good student-teacher ratio with small seminar groups; Support through tutorials/mentorships; special forms of teaching such as colloquia, workshops, research modules; Innovative teaching on the state of current research with attractive areas of research focus; Dedicated teachers (including many winners of teaching awards); International. Guest lectures and guest lecturers; interdisciplinary approaches to literature and language; Poetics lectureship as direct contact to literary creators; Practical relevance through practical modules and close contact with cultural partners; Regular excursions and teaching in special places (e.g. theatre)

bi-national courses with prestigious universities in Scotland (St Andrews), France (Sorbonne Université), Italy (Florence); many partner universities under the Erasmus programme (focal points, among others, in the English-speaking area and in Scandinavia); internationally oriented promotion of young researchers (bi-national doctoral college with Florence, trinational research training group on ‘Founding myths of Europe’); Cooperation with teaching exchange with Ohio State University; Erasmus mentorship

All seminar rooms and lecture halls are equipped with current presentation technology (projectors, in some cases starboards). During the pandemic, the lecture halls were fitted with hybrid technologies, and instructors received special train in the use of electronic tools for teaching. The institute also has a mobile technology kit for hybrid teaching. The institute library has research PCs and computer workstations as well as a modern book scanner. Relevant subject-specific databases are available via the University and State Library.

Our institute homepage offers a comprehensive overview of ongoing research projects and areas of emphasis. Current priorities e.g. in the following areas: Present era and contemporary literature; Questions in (inter)mediality; Materiality of texts; Reception and topicality; Comic book research; Cultural contexts and cultural alterities; Digital Humanities; Eco-criticism; World literature/globalisation; Power and domination; Linguistic Research of the Rhineland; Regional languages; Multilingualism

Support for start-ups is a special priority for the University of Bonn as a whole. In the enaCom Transfer Center, start-ups are supported – from the first idea check through to concrete implementation. Our department prepares for start-ups in terms of content insofar as socially particularly relevant topics (sustainability, ecology, diversity, digital humanities) play a special role in teaching. A regular summer school on these topics is currently being planned.

Particular interdisciplinary and international orientation through the institute network with Comparative Studies and Scandinavian Studies; ‘Outside the box’ degree programme due to close networking with other institutes, including through interdisciplinary Degree courses; High practical component through practical modules, poetics lectureship, emphases in instruction, e.g. in the field of contemporary literature as well as numerous extra-curricular offers; Students involved in current research projects at an early stage/guided independent research projects; Locational advantages through close cooperation with (cultural) partners in the region