliet. Of Comics and Men. A Cultural History of American Comic Books. Trans. Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2010; Online review, ComFor.
              • Dietrich Grünewald, Ed. Struktur und Geschichte der Comics: Beiträge zur Comicforschung. Bochum & Essen: Ch. A. Bachmann Verlag, 2010. Online review, WLA 2010.
              • Ingo Irsigler und Christoph Jürgensen, Eds. Nine Eleven. Ästhetische Verarbeitungen des 11. Septembers 2001 (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 2008), Archiv für das Studium der Neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, 162 (2010): 206-207.
              • Stephan Ditschke, Katerina Kroucheva, Daniel Stein, Eds. Comics: Zur Geschichte und Theorie eines populärkulturellen Mediums (Bielefeld: transcript, 2009).

                • Translations:


                • With Catharina Cosin. "The Hardcore and the Gentle." Translation of the art catalogue Sixtina Pt.7-03. Hannover: MWK, 2003.

                  • Conference Papers and Workshops


                  • "Managing the Modern Girl? The Romance Serials in the Newspapers, 1918-1937", LU Hannover, 23-25 April, 2015 (conference title: "Managing Mass Culture: Serialization, Standardization, and Modernity, 1880-1940").
                  • "Heroisches Elend", book launch, together with Gislinde Seybert, "Écrits de guerre 1914-1918" colloquial, 11 October 2014, Brussels
                  • "Representations of World War I in the Graphic Newspaper Serials", paper presented at International Comic Salon, 19-22 June 2014, Erlangen
                  • Moderation: "Im Fokus: Graphic Novel - Arne Bellstorf", Literarisches Zentrum Göttingen, 27 May 2014.
                  • "19th Century Graphic Travel Narratives", paper presented at the conference "Illustration, Comics, Animation", Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, USA, 28 February-2 March 2014.
                  • "'Mon père saigne histoire': Darstellungsverfahren von Erinnerung im Medium Comics", presentation and moderation, Universität Paderborn (Romanisches Seminar), 16 January 2014.
                  • "Popular Vision of Urban Life: The Sunday Newspaper Comics of the 19th Century", conference and opening festival of Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum and Library, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 14-17 November 2013.
                  • "Transnational Comic Studies", paper presented in cooperation with Shane Denson and Daniel Stein, Comicskolloquium, Humboldt Universität Berlin, 9 October 2013
                  • "Popular Visions of Self and Other...: Transatlantic Voyages in the Newspaper Comics of the 19th Century", paper presented at IASA annual conference Oceans Apart: In Search of New Wor(l)ds, Szczecin, Poland, 3-6 August 2013.
                  • "Technology - Economy - Mediality: Nineteenth Century American Newspaper Comics", paper presented at symposium Imagining Media Change, LU Hannover, 13 June 2013.
                  • "Understanding the Serial Matrix of the Yellow Kid", paper presented at Popular Seriality conference of the DFG research unit 1091 "Ästhetik und Praxis populärer Serialität", Göttingen, 6-8 June 2013.
                  • "Serielles Erzählen in Superheldencomics" (Daniel Stein); Göttinger philologisches Forum, 7 February 2013.
                  • "Massenkultur und Sensationsjournalismus: Die amerikanische 'Yellow Press' im späten 19. Jahrhundert", paper presented at colloquial "Massenkultur: Unterhaltung, Konsum, Medialität" (Prof. Michael Gamper and Prof. Ruth Mayer, Leibniz University of Hannover), 16 January 2013.
                  • "Reading and Teaching the Yellow Kid Newspaper Comics", paper presented at Third International Comics Conference, University of Bournemouth, England, Conference Topic: "Comics Rock", 28-29 June 2012.
                  • "Popular Visions of War, Gender, and Nation in [High]-Art-Advertising-Comics: Reading Nell Brinkley's Newspaper Romance Serials", paper presented at Conference "Cultural Distinctions Remediated", LU Hannover, 15-17 December 2011.
                  • "Media(tized) Events: Visuali-|Narrativi|-zation of 9/11 Iconic Images in Graphic Narratives", paper presented at Comics and Conflicts, Imperial War Museum, London, 19-20 August 2011.
                  • "I am de Dugan Kid?': Serializing Urban Life in Comic Supplements", paper presented at the annual conference of the American Studies Association, San Antonio, TX, USA. 18-21 November 2010.
                  • "Early American Comic Strips", paper presented at the international conference Comics and Graphic Novels, Metropolitan Univ. Manchester, 12-14 April 2010.
                  • "Introducing: the Yellow Kid", paper presented at ImageNext: Visions Past and Future at University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, 25-27 March 2010.
                  • Keynote speech "Television, Education and American Cultural Studies" held at symposium TV-Sites of Cultural Education, Universität Oldenburg, 5 February 2010.
                  • "Traumaverarbeitung in und durch Literatur", keynote speech held at Soroptimist International, Hannover, 10 August 2010.
                  • "Comics/x and American Studies Scholarship after 9/11", paper presented at the annual conference of the American Studies Association, Washington, D.C., 5-8 November 2009.
                  • "Sex & the City of Science: Populärkultur aus (Geistes)-Wissenschaftlicher Sicht", paper presented as part of the program "Oldenburg: Stadt der Wissenschaft" (12 June 2009), as well as at the "Langen Nacht der Wissenschaft" in Oldenburg (25 September 2009).
                  • "Trauma in den Geisteswissenschaften", paper presented at the Round Table in Hannover, 11 August 2009.
                  • "Framing 9/11: Frames in Graphic Texts", paper presented at Academic Perspectives on Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels as Intercultural and Intermedial Phenomena conference, Växjö Universitet, Sweden, 16-18 April 2009.
                  • "Trauma Frames", paper presented at colloquial, English Seminar, Universität Oldenburg, 17 December 2008.
                  • "Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country", paper presented at Literatures of War conference at the Durrell School in Korfu, Greece, 20-25 May 2007.
                  • "'it was a boot/ without a foot/ on top a face/ without a face': Representation(s) of Violence in Vietnam War Literature", paper presented at Transformation Studies, LU Hannover, 22 January 2007.
                  • "'After all disaster is my muse': Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers", paper presented at DGfA annual conference in Göttingen, June 2006.
                  • "Roland Barthes: Fragments d'un discours amoureux", paper presented at the international conference "Das Liebeskonzil/Le concile d'amour", LU Hannover, July 2002.

                    • Interviews


                    • NPR radio interview (in English) "Supersized Cartoon Library Welcomes 'All Geeks And Dorks'", together with Jenny Robb et al., conducted by Steve Brown, broadcasted 9 December 2013; recording:
                    • TV interview (in English), together with Jenny Robb, conducted by John Hendren, Al Jazeera English, "US State Unveils Largest Cartoon Museum", broadcasted 13 January 2014: (or: )
                    • Mail interview "An interview with the editors of Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives" (in English), together with Shane Denson and Daniel Stein, conducted by Michael Chaney (Dartmouth College), for the michaelalexanderchaney.com Blog, published 24 October 2013: )
                    • Radio interview about Art Spiegelman (in German) for WDR5-Hörfunk-Scala, conducted by Christian Ahlborn, broadcasted 21 September 2012; podcast:

                      • Memberships


                      • German Association of Universities / Deutscher Hochschulverband (DHV)
                      • German Association of American Studies (GAAS / DGFA)
                      • European Association of American Studies (EAAS
                      • American Studies Association (ASA)
                      • German Society for Comics Studies / Deutsche Gesellschaft für Comic-Forschung (COMFOR)

                        • Courses Taught

                        University of Göttingen:
                        WS 15/16Nineteenth Century Mass Media (Hauptseminar/graduate class)
                        History in/as Comics (undergraduate class)
                        Introduction to Film and Media Studies: Screen Media (introductory class)
                        Kolloquium (BA & MA) North American Studies
                        WS 2010/11The Life, Times, and Writings of Benjamin Franklin (undergraduate class)


                        University of Osnabrück:
                        WS 2011/12"Hully Gee" Understanding the Yellow Kid Newspaper Comics (undergraduate class)
                        British and American Cultural Studies: Methods - Theories - Concepts (undergraduate class)
                        Imagining Crime: Serial Killers, Murder, and Whodunits in American Literature and Culture (undergraduate class)
                        Research Projects in American Studies (colloquium)
                        Study Skills, I (introductory class)
                        Study Skills, II (introductory class)
                        SoSe 2011Survey Course: Literatures and Cultures in the English-speaking World (lecture class)
                        Interpretationskurs, I (introductory class)
                        Interpretationskurs, II (introductory class)
                        Research Projects in American Studies (colloquium)
                        Reading Television: TV?Series and American Culture (undergraduate class)
                        The Language of Fashion:?Studying Fashion, Consumption, and Desire in American Literature and Culture (undergraduate class)
                        WS 2010/11American Comics and Graphic Novels (undergraduate class)


                        University of Oldenburg:
                        WS 2009/10Introduction to Anglophone Cultural Studies (introductory class)
                        Tutorenschulung (undergraduate class)
                        New Research in American Studies (colloquium)
                        Welcome to Charm School and other TVsites of (Cultural) Education (graduate class)
                        SoSe 2009Postmodernism in America (undergraduate class)
                        "Directed Studies" (Kolloquium für Abschlusskandidaten/-innen)
                        Introduction to Anglophone Cultural Studies, Part II (undergraduate class)
                        WS 2008/09Introduction to Anglophone Cultural Studies (lecture class)
                        "Directed Studies" (Kolloquium für Abschlusskandidaten/-innen)
                        Fashion/Desire/Consumption in Literature (graduate class)
                        Trauma Narratives (undergraduate class)
                        Comic/x in the Academia? (undergraduate class)
                        History as Novel ? Novel as History? (graduate class)
                        SoSe 2008The Sixties (undergraduate class)
                        What We Talk about?When We Talk about [Neo]-Realist Fiction (graduate class)
                        WS 2007/08"The truth is not always in a well": The Detective Figure in American Fiction (graduate class)
                        The American War Novel (graduate class)
                        Welcome to the Desert of the Real: History, Trauma and Popular Culture (undergraduate class)
                        "A visual, tactile, olfactory blot. An indelible vulgarity": The Vietnam War in Film and Fiction (undergraduate class)


                        University of Hannover:
                        SoSe 2007Strolling on the Rue Morgue: Crime Fiction from E.A. Poe to Thomas Pynchon (undergraduate class))
                        WS 2006/07
                        Welcome to the Desert of the Real: History, Trauma and Popular Culture (undergraduate class)
                        SoSe 2006Literary and Cultural Theories (undergraduate class)
                        WS 2005/06Literature(s) of War and (Re)-Construction (undergraduate class))
                        SoSe 2005Writing the Vietnam War (undergraduate class)
                        SoSe 2003Einführung in die französische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft (intorductory class)
                        WS 2002/03Der französische Kriminalroman (undergraduate class)
                        WS 2001/02Tutorials for the introductory class