Andrew is currently a PhD student in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures. He specializes in early modern literature and is pursuing a concentration in Medieval Studies. His dissertation traces changes in the German depiction of imaginative travel and intercultural interaction from the late middle ages to the end of the sixteenth century. He examines these themes in four popular works of fiction published between 1450-1600: Thüring von Ringoltingen’s adaptation of the French Melusine (1457), Ein kurtzweilig Lesen von Dil Ulenspiegel (1515), Fortunatus (1509), and Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587). Previous scholarship has characterized these works as insular and folksy, as somehow essentially German manifestations of early prose writing. His research offers a radically new interpretation that positions these literary works are outward facing texts that engage with global discoveries, new market economies, and profound reformations of church and society, all of which reframed social relations, especially with respect to gender, and compelled these German authors to (re)define German identity.

He earned his MA in German Literature from the University of Illinois in 2018. Between his MA and PhD studies he spent two years as a professional translator, translating subtitles for such shows as Tatort and Wilsberg and also transcribing and translating 19th century letters and documents for clients interested in genealogy. 

Andrew previously received an MA from UIUC in European Union Studies with a certificate in Translation Studies. During his time as a MAEUS student, he focused on the EU's minority language policies. This research culminated in a MA thesis with the title "Promoting and monitoring Low German: education policies and ideologies of language in the northern German Bundesländer." He also graduated magna cum laude from UIUC with a BA in German and Anthropology.