Professorship for English Literature

Organisational unit: Professoship

Organisation profile

In the English Literature section, our research and teaching focusses on a wide range of topics from a broadly Cultural Studies perspective. Areas of particular interest in our research include narratology, image studies, literary translation and adaptation, transnational phenomena, Irish literature, children’s literature as well as literature of the Romantic period and eighteenth-century literature situated at the interface of literature and music. In our teaching we offer courses in the Bachelor and Master programmes in Teacher Education and Cultural Studies. Seminar topics range from a general Introduction to English Literature to literary translation, transmedia storytelling, contemporary Irish short stories, children’s literature, the picturebook and other multimodal texts, literary nonsense, specific writers such as Oscar Wilde or genres such as eighteenth-century travel. We explore how literature works between and beyond the book covers in research-based seminars and project seminars in cooperation with partners in literary institutions, in theatre excursions and through guest lectures by contemporary authors and translators as well as by representatives of publishing houses and from the local theatre. Committed to our teaching, we employ different didactic approaches and methods, including blended learning, and use a variety of teaching materials specifically tailored to our students’ needs and interests.

Main research areas

Areas of research are comparative literature, translation studies, image studies, children's literature and literature in the classroom (intercultural aspects and children's literature in foreign language learning and teaching).

  1. International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) (External organisation)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Executive member)

    20032005

    Activity: MembershipLearned societies and special interest organisationsResearch

  2. International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) (External organisation)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Member)

    1987 → …

    Activity: MembershipLearned societies and special interest organisationsResearch

  3. International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) (External organisation)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Member)

    2016 → …

    Activity: MembershipAcademic councils, panels and committeesResearch

  4. International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) (External organisation)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Member)

    20182019

    Activity: MembershipAcademic councils, panels and committeesResearch

  5. In zwei Sprachen leben

    O'Sullivan, E. (Speaker)

    11.05.200112.05.2001

    Activity: Talk or presentationGuest lecturesTransfer

  6. Ireland and the World of Children's Books

    O'Sullivan, E. (Speaker)

    01.03.1997

    Activity: Talk or presentationGuest lecturesTransfer

  7. Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung (Journal)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Editor)

    15.06.201515.01.2017

    Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial workEditor of journalsResearch

  8. Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung (Journal)

    O'Sullivan, E. (Editor)

    15.05.201515.12.2024

    Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial workEditor of journalsResearch

  9. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung - GKJF 2019

    O'Sullivan, E. (Participant)

    30.05.201901.06.2019

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  10. Jella Lepman und die Internationalisierung der (west-) deutschen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur

    O'Sullivan, E. (Oral presentation)

    04.09.2024

    Activity: Talk or presentationConference PresentationsResearch