Finding the balance between proximity and distance is crucial for peaceful coexistence”.
Dr Marie Kolkenbrock
07 October 2019
Dr Marie Kolkenbrock named Branco Weiss Fellow
Dr Marie Kolkenbrock, a postdoctoral fellow joining King’s College London in January 2020, announced as one of the five recipients of the coveted Branco Weiss Fellowship.
Congratulations to Dr Marie Kolkenbrock, who has been selected as one of the five recipients of the prestigious Branco Weiss Fellowship – a fellowship for outstanding postdoctoral researchers awarded by the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology).
During her fellowship, Dr Kolkenbrock will investigate the concept of distance and how it emerged in the twentieth century in various disciplines as both a problem and a solution for life in modern societies. Through readings of works of psychology, philosophical anthropology, literature, and film, Dr Kolkenbrock aims to explore the conceptualization and cultivation of distance. Her research will provide an answer to fundamental questions such as how to live together in private relationships, within societies, and across nation-states.
The Branco Weiss Fellowship – Society in Science was established in 2002 as a platform for researchers in the natural sciences and engineering who strive to extend their scientific work to answer social and cultural questions. As a Branco Weiss Fellow, Dr Kolkenbrock will be awarded a generous research grant, as well as up to five years of interdisciplinary research in the unique postdoc program.
I’d like to congratulate Marie for gaining this incredibly prestigious fellowship, and I’m delighted that she’s chosen to take it up at King’s. German at King’s is a thriving and diverse research community, in which Marie will play an important role. We’re all excited about working with her and witnessing the development of her groundbreaking project.”
Dr Sarah Bowden, Head of the Department of German
Dr Kolkenbrock joins the Department of German at King’s College London in January 2020 from the University of Cambridge where she was previously a Research Associate and Affiliated Lecturer. Her teaching interests include the German language, literature and culture from the Eighteenth-Century to the present.
Alongside her academic work, Dr Kolkenbrock has published several highly influential works. These include the monograph Stereotype and Destiny in Arthur Schnitzler’s Prose, alongside articles in the Journal of Austrian Studies and Edited Volumes.
For further information about the Branco Weiss Fellowship, please visit https://brancoweissfellowship.org/.
(Aug 2022 - The Department of German now the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures).