Research Interests

I am a German-Australian with a background in trade unionism, community work & the creative arts, especially music. Prior to moving to Aotearoa/NZ 20 years ago, I resided in Japan, Italy & Belgium. Whilst in Brussels I studied French & creative writing. For the past 15 years I have been dedicated to close readings of Freud & Lacan as well as contemporary feminist French philosophers, enabling new insights into my curiosities regarding theoretical & creative expressions of subjective antagonisms.

I've recently completed a book on Jankélévitch's theory of stoic ‘political refusal’ following the Holocaust, from a Lacanian perspective. I am currently working on a manuscript focusing on performing music/s during wartime. A collection of my creative essays and poetry will be published in 2023.

I have completed editing a collection of essays, 'Psychoanalysis and Stupidity' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023) which puts the experience of encountering stupidity as a specific philosophical, subjective, & social curiosity.

Among other things, I have published texts on psychoanalysis, the status of curiosity, creativity, subjectivities & ontology, as well as translating German & French texts to English.

My editorial commitments currently are:

Continental Thought & Theory (coeditor); CounterFutures: Leftist Thought in Aotearoa/NZ; Emerging Conversations in the Global Humanities (Parlor Press); Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies (Brill) & S-Journal (Open Humanities Press)

Currently I supervise postgraduate students whose research questions focus on: music & emotions; Asia-Pacific feminism(s); contemporary French philosophy & ‘hospitality’; & filmic depictions of war. I am currently full to capacity & will be on sabbatical Jan-July '23, residing in Slovenia & Germany