Education

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Born in 1964 in West-Germany.

1983: Entering the UNIVERSITY OF MÜNSTER (Germany) as a RUSSIAN PHILOLOGY major finishing with a pre-diploma (GRUNDSTUDIUM).

1985-90: PHILOSOPHY major at the SORBONNE (Paris-I) entering as a freshman in 1985 and finishing with a "maîtrise" in philosophy in 1990. Teachers were Sarah Kofman, Francoise Dastur, Etienne Balibar. 

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1990-93: Graduate student at OXFORD UNIVERSITY. Ph.D. thesis on "Style and Play in Derrida, Gadamer and Wittgenstein." Ph.D. (D.Phil.) from OXFORD UNIVERSITY in 1993. Supervisor: Dr Colin Davis.

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2000: Habilitation d. r.* at the EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales or School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) of Paris. Supervisor: H. Wismann. Jury: Jacques Roubaud (EHESS), Anselm Haverkamp (NYU), Françoise Bonardel (Sorbonne Paris 1), Alain-Marc Rieu (Lyon 3).

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Professional Experience

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1993-1997: Four years of postdoctoral research with scholarships from the Finnish government held at the UNIVERSITIES OF HELSINKI and TAMPERE (Finland). Privatdozent at the UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE (from 1996). Research on Russian Formalism and Russian/Baltic Semiotics in the Baltic countries and St. Petersburg (Russia).

1997-1999: Scholarship from the MAISON DES SCIENCES DE L'HOMME of Paris for research on the "French connections" of Kuki Shuzo. Lecturer of German at the University of St. Etienne (France).

2000: Adjunct teacher at the EHESS.

2000-2004: Three years of research on Nishida Kitaro in Japan at the KYOTO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (Japan Foundation Fellowship), the NICHIBUNKEN CENTER and the JAPANESE-GERMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE (JSPS fellowship) in Kyoto.

2005-2007 (24 months): Employed by the newly founded research centre "Cognition and Language" (CSCL) of ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY (Hangzhou, China) [now: Interdisciplinary Social Science Research Center] as a researcher and consultant. Financed by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

2007-2009: Assistant Professor of Philosophy at TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY (Historically Black University, Alabama, USA).

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Since 2009: Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the GULF UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (GUST) in Kuwait. Promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. Promoted to Professor in 2020. Director of the Global Studies Center.

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*The habilitation is a kind of "second Ph.D." that has the "double weight" of a Ph.D. thesis and that can be submitted and defended not earlier than six years after having obtained the Ph.D. Internal and external examiners are required. In many European countries only holders of the habilitation are entitled to apply for positions of "professor" (I am aware that by now some countries have "internationalized" their systems and offer alternative -- American-style -- tenure track options).

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Visiting Positions and Fellowships

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2010: Summer research fellowship from GUST for research at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, ST. LOUIS, USA.

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2011: Korea Foundation Fellowship for three months summer research at DAEJIN UNIVERSITY (Seoul, South Korea).

2012: Summer Fellowship from the Finnish Government (CIMO) for research at the ARCHIVE OF FINNISH ARCHITECTURE in Helsinki.

2015: Remarque Sabbatical Fellowship from NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (five months) for research at NYU.

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2018: Visiting Fellowship at the Middle East Institute of the NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE (Summer).

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2018: KFAS (Kuwait) fellowship for research and setting up of an architecture exhibition in Helsinki  (AALTO UNIVERSITY).

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2023: Visiting Fellowship from GUST for research at VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY (Summer).

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Conferences organized

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2007: “Cognition and Culture” at ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, China.

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2011: “The Crisis of the Human Sciences” at GUST, Kuwait. Keynote speakers: Lewis Gordon, Garrett Albert Duncan, Khaldoun Al-Naqeeb.

2019: “Unity between East and West: Organic Totality from Muhammad Abduh to Post-Structuralism” at GUST, Kuwait.

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2023: "Tracking Global Wokeism" GUST, Kuwait.