Dr. des. Annika Brunck

Annika Brunck joined the American Studies department in 2014. She completed her dissertation entitled "Fighting 'the Evil Scourge of Terrorism': From 'Jewish Terrorism' to 'Islamic Terrorism' in the United States, 1940-2017" in December 2018. The project traces the development of the 'terrorism' discourse in American politics, academia, popular culture, and the news media since the 1940s with a focus on how American perceptions of the Middle East influenced ideas about 'terrorism.' Ms Brunck is also a member of COST Action 15101 “COMPACT” (“Comparative Approaches to Conspiracy Theories”), on whose grant application she extensively collaborated. She served as the Action's Grant Manager in its crucial first year and ensured its smooth running. Ms Brunck holds a Master of Arts in British and North American Cultural Studies from the University of Freiburg and a Bachelor of Arts in English Philology and Spanish Philology from the Free University of Berlin. She has spent extended time abroad in the U.S., in Spain, and in England and speaks German, English, Spanish, and French. Her research interests include American literature and culture from the 20th century to the present, cultural theory, popular culture, conspiracy theories, and (critical) terrorism studies.