Thorsten Carstensen is a Lecturer of German. At UvA, he teaches in the Bachelor Duitslandstudies, the Bachelor Cultural Analysis as well as in the Master Literature, Culture and Society.

In his work as a teacher and scholar, he reflects on theories and critiques of modernity. His research focuses on German and Austrian literature since the late 19th century. He is currently working on a book that explores the many connections between literature and architecture since 1870.

Thorsten's publications include a monograph on the works of Peter Handke (Romanisches Erzählen: Peter Handke und die epische Tradition, Göttingen: Wallstein, 2013), which explores the Austrian author’s ekphrastic depictions of Romanesque architecture and sculpture, as well as essays and book chapters on writers such as Theodor Fontane, Paul Scheerbart, Hermann Broch, Ernst Jünger, Anna Seghers, and Thomas Bernhard. He has also edited volumes on the German Lebensreform movement and the portrayal of everyday life in literature. Recently, he co-edited a volume on the concept of “Heimat” in German language and culture. Additionally, Thorsten has published on English-speaking literature (Paul Auster, J. M. Coetzee) and American cinema. He is also co-editor of the first unabridged English translation of Hans Fallada’s novel Wolf Among Wolves.

His most recent publication explores the postmodern horror in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby.

Thorsten received his Ph.D. from New York University in 2012. Before joining the University of Amsterdam in 2023, he taught at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), first as Assistant Professor (2012-2018) and then as Associate Professor of German (2018-2022). He was also the director of the German Program at IUPUI (2020-2022). Thorsten maintains his ties to Indiana University as an International Scholar working with IUPUI's Department of World Languages and Cultures.

Thorsten currently serves on the editorial board on the following journals: Acta Neophilologica, Colloquia Germanica Steninensia, Verbum et Lingua: Didáctica, lengua y cultura, Ars Aeterna, Studia Iberica et Americana.

At UvA, Thorsten teaches on the following courses:

BA Duitslandstudies (Duitse taal en cultuur):

• Deutschlandstudien 1: Deutsche Kultur nach 1945
• Deutschlandstudien 3: Begriffe und Methoden
• Kultur und Kritik: Alternative Lebensweisen und Reformexperimente seit 1900
• Erinnerung und Identität: Ost - West
• Forschungskolloquium: Medien, Kultur, Diskurs
• Bachelorscriptie Duitslandstudies
• Spracherwerb 3: Literatur
• Spracherwerb 4: Interkulturalität

BA Cultural Analysis:

• Introduction to Narratology and Discourse Analysis

MA Literature, Culture and Society:

• Anfang und Ende der Natur: Kultur im Anthropzän