Annika Brunck currently works as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of American Studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany. She is a member of COST Action 15101 COMPACT (“Comparative Approaches to Conspiracy Theories”) and also served as the Action’s Grant Manager in its first year. Her dissertation project is entitled “Fighting ‘the Evil Scourge of Terrorism:’ From ‘Arab Terrorism’ to ‘Islamic Terrorism’ in the United States, 1945–2015” and traces the development of the American discourse on ‘Arab’ and ‘Islamic’ terrorism from its beginnings after World War II until today through different cultural representations. The project looks at U.S. politics, academia, journalism, and mainstream culture and examines the way these fields influence the American discourse on ‘terrorism.’

Annika Brunck holds a M.A. in British and North American Cultural Studies from the University of Freiburg where she wrote her final thesis about the representation of Osama bin Laden in the post-9/11 American novel. She completed a B.A. in English Philology and Spanish Philology at the Free University of Berlin and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has spent extended time abroad in the U.S., in Spain, and in England.

Her research interests include American literature and culture from the 20th century to the present, cultural theory, popular culture, conspiracy theories, and (critical) terrorism studies.