Chris Katzenberg, M.A.
Chris Katzenberg is a doctoral researcher in the UA Ruhr graduate research group Scripts for Postindustrial Urban Futures: American Models, Transatlantic Interventions. He holds an M.A. in English / American Studies and History from the Ruhr-University Bochum, which he completed in 2018 with a thesis entitled “Walking in de Certeau's City: Nigerian-Immigrant Flânerie in Teju Cole's Open City and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah”. His research interests include Contemporary U.S. Literature, Urban Studies, Literary and Cultural Theory, Transnationalism and Globalization, as well as Race and Ethnicity.
His PhD project, “Social Change for Engaging Cities – Translating Urban 'Collective Impact' Initiatives between the Rust Belt and the Ruhr,” studies an American model for the systematic collaboration between agents for social change that has recently spread across the US and to Germany, prevailing especially in their former industrial centers. In a transnational comparison, he investigates the functioning of “Collective Impact” blueprints, narratives and practices within the larger context of current scripts for inclusive urbanism that seek to envision and enact more socially equitable futures for the city.
Contact: chris.katzenberg@uaruhr.de