Carmen Birkle is Professor of American Studies at the Philipps University of Marburg, where her teaching and research interests include ethnic and gender studies, inter- and transculturality, literature and medicine, and popular culture. Recent publications include Communication Disease: Cultural Representations of American Medicine (co-ed) (2013) and Emanzipation und feministische Politiken (co-author) (2012). She is currently the President of the German Association of American Studies.