I am a modern cultural, intellectual, and religious historian, with further expertise in ancient Judaism and Semitic philology. My research centers on the formation, transmission, and circulation of knowledge about the ancient world both in and between Europe and the Middle East from 1770 to 1930.
In my early work, I concentrated on the technical scholarly practices as well as the nationalist, political, and theological forces that shaped representations of early Judaism in the German Empire. The focus centered on biblical, classical, and oriental studies.
In my latest work, I examine philology as the premier science of the nineteenth century. This research concentrates on the networks, media, and infrastructure involved in collecting, circulating, and processing textual artifacts. This research expands traditional work on the history of the humanities by combining an understanding of global and colonial history, media theory, informatics, and history of science.
Since 2019, I have been a Research Fellow of the Flemish Research Council (FWO). Before coming to Ghent, I was a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Cambridge and Queens' College (2017–19) and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Göttingen (2016–17). In 2016, I obtained my Dr. phil. in Medieval & Modern History, with highest distinction, from Göttingen, where I was also a Fulbright Scholar. During doctoral studies, I held research fellowships at the University of Chicago, Leibniz Institute of European History (Mainz), and Max Weber Centre for Advanced Studies (Erfurt). This followed an MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary.
My work appears in the finest journals of history, religion, and culture, such as History & Theory, Critical Inquiry, Central European History, and Harvard Theological Review. My first monograph, on the historiography of ancient Israel in the German Empire, was published by Mohr Siebeck in 2018. For a full listing of my publications (together with abstracts!), see my page on Humanities Commons: link via Personal Website in the right sidebar.
In addition to the FWO, I have secured funding from the European Commission (Horizon2020), Fulbright Program, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), American Schools of Oriental Research, and U4 University Network.
