Katrin Völkner received her M.A. from Washington University and her Ph.D. in German Studies from Duke University. Her dissertation, Books for Better Life: The Rise of Middlebrow Culture in Wilhelmine Germany, examined the creation of a new cultural constellation that mediated between 19th century traditions of Bildung and the rise of consumer culture. Her research interests include the history of reading, books, publishing, and popular scientific discourses in 19th and 20th century Germany.

Dr. Völkner has been teaching German language and literature courses for over a decade at both public and private universities. Courses have included “Popular Literature as Cultural History,” “Media and Society,” and Business German, as well as a Gender Studies class on the history of the body. In 2000, Dr. Völkner co-founded The Public Square (www.thepublicsquare.org), a Chicago non-profit organization dedicated to promoting participatory democracy by creating spaces for public conversation. She now serves on the board of The Public Square.