Research

I am a PhD student working on representations of women in Weimar film under the supervision of Dr. Ian Roberts and Dr. Christine Achinger. I draw predominantly upon examples from the films of Fritz Lang and G. W. Pabst and place them in the wider cultural context. I am passionate about including both well-known 'canonical' films (for example: Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927); Die Büchse der Pandora (G. W. Pabst, 1929)) and films that are lesser-known (such as Frau im Mond (Fritz Lang, 1929); Abwege (G. W. Pabst, 1928)) in my research. I am particularly interested in exploring the similarities and differences between the two directors' visions of the national community and the role for women within it. To do so, I focus upon women considered to be 'deviant' from the norm, whether that be on account of their gender and sexual expression, because they transgress class or 'racial' boundaries, or due to their rejection of traditional values of femininity. I am also keen to consider the (dis)continuities between depictions of women in Weimar cinema and in films made during the Third Reich, challenging the perception that these periods should be treated as entirely separate. My work thus contributes to our knowledge and understanding of the National Socialist era, highlighting how the Nazis were able to exploit pre-existing attitudes in Germany. My PhD project expands upon the research completed as part of my MA by Research, in which I examined codified representations of 'Jewishness' and antisemitism in films from across the Weimar period. My PhD is funded by the Midlands 4 Cities AHRC doctoral award.

Research Interests

German Cinema

Gender and Sexuality, particularly during the Weimar Republic

Queer and trans* German Histories and Cultures, particularly 1918-1945

Race in German History and Culture, particularly 1918-1945

Representations of the 'Other' in German culture

Representations of war in German culture

Third Reich Cinema

Weimar Cinema and Cultural History

Women in Weimar Germany and during the Third Reich

Teaching 2023/24

GE217: Film in the Weimar Republic and under National SocialismLink opens in a new window [Seminar Tutor]

LN311: Political Propaganda in Contemporary Europe from 1975 to the Present [Seminar Tutor]

LN313: Undergraduate Translation Project [Projects with German]

Non-Academic Roles

Organiser of the Warwick SMLC 'German Film Nights' (2023 - )

Co-Convenor of the BAFTSS German Screen Studies SIG (2022 -)

Co-Organiser, Explore Seminar Series (2021-2023)

Postgraduate Representative, Women in German Studies Committee (2021- 2024)

Student Co-ordinator of the SMLC Peer Mentoring Scheme (2020 - 2021)

Publications

Screening War: Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front in Context (forthcoming edited volume, co-edited with Ervin Malakaj and Ian Roberts)

'Im Kino Nichts Neues: All Quiet on the Western Front and the Cinematic Legacy of World War One’, in Screening War: Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front in Context (co-written with Ian Roberts, forthcoming)

'In the Closet: Codified "Queerness" in G. W. Pabst's Die Büchse der Pandora (1929)' (forthcoming chapter in Weimar Visions: Queer Visual Cultures, ed. by Birgit Lang, Ina Linge & Katie Sutton)

'Racially Profiled? Jewish Vampirism in Nosferatu', in Studies in European Cinema (available Open Access here)

'Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape (Ofer Ashkenazi)', in Focus on German Studies, 28 (2021), 193-196, <https://journals.uc.edu/index.php/fogs/article/view/4414/3328>

'A Celebration of Anders als die Andern', (2021), <https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/modernlanguages/academic/postgraduate/harrabin/weimarfilmnetwork/blogs/?topic=8a1785d779ae97850179b32b31ac1125>

'From Caligari to RuPaul's Drag Race: The Machinenmensch in Pop Culture', (2021), <https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/modernlanguages/academic/postgraduate/harrabin/weimarfilmnetwork/blogs?topic=8a17841b779666fe0177abe2a9b6259e>

Projects

I am the founder and co-editor of The Weimar Film Network, which provides a platform for discussions on the cinema of the Weimar Republic. The Network posts articles, blog posts and reviews by students and academics, encouraging a sense of community within Weimar Film Studies. We also have a resource section that would be useful for anyone teaching, researching or is just generally interested in Weimar Cinema. You can find out more, including how to contribute to the network, via the website or on Twitter. Please send all enquiries, including about potential collaboration to .

Alongside Dr. Ian Roberts, I co-organise the Weimar 100 Project, which marks the centenaries of key films from the period 1918-1933 in German history. A key aim of the project is to make Weimar film more accessible to a modern audience. Each year between 2019 and 2033, a public screening and talk will be held, showcasing classic and obscure films from the years of the Weimar Republic. The most recent event (2023) marked the centenary of the release of Karl Grune's Die Strasse and included a screening in the Transnational Resource Centre and offered a consideration of various readings of the film.

Papers

‘Primitive Savages’ and ‘Exotic Nightmares’: Depictions of Racial ‘Otherness’ in Weimar Cinema' - The Future of German Screen Studies: Cultures, Media, Histories', 19-21 June 2024 [University of St. Andrews]

'Colonial Fantasies in Fritz Lang's Harakiri (1919)' - Provincializing Weimar Culture, 25-26 April 2024 [Utrecht University]

'In The Closet: Codified 'Queerness' in G. W. Pabst's Die Büchse der Pandora (1929)' - Weimar's Queer Visual Cultures, 8-9 June 2023 [University of Exeter]

'Im Kino Nichts Neues: All Quiet on the Western Front and the Cinematic Legacy of World War One’ - co-presentation with Dr. Ian RobertsLink opens in a new window, Watching War: A Symposium on Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)Link opens in a new window', 11 May 2023 [University of British Columbia & University of Warwick, online]

'Gretchen, Girl, Garçonne: Representations of Women in the Films of G. W. Pabst' - Women in German Studies Conference, 10-12 November 2022 [University of Leeds]

'In the Closet: Codified 'Queerness' in Weimar Cinema' - Weimar Visions: Picturing Sexual subjectivities, organised by Katie SuttonLink opens in a new window, Birgit LangLink opens in a new window and Ina LingeLink opens in a new window, 1-2 October 2022 [Berlin]

'Jewish' Vampirism in Nosferatu' - Nosferatu: 100 Years of Horror Symposium, organised by Evan Torner and Ervin Malakaj, 18th March 2022 [University of British Columbia, online]

'From the "monstrous other" to the "monstrous Jew": Representations of "Jewishness" in Weimar Film' - Warwick Workshop for Interdisciplinary German Studies, 2nd February 2022 [University of Warwick]

Postgraduate and Early Career Academic Workshop - Postgraduate and Early Career Academic Workshop, 24 June 2021 [University of Aberdeen, online]

Invited Talks

'Competing Models of Motherhood and Reproductive Choices in Weimar Cinema' (Imagining Justice: Law, Politics and Popular Visual Culture in Weimar Germany seminar series, 14 May 2024, University of Lucerne)

'Das Leben welcher Anderen: Putting The Lives of Others into Context' (Channel Talent interactive school webinar for students of German, 22 April 2024)

Roundtable participant (History of Sexuality Seminar Panel on the Anniversary of Anders als die Andern, 20 February 2024, University of London)

'Sex at the Movies: Different from the Others and Pandora's Box' (Gender and Sexuality in Modern European Art, 16th November 2023, Dickinson College)

'Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) and Im Westen nichts Neues (2022)' (Germany & Austria in Motion: Film, Identity and Society, 12 October 2023, University of Bristol)

'Love, Family and Relationships in Goodbye Lenin!' (DeutschZusammen German Teacher's Day, 30 September 2023, University of Warwick)

'From the "monstrous other" to the "monstrous Jew": Representations of "Jewishness" in Weimar Film' - Cambridge German Graduate Research Seminar, 27 January 2022, University of Cambridge)

Conferences and Events Organised

Entrenched Narratives, Hidden Figures: Reappraising Representations of War Across German Screen Media (21-22 March 2024, University of Warwick , funded by the British Association for Film, Television, and Screen Studies Special Interest Group Funding Scheme, the Association for German Studies Conference Grant, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) 'Forging German Connections' programme)

Watching War: A Symposium on Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)Link opens in a new window (11th May, University of Warwick and University of British Columbia)

The Culture of Fascism Symposium (8th March, co-organiser, University of Warwick, funded by Connecting Cultures)

Women in German Studies Online Teaching Development Day (8 September 2021, co-organiser, University of Leeds and University of Warwick)

Women in German Studies Annual Conference, Keynote Lecture by Dr. I. M. Nick - Ein letztes Lebewohl : A Thematic Content Analysis of Suicide Letters written by Jewish Germans during National Socialism (25 June 2021, second chair, University of Aberdeen)

Public Engagement & Impact

Podcast: No Noise Episode 5: Molly Harrabin on Westfront 1918 (the *other* anti-war film from 1930)Link opens in a new window

Translation of materials for Dr. Anna Hájková as part of her impact work on the play The Amazing Life of Margot Heuman, co-written with Dr. Erika Hughes

Scholarships and Awards

Midlands 4 Cities Open Doctoral Award (October 2021 - March 2025)

FindaPhD Masters Student of the Year 2020 (Nominated)

Warwick Graduate Award (October 2020 - October 2021)

British Council Language Teacher Training Scholarship (September 2019 - September 2020)

Qualifications

I achieved a first class undergraduate degree in German Studies at the University of Warwick, in which I studied a wide range of language and cultural modules, ranging from 1790s Germany up to the present-day. In my final year, I completed a dissertation entitled 'From Lola to Lulu, From Freder to Rath: Gender and Sexuality in the Weimar Republic'. My undergraduate degree also included a stint in Munich, where I worked as a British Council Language Assistant in a Fachoberschule. I then completed my Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary Education at the University of Manchester, teaching German up to A Level and French to Key Stage 3, before returning to Warwick to undertake my research. I recently completed a Master's by Research in German Studies at Warwick, entitled ‘Representations of ‘Jewishness’ in Weimar Cinema. This work considers how ‘the Jew’ is depicted in Weimar cinema to provide an insight into the pre-existing prejudicial attitudes in German society that were eventually exploited by the Nazis. This research was awarded Distinction in January 2022.

Professional Associations

Association for German Studies

British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies

German Studies Association

UK Association for German Studies

Women in German Studies

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