At the University of Giessen, I wish to facilitate work on the nexus between political and artistic practices and academic analysis, and am interested in mentoring projects concerning cultural approaches to law/Law and Humanities, the politics of form, critical media studies, American Studies, and feminism and sexuality studies. With Jeanne Gaakeer, I run the European Network for Law and Literature Research. The Center for Diversity, Media, and Law promotes anti-discrimination measures and critical media literacy, and investigates how legal norms interact with diversity and media. The Center participates in The Global Law and the Humanities Mentorship Program.
“Diversity Issues in the USA – Transnational Perspectives on the 2024 Presidential Elections“: Available now open access.
Recent Publications
- Bung, Jochen, Franziska Martinsen, Hanna Meißner, Greta Olson, Christian Schmidt and Benno Zabel, eds. (2025). Ökonomie als Gesellschaftstheorie. Kontrovers. Neue Diskurse zur Gesellschaft. Baden-Baden: Verlag Karl Alber.
- Olson, Greta, and Melanie Kreitler, eds. (2024). Diversity Issues in the U.S.A.: Transnational Perspectives on the 2024 Presidential Elections. Bielefeld: transcript.
- Von Der Brelie, Kira (2024). “US-Expertin: ‚Viele finden Trump humorvoll und bodenständig‘.” RND.de, November 9, 2024.
- Olson, Greta (2023). “Editorial: #Instapoetry’s vibrancy and ambivalence.” European Journal of English Studies 27.1: 1-2.
- Olson, Greta (2023). “Why Rechtsgefühle? Why do people have impassioned feelings about justice and the law? The Turn to Affect in Legal Studies.” Feelings about Justice/Law: The Relevance of Affect to the Development of Law in Pluralistic Legal Cultures // Rechtsgefühle. Die Relevanz des Affektiven für die Rechtsentwicklung in pluralen Rechtskulturen. Ed. Thorsten Keiser, Greta Olson and Franz Reimer. Baden Baden: Nomos Verlag. 17-53.
- Olson, Greta (2023). “Metaphor“ / “Metaphoric Fictionality in Poems about Migration and in Anti-Immigration Discourse.” Fictionality and Literature: Core Concepts Revisited. Eds. Lasse Raaby Gammelgaard, Stefan Iversen, Louise Brix Jacobsen, James Phelan, Richard Walsh, Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen, and Simona Zetterberg-Nielsen. Ohio State UP. 182-211.
Recent Talks
- Invited Talk: “In Defence of the Legal Humanities and Narrative, Tropic, and Affect-Theoretical Approaches to Law.”Legal Humanities Association Launch and Inauguration Event (22 July 2025) Online.
- Facilitator for the Seminar “Disrupting the Affective work of Anti-Immigration Narratives and Images” at the summer school Critical Times 2025: Disruptions (30 June – 4 July) at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Legal Studies – lucernaiuris) (4 July 2025) University of Lucerne
- Invited Lecture: “Trump 2.0: The Return & The Resistance” at the Gießener Graduiertenzentrum Sozial-, Wirtschafts- und Rechtwissenschaften Summer Event (11 June 2025) University of Giessen
- Podcast (only available in German): “Die USA nach der Wahl”, Moderiert von dem Amerikanisten und Co-Sprecher des John McCloy Transatlantic Forums Johannes Völz (Frankfurt) diskutieren drei USA-Expertinnen und Experten – der Historiker Manfred Berg (Heidelberg), der Politikwissenschaftler Christian Lammert (Berlin) und die Kulturwissenschaftlerin Greta Olson (Gießen) – über den Ausgang der US-Präsidentschaftswahl am 5. November und deren Folgen für die amerikanische Demokratie. (21 November 2024) Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, gemeinsam mit der Hessischen Landeszentrale für politische Bildung und dem John McCloy Transatlantic Forum. Auch bei Spotify zu finden.
Contact
Professor Greta Olson
Institut für Anglistik
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Otto-Behagel-Straße 10 B
35394 Giessen, Germany
Tel: +49 641 – 99 30091 or – 99 3031 (Administrative Assistant)
Fax: +49 641 – 99 30099
Email: Greta.Olson@anglistik.uni-giessen.de
Office hours during the semester: Please register online through Stud.IP.
The photograph above was taken by Salar Baygan for a project on celebrating white hair initiated by Andrea Leicher, Oliver Metzler, and Nicolai Tilov.
Greta Olson 