Dr Susanne Scharnowski (e-mail: susanne.scharnowski@fu-berlin.de ) studied German and English at Freie Universität Berlin and did her doctorate on Clemens Brentano. Before returning to Freie Universität in 2003, she was a DAAD lecturer in England (Gonville and Caius College / University of Cambridge, 1990-1993), Taiwan (National Taiwan University, 1999-2000) and Australia (University of Melbourne, 2000-2003); she has also been a visiting lecturer in Poland (at the University of Wroclaw, 2006, as well as the Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej, Lublin, 2008) and in the Netherlands (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2013).
In 2019, her book "Heimat: Geschichte eines Missverständnisses" was published by the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. She is currently researching the concept of place in cultural history. More information, detailed curriculum vitae and list of publications: http://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/we04/institut/mitarbeiter/scharnowski/

She teaches courses on the cultural and political history of nature and the environment, the cultural history of food, the representation of nature and the environment in literary and non-literary discourse, the concept of place and utopian and dystopian urban visions.

Jessica Sehrt is the secretary and assists with bureaucratic matters. You will find her contact details and office hours here: https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/we04/ndl/mitarbeiter_innen/sekretariate/sehrt.html.

Tutors are more advanced students who are here to help exchange students in various ways: they can help you with general questions about living and studying in Berlin; they are also here to help you with queries about registration, transcripts and other administrative things.

Presently, there is one tutor: Frederica Hansen-Casquinho.

She is joinable – also during vacation – at: berlin.studis.helfen@gmail.com.

Dr. Annika Becker (annika.becker@fu-berlin.de) offers courses on theatre in Berlin, the history of espionage in Berlin during the Cold War and the potentials and risks of artificial intelligence.

Personal details: She studied Comparative Literature and Drama at the University of Augsburg and at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. Doctorate with a thesis on novel adaptations in contemporary theatre. From 2017 to 2021 she was a research assistant at the Chair of Comparative Literature/European Literatures at the University of Augsburg. In 2023, she joined FU Berlin where she teaches in the study programme for visiting students. Publication: Deception Games. Unreliable Narrative on Stage. Bielefeld: transcript, 2022. Office hours and contact information: https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/we04/ndl/mitarbeiter_innen/wimi/becker/index.html

Dr. Sabine Bierwirth (bierwirth@zedat.fu-berlin.de) has taught courses in previous semesters on Literature and Culture in the GDR, Berlin in crime-fiction, and Female Figures in Berlin History and Present.

She studied German literature, French language and literature, and educational science at the Heinrich-Heine University at Düsseldorf and wrote her doctoral thesis on Heinrich Heine. She worked as an editor at the Heine-Institute (Düsseldorf) and has many years of experience in teaching German as a foreign language. She has taught at several American universities (Georgetown University, University of Maryland, American University, 2006-2009) and at the University Paris Sud in France, 2015-2016; from 2010 to 2014 she taught in the program for exchange students and in the masters course “Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Kulturvermittlung” at Freie Universität Berlin. She has published on Heinrich Heine and on 18^th century literature; her current area of research is the literature of the Restoration period. 

Dr. Muriel Ernestus(m.ernestus@fu-berlin.de) gives courses on film and theatre. In past semesters she has given courses on film in the Weimar Republic, National Socialism and film, film in the GDR, and Berlin theatre.

She studied modern German literature, comparative literature and Roman languages at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, University of Bourgogne (Dijon), and Freie Universität Berlin. She obtained her doctorate on political contemporary theatre. From 2003 to 2008 she worked as a research fellow at the Department of German language and at Freie Universität Berlin. She has been teaching in the study program for exchange students since 2010. Publications: Von politischem Theater und flexiblen Arbeitswelten. Überlegungen zu Theatertexten von Widmer, Richter und Pollesch. Berlin: sine causa, 2012. Office hours and contact details: http://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/we04/institut/mitarbeiter/ernestus/index.html

Dr. Gregor Hens teaches courses, mostly in English, on European literature after 1945 and on cultural aspects of urbanism. In addition, he offers creative writing workshops.

Biography: Hens read German Studies and Linguistics at the University of Bonn and the University of Missouri. He earned a PhD from the University of California-Berkeley, and taught at Ohio State University from 1995 to 2012. Hens is a writer and literary translator, his latest work is the novel Missouri (Aufbau Verlag, 2019). His memoir Nicotine was translated into English, Spanish and French. He started teaching in the FU program for international students in 2020.

Dagmar Boeck-Siebenhaar, Dipl.-Päd. (dagmar.boeck-siebenhaar@fu-berlin.de) teaches courses on the cultural system and creative economy in Berlin and Germany.
She studied Slavic and German language and literature, pedagogy and psychology. After working as a teacher, she co-founded the FU degree course Culture and Media Management. Until the end of 2017, she was managing director of the Department of Culture and Media Management and also taught courses in the same field.
Her current work focuses on cultural education (as a cultural policy paradigm, as one aspect of audience development), cultural and media projects in theory and practice, management of media institutions (publishing industry), and creative industries. Since 2009, she has been active in international exchange and qualification programmes. Through her many years of experience in the publishing sector, she is also  familiar with the practical side of Berlin's creative industries.

Dr. Georg Jansen gives courses on Berlin as a place of literature and art.

He studied literature, music and linguistics at the universities of Bonn, Lisbon and the Freie Universität Berlin, obtained his doctorate in 2004 at the Freie Universität Berlin. DAAD lecturer in Braga, Lisbon and Beijing, research fellow in the department of inter-cultural German Studies at Göttingen University; since 2011, lecturer in the program for exchange students. His publications include: Prinzip und Prozess Auslöschung. Intertextuelle Destruktion und Konstitution des Romans bei Thomas Bernhard. Königshausen&Neumann, Würzburg 2005; “Kafka in Peking. Eine literarische Erschließung der chinesischen Mauer.” In: Schönes neues China – Das Argument-Buch, Band 296/2012, pp. 239-248.

 Dr. Ulrich Krellner gives courses on the divided Berlin, Jewish culture in Berlin, and the German reunification.

He studied German literature, history and philosophy at the Technical University of Braunschweig, University of Vienna and at the Humboldt University Berlin, and wrote his doctorate on the author Uwe Johnson at the Freie Universität Berlin. He subsequently researched and taught at the Swedish universities of Lund (2002-2003) and Stockholm (2005-2009) and at the University of Limerick (2009). His most important publications and main research themes are on literature in the time of Goethe, German literature after 1945 and aesthetic questions in art theory. 

Daniel Nethery offers courses in German history and politics in European perspective.
He studied mathematics and French at the University of Melbourne, meteorology–oceanography–climatology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and modern history at the University of Sydney. He has worked in the public and private sectors and in social policy at the University of NSW. His current research focuses on the history of the welfare state with regard to migration and colonialism. He joined the Berlin and German Studies program in 2020.

Dr. Hildegard Piegeler gives courses on Berlin as a multi-cultural and multi-religious city.

She studied German literature, philosophy and religious studies at the Freie Universität Berlin and obtained her doctorate in 2008. From 2002 to 2005 she was a research fellow at the department of in German Language and Literature at the Freie Universität Berlin. She has been teaching in the program for exchange students since 2011. Her most important publications include: Gelebte Religionen. Untersuchungen zur sozialen Gestaltungskraft religiöser Vorstellungen und Praktiken in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Würzburg: Könighausen & Neumann, 2004; Von den „hautes Sciences“ zur Esoterik. Phil. Diss. 2008 (Microfiche); Tarot. Bilderwelten der Esoterik. München: Fink, 2010.

Dr. Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe teaches courses on the Holocaust, Fascism, and European and transnational history.

He studied cultural history and Eastern European history at the Viadrina European University (Frankfurt/Oder). He wrote his doctoral dissertation at the University of Alberta and the Universität Hamburg, and defended it in 2012 in Hamburg. Since then he has worked as research assistant at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut of the Freie Universität Berlin. He specializes in the history of the Holocaust, World War II, transnational fascism, antisemitism and nationalism, and ethnic conflicts and genocides. For more information and publications, see http://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/fmi/institut/arbeitsbereiche/ab_bauerkaemper/Mitarbeiter/Grzegorz_Rossolinski-Liebe.html