Dr. Jules Machtenberg
(they/them)
Contract Lecturer of American Literature and Culture
Substitute/Cover for Verena Wurth (while the latter is on parental leave)
Englisches Seminar I
Universität zu Köln
Albertus Magnus Platz 1, 50923 Köln
Room 1.113
E-Mail: j.machtenberg[at]uni-koeln.de
Office Hours: Thursdays 12–1 p.m., registration via DFN
Research Interests
- Gender, Queer, and Trans* Studies
- Critical Kinship Studies
- American Poetry
- Vulnerability Studies
- Trauma Studies
- Transnational American Studies
Postdoc Project
Contesting Kinship(s): Transing Sex and Gender from the 19th through the early 21st century in Canada and the United States
Teaching
| Winter Semester 2026/2027 | "20th Century American Women's Poetry." Mittelseminar, Department of English I, University of Cologne, Germany. |
| "MS American Cultural Studies." Proseminar, Department of English I, University of Cologne, Germany. | |
| Summer Semester 2026 | "A Survey of American Literature." BA-level Seminar, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. |
| "Puritanism Through the Ages." BA-level Seminar, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. | |
| Summer Semester 2025 | "Representations of Sex and Gender Nonconformity in 19th-century U.S. Literature." BA-level Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| Winter Semester 2023/2024 | "'I Write My Heart Out Now' – Movements in Contemporary U.S. Poetry." BA- and MA-level Seminar, part of UNIC@RUB International Virtual Exchange Program in cooperation with Faculté des Lèttres, Université de Liège, Prof. Michel Delville and Dr. Ella Mingazova. |
| Summer Semester 2023 | "'Reality Is No Obstacle' – A Survey of U.S. Protest Poetry." BA-level Übung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| Summer Semester 2022 | "'I Miss You More Than I Remember You' – Introduction to Contemporary South and South East Asian American Literature." BA-level Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| Winter Semester 2021/2022 | "LGBTQIA+ in the US." BA-level Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| Summer Semester 2021 | "Femininity/Masculinity in U.S. Modernist Literature." BA-level Übung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
Publications
Articles
- Machtenberg, Julia. "Localizing the Global in Sylvia Plath's 'Fever 103°'." Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies (JAAAS), vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 260–268. DOI (Open Access)
- Machtenberg, Julia. "Norms, Myths, and Vulnerability : Audre Lorde’s Reconstruction of Self in '125th Street and Abomey'." Current Objectives in Postgraduate American Studies (COPAS), vol. 24, no. 1, 2023, pp. 9–20. DOI (Open Access)
- Machtenberg, Julia. "Processing Trauma Through Art." Diamonds in the Rough: A Literary Magazine, vol. 1, no. 1, 2019. DOI, Online Volltext (Open Access)
Book Reviews
- Machtenberg, J. "New Queer Television: From Marginalization to Mainstreamification." Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, vol. 74, no. 1, 2026, pp. 105–108. DOI (Open Access)
Monographs
- Machtenberg, J. Dis/United States of Vulnerability: Literary and Cultural Transgressions in U.S. Poetry Since the 1960s. Universitätsverlag Winter, 2026. (Open Access)
Academic Career
| since 08/2026 | Research Associate on parental leave cover at the English Seminar I, University of Cologne, Germany |
| 02/2026–08/2026 | Research Associate on parental leave cover at the Department of Anglophone Studies, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany |
| 07/2025–12/2025 | Research Fellow at the Ruhr-University Bochum's Research School |
| 04/2021–09/2025 | Lecturer in American Studies at the English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany |
| 07/2020–07/2025 | PhD Candidate at the English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| 04/2020–03/2022 | Research Assistant for Prof. Dr. Kornelia Freitag, Chair of American Studies, English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany |
| 10/2019–03/2020 | Student Assistant for Prof. Dr. Kornelia Freitag, Chair of American Studies, English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany |
| 03/2019–08/2019 | Tutor for school children, classes 1-13, in the subjects English and German at the tutoring institute Kluge Wahl, Bochum, Germany |
| 10/2018–03/2019 | Writing Tutor for Dr. Knox-Raab, Department of Anglophone Studies, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany |
Academic Service
| 2025 | Reviewer at gender forum: An Internet Journal for Gender Studies, Early Career Researchers Issue XII, vol. 25, no. 2, 2026 |
| 2023–2025 | Co-speaker of the Diversity Roundtable of the GAAS (German Association for American Studies) |
| since 2021 | Proofreader at the Volunteer Proofreader Initiative by Scholars at Risk |
| 2021–2025 | Reviewer for the Research School funding lines PR.INT and PR.INT Event |
Education
| 07/2020–07/2025 | PhD in American Studies at the English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. Title of dissertation: "Dis/United States of Vulnerability: Literary and Cultural Transgressions in U.S. Poetry Since the 1960s." |
| 10/2017–03/2020 | 1-subject Master of Arts in English and American Studies at the English Seminar, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. Title of Master thesis: "Towards a Re-envisioning of US Space: Meena Alexander’s Raw Silk." |
| 10/2013–07/2017 | 2-subjects Bachelor of Arts in German and Anglophone Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Title of Bachelor thesis: "A Feminist Reading of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird." |
| 09/2004–06/2013 | Gymnasium Luisenschule, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany |
| 08/2000–08/2004 | Grundschule am Oemberg, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany |
Memberships
| Member of the German Association for American Studies |
| Member of Amnesty International |
Scholarships and Grants
| 2025 | Research Stipend for conducting preliminary work on a postdoctoral project, awarded by the Ruhr-University Bochum's Research School |
| 2022 | Stipend for the writing of the doctoral dissertation ("Promotionsstipendium"), awarded by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |
Organizational Activities/Co-Organized Conferences
| 09/2026 | Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung e.V. (GfF): "Violence and the Fantastic/Gewalt und Fantastik." Sept. 17-19, 2026. University of Cologne, Germany. |
| 02/2025 | Diversity Roundtable Symposium: "Care and Neglect in (German) American Studies." Feb. 07-08, 2025. Online Symposium. |
| 02/2024 | Transcending Boundaries – Interdisciplinary Insights in Transpacific Studies. Feb. 9-11, 2024. Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany. |
| 01/2024 | 2024 Ruhr PhD Forum in American Studies. Jan. 26-27, 2024. Universität Duisburg Essen, TU Dortmund, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. |
| 02/2023 | 2023 Ruhr PhD Forum in American Studies. Feb. 3-4, 2023. Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. |
Academic Talks and Presentations (Selection)
| 01/2026 | "'Isn't there still / Something Singing?'—Ada Limón's 'The Leash' as (Anti-)Anthropocene Necropoetics." Jan. 28-30, 2026. Anthropocene Necropoetics, University of Cologne, Germany. |
| 05/2025 | "Audre Lorde's Rearticulation of Vulnerability." May 16-17, 2025. Contemporary Poetics, Communities, and Publics—Inaugural European Association of American Studies Poetry Network Symposium, University of Göttingen, Germany. |
| 05/2024 | "Soundscapes of a Transpacific Phenomenology: Ocean Vuong's 'Aubade with Burning City.'" May 23-25, 2024. German Association for American Studies Annual Conference, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany. |
| 02/2024 | "Vulnerability and Responsibility in Ocean Vuong's Night Sky with Exit Wounds." Feb. 9-11, 2024. Interdisciplinary Insights in Transpacific Studies. International Hybrid Conference of the Transpacific Studies Network. Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany. |
| 10/2023 | "'Let's pretend your city // is Evanescence –' Agha Shahid Ali's Translocal Reconfiguration of the North American Continent." Oct. 20-22, 2023. 50th Annual AAAS Conference: Versions of America. Speculative Pasts, Presents, Futures. Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt, Austria. |
| 10/2022 | "Localizing the Global in Sylvia Plath's Cold War Poetry." Oct. 21-23, 2022. Narrative, Environment, Social Justice: Austrian Association for American Studies Annual Conference, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Austria. |
| 07/2021 | "Of Estrangement and Belonging: Reimagining US Space in Meena Alexander's 'Kabir Sings in a City of Burning Towers.'" July 1-2, 2021. Radical Possibilities: Protest, Crisis, and Reshaping North American Democracies, FU Berlin, Germany. |
| 02/2021 | "Vulnerability in US-American Poetry." Feb. 12-13, 2021. 2021 Ruhr PhD Forum in American Studies. TU Dortmund, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. |
Third Mission
- "Takudzwa Mukesi | Echoes from Black (w)holes: (Form)ularising Singularity." Performative reading on the genocide in Namibia and its enduring legacy. July 14, 2026. Fritz Bauer Forum, Bochum, Germany.
- "Wofür protestierst Du? – Veranstaltung zum Tag der Menschenrechte." Co-organization and co-moderation of an evening program dedicated to protest movements around the world. Dec. 10, 2025. Fritz Bauer Forum, Bochum, Germany.
- "'Poetry Is Not a Luxury – Poesie ist kein Luxus': Intersektionalität in der Lyrik von Audre Lorde." Workshop, March 12, 2024. Fritz Bauer Forum, Bochum, Germany.
- "'Die Macht des Wortes: Menschenrechtsdiskurse in Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail.'" Workshop, Feb. 1, 2024. Fritz Bauer Forum, Bochum, Germany.