Professor Dr. Austen Hinkley

Biography

Austen Hinkley works on modern German language literature and thought. He received his BA from Bard College in 2016 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University’s Department of Comparative Literature in 2023. Austen’s research focuses on aesthetics, media studies, psychoanalysis, and comparative literature. His dissertation, titled 'Alkahest: Wit’s Formations Deformations German Letters,' studies the controversial nonsensical combinatoric poetics of wit in German-language short forms produced during the Enlightenment to the early 20th century. In addition to revising his dissertation into a book manuscript, he is developing a research project that examines literature which depicts, questions, and creatively utilizes its own medium. At Yale, he has taught courses on German literature and philosophy, including 'Poetics of Short Form' and 'Play: Theories and Practices,' emphasizing a collaborative approach within the classroom that encourages group work, creative activities, and student-driven discussions. Prior to Yale, he taught in the German Department at Princeton, where he instructed courses on both introductory and advanced German language as well as a seminar on the cultural history of forests in Germany.

Research Interests

Experience