Prof. Dr. MaryAnn Snyder-Körber
Professor of American Cultural Studies
Philosophiegebäude, Room 5.E.4
maryann.snyder-koerber@uni-wuerzburg.de
Research Interests
I am particularly interested in how modernization processes intersect with cultural production practices. Thus, my research and teaching look closely at media ecologies and the material forms (print, visual, and digital) that they foster. My areas of interest include modernisms in the context of globalizing modernities, the aesthetics and connective potentials of small forms such as the anecdote, networked cultures from the nineteenth century to the present, gender discourses and feminisms as well as as well as writing and participatory cultural practices.
Expanding traditional seminar formats has been further constant in my work since coming to Würzburg. Accordingly, I am committed to transnational and interdisciplinary collaboration, writing and project-focused approaches, and public humanities outreach. I regularly teach an interdisciplinary undergraduate seminar in cooperation with US-American colleagues. Student projects from the course are featured in the "Monuments & Memory” online exhibition. The Cultural Studies Colloquium (CSC) is a a research-focused seminar for advanced students co-taught with British and Slavic Cultural Studies at JMU that also regularly integrates the perspectives of international partners. The JMU Cultural Studies publication series extends that dialogue from the classroom to the printed and digital page.
I currently also serve as Dean of Academic Affairs (Studiendekanin) alongside Prof. Dr. Matthias Schulz (German Linguistics) in the Faculty of Arts (Philosophische Fakultät).
Office Hours
My weekly office hours in the active semester generally take place on Tuesday, from 16:30 on. We can speak in person, via Zoom, or phone. On occasion, however, the day and/or time frame might be modified.
You can find an overview of upcoming office hours and sign-up possibilities here.
Thesis Supervision
If you would like to write your Bachelor Thesis or Zulassungsarbeit under my supervision, you should have attended at least one of my seminars and completed it with a graded term paper or equivalent writing project. This is a non-negotiable prerequisite for supervision. Please make an appointment to discuss your planned project at least one semester before your registration for the Bachelor Thesis or the start of your work on the Zulassungsarbeit. Additionally, regular and active participation in the Colloquium American Studies (Veranst.-Nr. 04093490) is a further non-negotiable requirement for supervision. The colloquium is offered every semester and takes place on Friday from 10-12 on Zoom, so it can easily be combined with other courses and obligations. The colloquium provides a forum for testing out your ideas as well as discussing practical aspects of developing a research project. Not least, the colloquium creates a supportive peer group for the writing process.
I look forward to supervising Masters Theses in English Speaking Cultures and Literatur Kultur Medien with a focus on US-American literatures and cultures from the eighteenth century to the present.
Further Activities
Co-Initiator of JMU Cultural Studies
Member of the JMU Kolleg Moderne und Gegenwart | Collegium Modern & Contemporary Studies
Member of Environmental Humanities (EH) Würzburg
Member of the India Competence Centre of the University of Würzburg (ICCUW)
Faculty Advisor ("Vertrauensdozentin") der Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
