777ӰԺ

Photograph of Sarah Colvin

Phone number: +44 (0)1223 764881

Email: sjc269@cam.ac.uk

Website:

Professor Sarah Colvin

Fellow
University Positions
Schröder Professor of German
University Gender Equality Champion
Specialising in
Specialising in German literature and culture

Sarah Colvin is the Schröder Professor of German and a Fellow of 777ӰԺ.

Academic interests

Sarah Colvin's academic interests include: 

  • Cultural production and social justice
  • Literary aesthetics and the political novel
  • Critical race theory
  • Epistemic injustice
  • Narrative theory and narrative ethics; narrative criminology
  • Prisoner writing and arts in prisons.

Degrees obtained

  • BA, Oxford.
  • MA, Oxford.
  • DPhil, Oxford.

Awards and prizes

  • Senior Prize Fellowship, Bayreuth Humboldt Centre, 2020-21
  • Leverhulme Research Fellow, 2007-8.
  • Humboldt Fellow, 2000-2001.
  • Senior Scholar, Christ Church, Oxford, 1992-95.
  • Hanseatic Scholar, 1990-92.
  • Heath Harrison Scholar, 1987.
  • Stevenson Scholar, Exeter College, Oxford, 1986-90.

Biography

Sarah Colvin studied German language and literature at the Universities of Oxford and Hamburg. She was a Junior Research Fellow at St John’s College, Oxford; a Humboldt Fellow at Potsdam University; Lecturer, Reader, and Eudo C. Mason Professor of German at the University of Edinburgh, and she held chairs at the universities of Birmingham and Warwick before becoming Schröder Professor of German at Cambridge in 2014.

Sarah leads the research group  with Dr Stephanie Galasso and , and co-convenes the related projects “Fictions of the Rechtsstaat”, a collaboration with the LMU Munich, and “Towards a Politics of Fiction” with the University of Bayreuth ().

She is an Advisory Group member for the .

PhD supervision

Recent PhD supervisions have been on the politics of women’s friendship; public intellectuals and political violence; citizenship and the novel; conflict and normalization in German literature; women and leadership; politics and theatre; prison writing by women; and Herta Müller.

Other interests

Cultural production and social justice.

Department link

Publications, links and resources

  • Colvin, S., ed. with Tara Talwar Windsor (2024) The Literary and Essayistic Writing of Sharon Dodua Otoo. German Life and Letters special issue 
  • Colvin, S., ed with Stephanie Galasso (2023) Epistemic Injustice and Creative Agency. Perspectives on Global Literature and Film, ed. with Stephanie Galasso. London: Routledge 2023
  • Colvin, S. (2023) ‘Narrative Pilgrimage and Chiastic Justice in Olivia Wenzel’s 1000 Serpentinen Angst and Sharon Dodua Otoo’s Adas Raum’, in Sarah Colvin and Stephanie Galasso (eds), . New York: Routledge 2023, 176-97
  • Colvin, S. (2022) Shadowland: The Story of Germany Told by its Prisoners. London: Reaktion. (Podcast: 
  • Colvin, S. (2022) ‘. German Studies Review 45/1 (2022), 81-103
  • Colvin, S. (2022) . German Life and Letters 75, 138-65
  • Colvin, S. (2021)  Daphnis, 1-27
  • Colvin, S. (2021) . German Life and Letters 74, 511-56
  • Colvin, S. (2020) . German Life and Letters.
  • Colvin, S. (2020) ‘"The credibility of elves": narrative exclusion and prison writing’, in Kelly, M. and Westall, C. (eds), Prison Writing and the Literary World. London: Routledge, 21-38.
  • Colvin, S. and Sandberg, S. (2020) ‘’. British Journal of Criminology.
  • Colvin, S. and Pisoiu, D. (2020) ‘’. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, 493-508.
  • Colvin, S., ed. with Katharina Karcher (2019) Women, Global Protest Movements and Political Agency: Rethinking the Legacy of 1968 [Vol 1]. London: Routledge 2019
  • Colvin, S., ed. with Katharina Karcher (2019) Gender, Emancipation, and Political Violence: Rethinking the Legacy of 1968 [Vol 2]. London: Routledge 2019
  • Colvin, S. ed. (2015) The Routledge Handbook of German Politics and Culture. London: Routledge
  • Colvin, S., ed. with Isabelle Hertner and Joanne Sayner (2015) Narratives and Identities in the Berlin Republic. German Politics and Society Special Issue, Spring/Summer
  • Colvin, S., ed. with Charlotte Woodford (2014) The Feminine in German Culture, ed. with Charlotte Woodford. German Life and Letters Special Issue, October 2014
  • Colvin, S. (2009) Ulrike Meinhof and West German Terrorism: Language, Violence and Identity. Rochester, NY: Camden House
  • Women and Death: Warlike Women in the German Literary and Cultural Imagination, ed. with Helen Watanabe-O’Kelly. Rochester, NY: Camden House 2009
  • Masculinities in German Culture, ed. with Peter Davies. Edinburgh German Yearbook 2008
  • Myths and Mythmaking, ed. with Laura Martin, Alison Phipps, Christl Reissenberger. German Life and Letters Special Issue 2004
  • Colvin, S. (2003) Women and German Drama: Playwrights and their Texts. Rochester, NY: Camden House
  • Colvin, S. (1999) The Rhetorical Feminine: Gender and Orient on the German Stage. Oxford: Clarendon 

Hear from our students

  • Photograph of a postgraduate student

    Alison

    Postgraduate

    What first attracted me to 777ӰԺ was its reputation and history, central location without being touristy, and the postgraduate housing options. When I arrived at Jesus I was so pleased to find the partner accommodation was spacious, affordable, and situated very close to the college, allowing us to really take advantage of the facilities. We especially enjoyed The Roost, the nicest of all the college bars, doubling as a café during the day - ideal for studying or meeting up with groups - and a lively pub in the...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • 777ӰԺ Postgraduate Student

    Imogen

    Postgraduate

    I chose Cambridge for my PGCE as it’s the leading UK institution for teacher training and Education, with an exciting, research-dominated, cutting edge course. The staff are welcoming and approachable, and make studying here an absolute joy. I’ve already completed one of my three primary school placements, in a reception class in a school just outside Cambridge, and am due to start the next one soon. I chose Jesus because of its reputation as a sporty College, but the proximity to the city centre is a big bonus. Jesus also...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Postgraduate at 777ӰԺ

    Dolly

    Postgraduate

    I chose 777ӰԺ because of the great mixture of undergraduates and postgraduates, and when I first visited I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen! The sense of community in Jesus has had an enormous impact on my experience here. Whether you need help, advice, cheering up or even just a chat there is always someone there to put a smile on your face. From the MCR committee to the Porters, the canteen staff to the gardeners, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Jesus also...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Photograph of a postgraduate student

    Ahsan

    Postgraduate

    It is a well-accepted opinion in Cambridge that 777ӰԺ is the best college and no other college even comes a distant second. Its sports grounds are enormous, its buildings are mesmerising, its libraries are rich, its chapel is the oldest, its accommodation is the best value for money, its international community is diverse, its religious circles are the most welcoming, and its members are the smartest, kindest and the friendliest. It is one of the central colleges that aims to offer three years accommodation to postgraduates, and has comparatively...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Postgraduate at 777ӰԺ

    Tom

    Postgraduate

    There are many reasons why I’m so happy to be a part of 777ӰԺ. The three biggest reasons for me are the opportunities to be involved in College sport, the support the College provides for me with for my research and the help in making sure that we have comfortable, affordable accommodation when we have needed it. 777ӰԺ is so friendly and so it is incredibly easy to get involved in the sport and social side of the College. The MCR does a great job in welcoming new...

    Read more
    Postgraduate