Dr Katharina Karcher BA, MA, PhD

• Bachelor of Arts, Bauhaus University Weimar (Germany)
• Master of Arts, Utrecht University (Netherlands)
• PhD, University of Warwick (GB)

I joined the Department of Modern Languages as Lecturer in German at Birmingham in September 2018. Prior to this post, I had a lectureship at the University of Bristol and held research fellowships at the University of Warwick and the University of Cambridge. I hold degrees in German Studies, Gender Studies, and Cultural Studies, and my research and teaching draw on insights and theories from these and other academic fields.

I would be happy to supervise students with a research interest in:

Political violence and terrorism
Gender and conflict
Feminist protest and European women’s movements
Feminist Theory
1968 and its legacy
Political extremism
Contemporary German culture and politics

Find out more - our PhD German Studies  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

My research combines theories and methods from cultural studies, history and feminist theory to analyse social movements and protest cultures in the post-1945 era from a gender perspective.

I have published widely on feminist protest and female political violence in the Federal Republic of Germany. My first monograph, developed out of my PhD with the support of a MHRA Research Scholarship and titled “Sisters in Arms?”: Militant Feminisms in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1968, was published by Berghahn in 2017. A German edition of the book (partly funded by the Rosa-Luxemburg foundation) was published in September 2018 by Assoziation A.

My current research links historical and contemporary debates about political extremism in the UK and in Germany. Drawing on new archival material, I will offer the first detailed study of the English exile of Germany’s iconic student leader, Rudi Dutschke. Following the attempt to assassinate him in 1968, Dutschke sought medical treatment in England and lived there until 1971, when he had to leave because he was considered a threat to national security. My research not only contributes to a better understanding of Dutschke’s political thought and life; it also offers a timely perspective on discourses and debates concerning the alleged threat that immigrants pose to national security.

Dr Karcher has (co-)organised the following conferences and events:

• Organizer of the interdisciplinary symposium ‘Rudi Dutschke: political activist, political refugee, political threat?’ at the University of Cambridge (2017).
• Co-organizer of the 3-day international conference ‘Women – violence – 1968’ at the University of Cambridge (2016).
• Lead organizer of a workshop on right-wing violence in contemporary Germany and a reading by the German Jewish author Esther Dischereit at the University of Cambridge (2015).
• Lead organizer of a film screening and panel discussion about right-wing extremism in contemporary Europe at the ‘Festival of Ideas’, Cambridge (2015).
• Co-organizer of an interdisciplinary workshop on feminist theory and practice at the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick (2014).          
• Organizer of the interdisciplinary symposium ‘Militant Feminisms in Art and Politics’, University of Warwick (2014).
• Organizer of a one-day-event with French philosopher Luce Irigaray, University of Warwick (2013).

Memberships and Professional Associations:          

• Modern Humanities Research Association
• Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland
• Feminist and Women's Studies Association UK
• German History Society