• Professor
• Geschäftsführende Leiterin des Institutes für fremdsprachliche Philologien

English: My main research focuses on gender studies, particularly masculinity studies. I am especially interested in the interconnectedness of the political and the category of masculinity as we find it in anglophone cultures. Be this a prime minister who is celebrated in the media for being the only one to become a father while holding office, be it the brief close-up of a political candidate's naked calf while he pushes a pedal in a campaign video, the bravado with which a party leader describes his school-time rebellion in an autobiography, or why a chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force talks about taking off "the Russian bear's" testicles  - I tease out the way these cultural representations play on certain ideas of masculinity in order to reach their voters or other audiences.

In addition, I interrogate depictions of masculinity in other cultural arenas, for example in advertising, and identify how these interact with other social norms and why it is important to deal with them.

I also work on cultures (particularly films) of the Cold War, contemporary British theatre, and Western depictions of post-socialist culture.

Deutsch: Ich forsche hauptsächlich zu Gender, insbesondere zu Männlichkeit. Dabei interessiert mich vor allem die Verwobenheit von Politik und der Kategorie Männlichkeit in anglophonen Kulturen. Sei dies ein Premierminister, der in den Medien dafür gefeiert wird, dass er als Einziger während seiner Amtszeit Vater wird, sei es der kurze Kameraschwenk auf die nackte Wade eines Pedalen tretenden Kandidaten in einem Wahlkampfvideo, die Mischung aus Draufgängertum und Angeberei, mit der ein Parteichef seine Rebellion während der Schulzeit in seiner Autobiografie präsentiert, oder warum ein Stabschef der U.S. Air Force davon redet, dem "russischen Bären" die Hoden abnehmen zu wollen - ich arbeite heraus, auf welche Art und Weise diese kulturellen Repräsentationen mit bestimmten Vorstellungen von Männlichkeit spielen, um ihre Wähler(innen) und anderes Publikum zu erreichen.

Außerdem untersuche ich Darstellungen von Männlichkeit auf anderen kulturellen Gebieten, zum Beispiel in der Werbung, und stelle dar, wie diese mit anderen sozialen Normen zusammenspielen und warum es wichtig ist, sich mit ihnen zu beschäftigen.

Weiterhin arbeite ich zu Kulturen des Kalten Krieges (Film), zeitgenössischem britischen Theater und westlichen Darstellungen von post-sozialistischen Kulturen.

Ein kurzer Einblick in meine Forschung:

SWR2 Interview zur Konferenz "Political Masculinties"

SR2 Kulturradio Interview zu Männlichkeit in der Bierwerbung

Karlsruhe Science Slam 2014:

"Eine kleine Geschichte der Frau als Krankheit. Oder: Warum Mario Barth funktioniert"

Ulm Science Slam 2015:

"Als die CIA den Teufel jagte und Gott amerikanischer Staatsbürger war. Oder: die wundersame Welt des Kalten Krieges"

Interview beim Bundesverband für Medientraining 2019

Current & Recent Projects:

• In progress: Guest Editor of Special Issue of European Journal of Politics and Gender "Political Masculinity as an Analytical Category" (with Elin Bjarnegard, Uppsala University & Russel Luyt, University of Greenwich)

Recently Published:

•  Starck, Kathleen & Russell Luyt (eds.). Masculine Power and Gender Equality. Masculinities as Change Agents. Springer, 2020.
• with Russell Luyt: "Only for the Brave? Political Men and Masculinities: Change Agents for Gender Equality." in Starck/Luyt (eds.) Masculine Power and Gender Equality: Masculinities as Change Agents. Springer, 2020, 1-14.
• "We are Trying to Stay Positive in Here: Austerity and Agency in Alexander Zeldin's Play Love." Studia Neophilologica, Routledge, 2020.
• with Marion Löffler & Russell Luyt. "Political Masculinities and Populism," Special Issue of NORMA , Routledge, vol. 15 no 1, 2020.
• with Marion Löffler & Russell Luyt."Political Masculinities and Populism." NORMA, Routledge, Vol. 15, no 1, 2020, 1-9.
• "I am a bull trader by nature: performing Nigel Farage," NORMA, Routledge, Vol 15 no 1, 2020, 43-58.
• (with Russell Luyt) Special Issue of Men and Masculinities: "Political Masculinities and Social Transition". Sage. vol. 22/3, 2019.
• Teaching Award of the University of Koblenz-Landau

for the class "Improvisation for Foreign Language Teachers", summer term 2018

• International Summer School:

Political Masculinities in Europe: New Definitions, Methods & Approaches, for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, 20-24 August 2018, at Landau University, funded by 

• Editing of Special Issue of the Journal for the Study of British Cultures on "Britain and the Cold War", 2018.
• Conference "Political Masculinities and Populism" at Landau University, 1-3 December 2017, co-organised with Russell Luyt (University of Greenwich, London)
• Founding of Research Network "Political Masculinities"
• Monograph: Of Treason, God and Testicles. Political Masculinities in British and American Films of the Early Cold War. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.

Recommended Websites/Projects:

Campaign "targeting the products, media and marketing that prescribe heavily stereotyped and limiting roles to young girls."

Feminist Frequency: "advocates for an inclusive and rerpresentative media landscape and the eredication of online harrassment."

Tätigkeiten

• Professorin

Externe Plattformen für Publikationen

• SciPort RLP

Externe Plattformen für Publikationen

SciPort RLP

I. Books

Monographs:

I Believe in the Power of Theatre. British Women's Drama of the 1980s and 1990s . CDE Studies . Ed. Martin Middeke. Trier: WVT, 2005.

Of Treason, God and Testicles. Political Masculinities in British and American Films of the Early Cold War. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.

Editions:

Sandten, Cecile/Schrader-Kniffki, Martina/Starck, Kathleen (Eds.). Transkulturelle Begegnungen. Trier: WVT, 2007.

(Ed.) When the World Turne Upside-Down: Cultural Representations of Post-1989 Eastern Europe. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.

(Ed.) Between Fear and Freedom. Cultural Representations of the Cold War. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

Hg. Von Hexen, Politik und schönen Männern - Geschlecht in Wissenschaft, Kultur und Alltag. Landauer Vorlesungsreihe Gender. Gender-Diskussion, Bd. 17, Münster: LIT, 2013.

(Ed. with Birgit Sauer). A Man's World? Political Masculinities in Literature and Culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.

 with Russel Luyt: Masculine Power and Gender Equality: Masculinities as Change Agents. Springer, 2020.

Journals-Special Issues:

"British Cold War Cultures", Special Issue of Journal for the Study of British Cultures, 1/2017, Königshausen & Neumann 2018.

with Russell Luyt: "Political Masculinities and Social Transition", Special Issue of Men and Masculinities, Sage, Vol. 22/2019, published online at "Online First", journals.sagepub.com/toc/jmm/0/0,

with Marion Löffler & Russell Luyt. "Political Masculinities and Populism," Special Issue of NORMA , Routledge, vol. 15 no 1, 2020.

with Elin Bjarnegard, "Political Masculinities as an Analytical Category." Special Issue of European Journal of Politics and Gender,  7/2024.

II. Miscellaneous

"Die Regionen, der Professor und ich." In Frauke Hofmeister & Dietmar Böhnke (eds). Kulturkontakte. Cultures in Contact. Essays for Jochen Schwend. Leipzig: Edition Hamouda, 2013, 94-103.

Radio Interviews

Interview SWR2 zu Konferenz Political Masculinities - Dezember 2012

Interview SR2 Kulturradio zu Männlichkeit in der Bierwerbung - Januar 2017

Interview for the Association of German Media Coaches (Bundesverband der Medientrainer)

on the gender bias in media representations: "Es gibt in den Medien eine Geschlechterhierarchie"

Köln, January 2019

Presentation at 12th Karlsruhe Science Slam, June 2014:

"Eine kleine Geschichte der Frau als Krankheit. Oder: Warum Mario Barth funktioniert"

Karlsruhe_Science_Slam

Presentation at Ulm Science Slam, October February 2015:

"Als die CIA den Teufel jagte und Gott amerikanischer Staatsbürger war. Oder: die wundersame Welt des Kalten Krieges"

III. Articles

“Women at the Traverse Theatre – The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2000.” Anglistik. 12/1. Universitätsverlag Heidelberg, 2001.

“Exploring Boundaries – Edinburgh Fringe Productions 2001.” Forum Modernes Theater. Bd. 17/1. Tübingen: Narr, 2002.

Pankratz, Annette/Starck, Kathleen/Tönnies, Merle/von Rothkirch, Alyce. “Making Play-Texts Live: Teaching Drama as Experience.” CDE Studies. Ed. Bernhard Reitz. Trier: WTV, 2003, 247-264.

“Battlefield 'Body' – Gregory Burke’s Gagarin Way and Anthony Neilson’s Stitching.” CDE Studies. Ed. Bernhard Reitz. Trier: WVT, 2004, 171-179.

Schlote, Christiane & Kathleen Starck. “From Displacement to Arrival: Reflections on Exile and Diaspora in the Theatre.” CDE Studies. Ed. Berhard Reitz. Trier: WVT, 2005, 25-52.

“Black and Female is Some of Who I am and I Want to Explore it: Black British Women Playwrights of the 1980s and 1990s.” Studies in Theatre and Performance. Vol. 26, No 1, 2006, 49-67.

“'They Call me an Asian Writer as well' – Tanika Gupta's Sanctuary, Skeleton and Inside Out.” Alternatives Within the Mainstream: British Black and Asian Theatre. Ed. Dimple Godiwala. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2006, 348-363.

“Current Global Conflict and the Invasion of the Private in The Pull of Negative Gravity and When the Bulbul Stopped Singing.” CDE Studies. Eds. Mark Schreiber & Thomas Rommel. Trier: WVT, 2006, 61-72.

“Someone Who Would Get my Jokes – Kulturelle Identitäten in Meera Syals Life isn't all Ha ha Hee hee.” Transkulturelle Begegnungen . Eds. Cecile Sandten/Martina Schrader-Kniffki/Kathleen Starck. Trier: WVT, 2007, 173-188.

“Up against a Brick Wall? – Understanding the Ritual Qualities of Northern Irish Murals.” Rhetoric and Representation. The British at War. anglistik & englischunterricht, Bd. 70, 2007, 181-202.

“Soap, Sexual Identity, and Midlife Crisis – Lesbian Drama Between Essentialism and Gender Trouble.” Alternatives Within the Mainstream II: Lesbian Drama. Ed. Dimple Godiwala. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007, 219-238.

“'From a Land of Hot Rain and Hurricanes' - Polly Teale's Stage Adaptation of Jane Eyre.” A Breath of Fresh Eyre. Intertextual and Intermedial Reworkings of Jane Eyre. Eds. Margarete Rubrik & Elke Mettinger-Schartmann. Amsterdam: Ropdopi. 2007, 363-374.

“Much Ado About Nothing? The Production of Cultural Meaning and the Case of Rachel Corrie.” Proceedings Anglistentag 2007. Ed. Klaus Stierstorfer, Trier: WVT, 2008, 125-131.

“‘The Black Super-Stud. On the Loose. After Our Women.’ Black Masculinity in Birth of a Nation and Native Son.” Representations of Evil. Eds. Ina Bergmann & Jochen Achilles, Trier: WVT, 2009, 183-195.

“I Won’t Disobey that Unwritten Code of Manhood” – Masculinities in Popular Culture: American Beauty, About a Boy and Men’s Health Magazine.” The Workings of the Anglosphere. Contributions to the Study of British
 and US-American Cultures, presented to Richard Stinshoff. Eds. Anton Kirchhofer & Jutta Schwarzkopf, Trier: WVT, 2009, 95-107.

“Post East-West? – An Introduction.” When the World Turned Upside-Down. Cultural Representations of Post-1989 Eastern Europe. Ed. Kathleen Starck, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009, 1-10.

‘“It is Your Mind We Want’– Filming the Religious Cold War and The Prisoner.” Religion, Secularity and Cultural Agency. Eds. Anton Kirchhofer & Richard Stinshoff, Trier: WVT, 2010, 151-172.

“'I Am Better Than You Are - Mad Politics and Hypermasculinity in Cold War Films.” Between Fear and Freedom. Cultural Representations of the Cold War. Ed. Kathleen Starck, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010, 53-66.

“Introduction - Why Cold War Cultures Matter.” Between Fear and Freedom. Cultural Representations of the Cold War. Ed. Kathleen Starck, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010, 1-7.

“Yet, the Details are not Simple” – Teaching Gender.” Teaching Cultural Studies. Methods - Matters - Models. Ed. Gabriele Linke, Heidelberg: Winter, 2011, 83-105.

“The Early Cold Warrior on Screen - An All-Purpose Signifier?.” Post-WW II Masculinities in American and British Literature and Culture. Towards Comparative Masculinity Studies. Ed. Stefan Horlacher & Kevin Floyd, Ashgate, 2013, 15-34.

"The Ultimate Cold War Monster - Exploring 'Mother' in the Film The Manchurian Candidate." The Female of the Species: Cultural Constructions of Evil, Women and the Feminine. Ed. Hannah Priest, Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2013.

"A Lot of Catching Up to Do - The Post-Cold War West as  a Civilizer of Eastern Europe in Rose Tremain's The Road Home." 'From Popular Goethe to Global Pop': Suchen nach dem Westen zwischen Erinnerung, Ermächtigung und Entmachtung. Eds. Ines Detmers & Birte Heilemann, Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, 2013, 55-69.

"'Round Here There's Only Two Choices' - 9/11, Multiculturalism and Neil Biswas' Bradford Riots." Deconstructing Terrorism. 9/11, 7/7 and Contemporary Culture. Eds. Jürgen Kamm, Jürgen Kramer & Bernd Lenz. Passauer Arbeiten zur Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft 11. Passau: Verlag Karl Stutz, 2013, 187-208.

"Give that Man a Beer. Masculinity and Beer Advertising." Films, Graphic Novels & Visuals: Developing Multiliteracies in Foreign Language Education - An Interdisciplinary Approach. Eds. Daniela Elsner, Sissy Helf, Britta Viehbrock, Münster: LIT, 2013, 155-167.

"Die wundersame Welt des Gender." Von Hexen, Politik und schönen Männern - Geschlecht in Wissenschaft, Kultur und Alltag. Landauer Vorlesungsreihe Gender. Hg. Kathleen Starck, Münster: LIT, 2013, 7-16.

(with Birgit Sauer). "Political Masculinities: Introduction." A Man's World? Political Masculinities in Literature and Culture. C-S-P, 2014, 3-10.

"'Join Our Band of Brothers': Screening 1980s Nationalism and Masculinity in This is England." A Man's World? Political Masculinities in Literature and Culture. Eds. Kathleen Starck & Birgit Sauer. C-S-P, 2014, 155-166.

with Russell Luyt. "Political Masculinities, Crisis Tendencies and Social Transition. Towards an Understanding of Change. In Special Issue of Men and Masculinties: Political Masculinities and Social Transition, Sage, Vol. 22/2019, published online at "Online First", https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X18782730 , 20 June 2018.

"A Heavy Sense of Dread. British Cold War Culture." Journal for the Study of British Cultures, 1/2017, Königshausen & Neumann, 2018, 3-9.

with Russell Luyt. "Only for the Brave? Political Men and Masculinities: Change Agents for Gender Equality." in Starck/Luyt (eds.) Masculine Power and Gender Equality: Masculinities as Change Agents. Springer, 2020, 1-14.

with Marion Löffler & Russell Luyt."Political Masculinities and Populism." NORMA, Routledge, Vol. 15, no 1, 2020, 1-9.

"I am a bull trader by nature: performing Nigel Farage," NORMA, Routledge, Vol 15 no 1, 2020,43-58.

Online, DOI: 10.1080/18902138.2020.1713627, published online 27 January 2020.

"We are trying to stay positive in here: austerity and agency in Alexander Zeldin’s play Love", Studia Neophilogica, Routledge,Vol, 92/2, 2020, DOI: 10.1080/00393274.2020.1751702 .

"Political Masculinities as an analytical category? Rethinking the concept." European Journal of Politics and Gender, 7/2024, 361-378, DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2024D000000026.

with Elin Bjarnegard: "Editorial", Special Issue of European Journal of Politics and Gender, 7/2024, 303-307, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2024D000000045.

IV. Encyclopedia entries

“Pam Gems.” Metzler Lexikon englischsprachiger Autoren. Ed. Ansgar Nünning. Stuttgart, Weimar: Metzler, 2002.

“Sarah Daniels.” Metzler Lexikon englischsprachiger Autoren. Ed. Ansgar Nünning. Stuttgart, Weimar: Metzler, 2002.

“Fratriarchy.” The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities. Eds. Michael Flood, Judith Kegan Gardiner, Bob Pease & Keith Pringle. London: Routledge, 2007.

V. Reviews

Jackie Kay: Life Mask in Wasafiri, No 46/2005, 81-82.

Dan Rebellato, ed. Modern British Playwrighting 2000-2009, London: Bloomsbury, 2013, In Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, vol. 3/2, 2015, 350-354.

Graham Saunders (ed.). British Theatre Companies: 1980-1994, London: Bloomsbury, 2015, In Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, vol. 7/1, 2019,  176-179.

VI. Selected Conference Papers

"'Politische Korrektheit gehört auf den Müllhauen der Geschichte!' Political Correctness, Tabubruch und Populismus", presented at Lecture Series "Political Correctness", Landau, May 2019.

"So ein Theater! Von falschen Ärzten, gemeinen Fabrikbesitzern und der Fähigkeit, sich in die Augen zu schauen - Theater in der Lehre", presented at Lecture Series "Kulturelle Bildung", Bochum, April 2019. 

"'No Easy Escape. No Easy Answers': Social Inequality in Alexander Zelda's Play Love", presented at "Economic Inequality and Literature" at Uppsala University, Sweden, October 2017.

"Scratching his Eyebrow with His Little Finger: Political Masculinities in Films of the Early Cold War", presented at "Political Masculinities as Agents of Change" at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, December 2016.

"'Join Our Band of Brothers'. Screening 1980s Nationalism and Masculinity in This is England", presented at "Becoming a Citizen", Mansfield College, Oxford, UK, July 2015.

"The Comedy of Gender - Performing Gender Identities in the British Comedy Series Man Stroke Woman", presented at ESSE 2012, Istanbul, September 2012.

"Give that Man a Beer. Masculinity and Beer Advertising", presented at Lecture Series "Cultural Studies Meets TEFL" at Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, December 2011; Siegen University, June 2012.

"'Round Here There's Only Two Choices' - 9/11, Multiculturalism and Neil Biswas Bradford Riots", presented at "Representing Terrorism", Passau University, June 2011.

“The Ultimate Cold War Monster – Exploring Mother in the Film The Manchurian Candidate”, presented at “Women, Evil and the Feminine”, Warsaw, May 2011.

“The Cold Warrior in British and American Films of the Early Cold War”, presented at “Transnational Masculinities”, Dresden, July 2010.

“Improvising Narrative – Introducing Improvisation Theatre”, presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Contemporary Drama in English (CDE), Paderborn, June 2010.

“The Good, the Bad, and the Stupid – Enemy Masculinities in the Cold War Film The Manchurian Candidate”, presented at “Feindbildkonstruktionen im Kalten Krieg”, February 2010, Bremen.

“In Love with the Other: Russian-American Romantic Relationships in Early Cold War Films”, presented at the Annual Aleksanteri Conference (“Cold War Interactions Reconsidered”), Helsinki, Finland, October 2009.

“The Religious Turn in Cold War Films: The Prisoner”, presented at the Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of British Culture (“Post-Secular Britain?”), Oldenburg, November 2008

“The End of Multiculturalism in Neil Biswas’ Bradford Riots”, presented at the Annual ESSE Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, August 2008

“Nationhood and Masculinity in Birth of a Nation”, presented the Annual American Men's Studies Association Conference (“Masculinities and Institutions: Mapping the Connections”), Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, April 2008

VII. Recent Projects

• Founding of international research network "Political Masculinities", see also

Network Political Masculinities

• Organisation (with Russell Luyt, Cambridge) of international and interdisciplinary conference "Political Masculinities and Social Transition" at the University of Landau, 27-29 November, 2015
• Organisation (with Birgit Sauer, University of Vienna) of international and interdisciplinary conferences "Political Masculinites" at the University of Vienna, 14-16 November 2013

and

• "Political Masculinities" at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau, 30 November to 2 December 2012
• Study trip on with Landau students to Edinburgh, UK, June 2012 (organization of class and main preparation of trip: Natascha Haas).
• Lecture series "Gender in der Popkultur", summer term 2012, at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau.
• Lecture series "Gender", winter term 2011/12, at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau.
• International and interdisciplinary lecture series "Cold War Cultures", summer term 2010 at Osnabrueck University.
• International and interdisciplinary lecture series “Gender”, winter term 2008/09 & summer term 2009 at Osnabrück University.
• International conference “Cultural Representations of the Cold War” at Osnabrueck University, December 2008.

Academic Career

1990-1997 Studies in British Studies, American Studies, Russian and Sociology at the Universities of Rostock, Bradford/UK and Leipzig

1997 MA (Magistra Artium) in British Studies, American Studies and Sociology, Leipzig University

1997-1999 Lecturer (Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben), Leipzig University, Department of British Studies

1999–2002 Lecturer in British Cultural Studies, Leipzig University, Department of British Studies

2003 PhD, Bremen University, thesis on contemporary British women’s drama

2003–2006 Post-Doctoral Position in British Literature, Bremen University, Department of British and American Studies

2006-2011 Junior Professor of Cultural Studies, Osnabrück University

2011 Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Koblenz- Landau, Campus Landau

Guest Lecturer

April 2005 Nottingham Trent University, UK

Winter term 2005/06 Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany

March 2006 University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

April 2008 Keele University, UK

Summer term 2008 Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg,Germany

October 2008 Lodz University, Poland

Research Interests

• Gender studies/masculinity studies/gender in politics
• Cold War cultures
• Populism
• Contemporary British drama
• Postcolonial/transcultural studies
• Post-socialism
• Popular culture

Memberships/Offices in Academic Associations

• 2007-2011 Member of the Advisory Council of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures
• 2013-2016 Vice President of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures
• Member of the Anglistenverband
• Member of the German Society of Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English

Development of Innovative Teaching Methods

Regular Classes on "Improvisation for Foreign Language Teachers"

I.E., developing and practicing teaching skills and mindsets based on techniques from improvisation theatre, introducing and actively practicing excercises for the foreign language classroom

Wissenschaftskommunikation/Transfer of Academic Knowledge to Non-Academic Audiences

• Science Slams
• Open to the Public Lecture Series
• Invited Speaker and/or Improvisation Performer at Non-Academic Events:

Bundesverband der Medientrainer, Januar 2019

Bundesanwaltschaft, Karlsruhe, März 2018

Frauenversammlung des Hessischen Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Energie, Verkehr und Landesentwicklung, Februar 2017

Badische Bau- und Ausbautage, Juli 2016

Frauenempfang Stadt Pforzheim, März 2016

WomenCONNEX, Kongress- und Karrieremesse für Frauen, November 2014