About
Petra Watzke enjoys teaching classes at all levels of the curriculum, always with a focus on equity and social justice. Her research interests are twofold. She examines the representation of industrialization in 19th-century German language literature written by women, as well as in early German film, with an emphasis on the narrative function of mechanical objects.
In a second research interest, she employs disability studies to examine the persistence of academic ableism in higher education and its consequences for disabled students, faculty, and the community in general. She is especially interested in pedagogical ways to create access to learning for all students, especially in language teaching.
She combines her two research interests by exploring literature and early German film, where the blurring of boundaries between humans and machines suggests a prosthetic function, which she explores from the perspective of Disability Studies.
