Michigan State University

Arts and Letters College Directory

Sonja Fritzsche

  • (she/her, sie/ihr)
  • Director of Teaching and Learning and Professor of German Studies
  • Dean's Office
Biography

Ph.D., University of Minnesota – Germanic Studies
M.A., University of California, Los Angeles – Modern European History
B.A., Indiana University

Sonja Fritzsche is the inaugural Director of Teaching and Learning in MSU’s College of Arts & Letters and Professor of German Studies in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures. As director, she leads the College’s AI Resilient Pedagogies Fellows Program and is developing a toolkit on Pedagogies for Student Success. Current research projects include the co-authored book Finding the Word Between the Words: Autism and Life Writing By Women in Germany and Austria (expected 2027/28), the co-edited volumes Neurodiverse Approaches to German Studies (expected 2027/28) and (Re)Defining World Science Fiction (expected 2027), and the article “Interspecies play: joy, aesthetic understanding and the posthuman in Johanna and Günter Brauns Conviva Ludibundus.” She has co-launched the Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership (CPIL) Institutional Fellows Program. CPIL is a transformative approach designed to reshape university culture by recognizing and rewarding a broader range of academic work.  See the CPIL Toolbox for more information, including the new addition of CPIL for undergraduates for values enacted, intentional, and meaningful career planning.

Fritzsche came to Michigan State University in August 2015. She has more than twenty years of academic leadership experience as Department Chair of two departments, most recently Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures. She served for eight years in the roles of Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Administration and Associate Dean for Academic Personnel and Administration in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University. She is dedicated to values-enacted, principled leadership that empowers all faculty, staff, and students to engage fully in the academic mission and bring about transformative change as intellectual leaders.

Administrative initiatives have included both the Culture of Care and the Charting Pathways for Intellectual Leadership (CPIL) initiative (CPIL Toolbox cpil.hcommons.org). Fritzsche has played a central role in advancing tenure system and non-tenure system and academic specialist career pathways in the College and at MSU. This work led to the College’s 2024 Delphi Award from the Pullias Center of Higher Education at the University of Southern California.  She also created and documented key college policies to ensure clarity and consistency and has co-led the development of the new interdisciplinary Arts & Humanities Health and Well-being (AHHW) major program. She has led multiple faculty and leadership development initiatives, furthered innovative, evidence-based teaching and experiential learning initiatives across the arts and humanities. Guided by her practice of “transformative listening” (ADFL Bulletin 2022), she models evidence-based practices and initiatives that are inclusive, foster open and respectful dialogue, and a sense of belonging so that all faculty, staff, and students at MSU may flourish. 

As a scholar, Fritzsche is a literary and film historian of twentieth and twenty-first century Europe with special expertise in Germany. She has presented and published widely on topics in autism studies, environmental humanities, health humanities, cultural studies, gender studies, utopian/SF studies, fairy tales, inclusive pedagogies, GenAI and futurisms, Indigenous language revitalization, and leadership in higher education. She is founder and co-editor of the book series World Science Fiction Studies. Her scholarly life is dedicated to a critical engagement with the way that future dreams around the globe shape everyday actions. See her latest work below.

A highlight of her career has been overseeing as co-PI work on the Mellon funded Big Ten Academic Alliance Less Commonly Taught and Indigenous Languages Partnership. She is a multiple Fulbright and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) grant recipient. Fritzsche served as 2015 President of the Modern Language Association affiliated Association of Language Departments (ALD/ADFL) and Vice President of the Science Fiction Research Association (2019-2021). She was recently visiting senior faculty member at Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia.

Fritzsche finds inspiration in the “everyday utopia” (Davina Cooper 2013) and strives to meet each day with radical humility (R-N Brown 2021), kindness, generosity (Fitzpatrick 2019, 2023), and grace (Kyodo Williams 2016), all informed by a life spent collaborating on a tandem bicycle for many, many miles.

Works

Upcoming Talks

  • Invited Roundtable Member. “Research Leadership and German Studies: Advocacy, Best Practices, and External Funding.” German Studies Association Conference 2026. Tucson, AZ
  • “Transforming the Academy – Recommendations on Creating a Neuroaffirming Culture for Faculty Professional Development.” MSU Disability Summit, October 2026.
  • Invited Symposium Speaker. “Ableist Fragility and the Arts and Humanities Health and Well-being Major at Michigan State University.” Who Cares? Stories of Uncertainty and the Work of Care Symposium. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. November  2026.
  • Co-organizer and moderator of forthcoming roundtable “Incentivizing Collaboration in Higher Education: Feminist Approaches to Transformative Partnerships.” Sponsored by the Coalition of Women/Feminists in German. Modern Language Association Annual Convention 2027. Los Angeles, CA.

Books

  • The Routledge Companion to Gender and Science Fiction. Lisa Yaszek, Sonja Fritzsche, Keren Omry, and Wendy Gay Pearson, eds. Routledge, 2023. https://org/10.4324/9781003082934
  • Science Fiction Circuits of the South and East. Co-edited collection and Introduction with Anindita Banerjee. World Science Fiction Series. Peter Lang Oxford, 2018. https://www.peterlang.com/document/1055585
  • The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film. Editor and Introduction, Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies 47. Liverpool UP, 2014. Paperback and E-Book edition 2021.
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18kr755
  • Science Fiction Literature in East Germany. DDR-Studien/East German Studies Series 15. Bern; Oxford: Peter Lang, 2006. Available since 2018 as an OER: https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/9841

Selected Peer Reviewed Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters
Forthcoming. Sonja Fritzsche. “Experiential Learning and Utopia: Imagining the Future in Russia and Germany.” Science Fiction in the Literature Classroom. ed. Gerry Canavan. Modern Language Association, 2027, pp. 136-41

Forthcoming. Sonja Fritzsche, Hardy Kettlitz, Erik Simon, Karlheinz Steinmüller, Elisabeth Schaber, Evan Torner. “The Legacies of East German Science Fiction.” New introduction Sonja Fritzsche. Translated by Sonja Fritzsche, Emma Steury, and DeepL Translator, DeepL SE: https://www.deepl.com/translator.  Science Fiction Studies Fall 2026, pp. 1-19.

Sonja Fritzsche, Hardy Kettlitz, Erik Simon, Karlheinz Steinmüller, Elisabeth Schaber, Evan Torner. “Das Erbe der DDR Science Fiction.” Roundtable held at the SFRA 2023 Conference in Dresden, Germany. Transcription Sonja Fritzsche, Nolan Rachocki, and Jared Maul. Zeitschrift für Fantastikforschung. vol. 13, no. 1, Jan 12 2026, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.16995/zff.24091.

Kristin Arola, John-Paul Chalykoff, Sonja Fritzsche, Ellie Mitchell, and Emily Uebel. “Navigating Change in Indigenous Language Revitalization Grant Work at a Land Grant Institution.” Collaborations: A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice. vol. 8, issue 1, 2025, DOI: 10.33596/coll.146 (co-authors listed alphabetically)

Fritzsche, Sonja. “’Ableist Fragility’ and Chronic Stress in a Non-Autistic Parent Memoir from Germany.” German Quarterly vol. 98, no. 2, 2025, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/gequ.70011

Melissa Elliot and Sonja Fritzsche. “The East German Disco Film: An Intermedial Approach to the GDR’s Imagined (Musical) Futures.” German Studies Review vol. 46, no. 2, May 2023, pp. 189-206. https://doi.org/10.1353/gsr.2023.0037

Sonja Fritzsche. “Transformative Listening For Chairs: Navigating Difficult Conversations To Bring About Change.” ADFL Bulletin vol. 47, no. 1, December 2022, pp. 96-106. https://www.maps.mla.org/bulletin/article/XJUK7769/

Sonja Fritzsche, Bill Hart-Davidson and Christopher P. Long. “Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership. An Initiative for Transformational Institutional Change.” Change. The Magazine of Higher Learning May/June 2022. 19-27.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2022.2054175

Sonja Fritzsche, Luca Giupponi, Emily Heidrich Uebel, Felix Kronenberg, Christopher P. Long, and Koen Van Gorp. “Languages as Drivers of Institutional Diversity: The Case of Less Commonly Taught Languages.” The Language Educator Special Issue “Anti-Racism in the World Language Classroom.” vol 17, no. 1,Winter 2022, pp. 45-47. https://www.thelanguageeducator.org/actfl/winter_2022/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1760118#articleId1760118

Sonja Fritzsche. “Fascist Drag: Race, Laibach, and Playing Nazi in the Iron Sky Universe.” Science Fiction Film and Television vol. 15, no. 1, 2022, pp. 21-39. Project MUSE https://muse.jhu.edu/article/847956.

Invited Introduction. Sonja Fritzsche. “German SF in Translation.” for Out of this World: Speculative Fiction in Translation from the Cold War to the New Millennium. By Rachel S. Cordasco. U of Illinois Press, 2021. 81-85.

(Invited) March-Russell, Paul, Sonja Fritzsche, Paul Kincaid, Adam Roberts. “Whose History is it Anyway?” Roundtable on The Cambridge History of Science Fiction (2019). Foundation. The International Review of Science Fiction. 137, vol. 49, no. 3, Winter 2020, pp. 85-100.

Selected Popular Press, Public Humanities, and Other Publications
Sonja Fritzsche. “The Devil of Mill Mountain: East Germany Creates Its Own Revolutionary Fairy Tale Film.” Invited Introductory Essay. Into the Forest: Folktales of DEFA. DVD. Eureka Entertainment. United Kingdom. 2026. p. 1-3. https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/strange-new-worlds-science-fiction-at-defa/

Fritzsche, Sonja. “Techno-utopians like Musk are treading old ground: The futurism of early 20th century Europe.” The Conversation. Section on Science & Technology. 9 September 2025. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.eksamd499 
Impact: 6673 reads in 10 countries. On September 26, 2025, 3rd most read article from MSU that month on The Conversation.

Sonja Fritzsche. “Eolomea and Signals.” Invited Introductory Essay. Strange New Worlds: Science Fiction at DEFA. DVD. Eureka Entertainment. United Kingdom. 2025. p. 1-5. https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/strange-new-worlds-science-fiction-at-defa/

Cara Cilano, Sonja Fritzsche, Bill Hart-Davidson, and Christopher P. Long. “Staying with the Trouble – Designing a Values-enacted Academy.” London School of Economics Social Impact Blog, April 23, 2020. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/04/23/staying-with-the-trouble-designing-a-values-enacted-academy/

Invited essay. “Science-Fiction Fandom in United Berlin.” World Literature Today. The University of Oklahoma, November 2014. Web. 1 November 2014. https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2014/november/science-fiction-fandom-united-berlin-sonja-fritzsche

Awards
2024 Delphi Award; Pullias Center for Higher Education; Univ. of Southern California
Awarded for my work as lead to the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University: “The Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership (CPIL) Initiative: Non-Tenure Track Faculty as Full Academic Partners in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University.”
https://pullias.usc.edu/download/charting-pathways-of-intellectual-leadership-for-vital-faculty-at-michigan-state-universitys-college-of-arts-letters/

Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program Fellow 2017-18.

Big Ten Department Executive Officer Leadership Program Fellow 2016.

Arthur O. Lewis Award, Society for Utopian Studies, Best Paper by a Younger Scholar, 2003.

Editorial Work
World Science Fiction Series, Peter Lang Oxford, Founding editor 2014-2019; Co-editor with Gerry Canavan since fall 2019.

Digital Projects
“Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership Toolbox.” Co-creator and co-author. Humanities/Knowledge Commons. 2024-present. https://cpil.hcommons.org/

“College of Arts & Letters Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows Program: An Open Education Resource Toolkit.” Creator and co-author. College of Arts & Letters, Michigan State University. 2024. https://calipfprogram.hcommons.org/.

Selected Grants
PI Sonja Fritzsche – Fellows Program Developing Accessible and Inclusive AI-Resilient Pedagogies and Literacies in Arts and Letters and Communication Arts and Sciences.” MSU Creative Inclusive Equities Grant (CIEG) ($5,000). AY 2026-27

Co-PI Sonja Fritzsche – Big Ten Academic Alliance Indigenous and Less Commonly Taught Languages Partnership–Phase II (2019-2025) Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Higher Education Program ($2.5 Million). PI Christopher P. Long; Co-PIs Sonja Fritzsche, Gordon Henry/Kristin Arola, Felix Kronenberg, Co-I/Project Manager Emily Uebel, Co-I Koenraad van Gorp, Luca Giupponi, Ellie Mitchell, John-Paul Chalykoff.

Fostered sustainable collaboration across the Big Ten in the area of less commonly taught languages including an emphasis on Anishinaabemowin language and culture projects. https://lctlpartnership.celta.msu.edu. The grant’s Wewaawindamojig Indigenous Advisory Board granted subawards to over 16 Indigenous community language project subawards across 4 US States and Canada. The grant has supported curricular and network development for Less Commonly Taught, but Commonly Spoken Languages across the country.

PI Sonja Fritzsche – Promoting Accessible Teaching and Learning Through Faculty Accessibility Fellows Program. MSU Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant, ($32,000), Co-PIs Kate Sonka, Steven Thomas, Jeremy van Hof, Bump Halbritter, Leslie Johnson. Collaboration across College of Arts & Letters, Broad College of Business, College of Natural Sciences, and Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. 2019-2021.

Selected Interviews
Khan, Ayesha. “Episode 38. The Silent Star: 1960 East German Sci-Fi and the Space Race.” Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever. (Dubai, UAE). With Sonja Fritzsche and Evan Torner. August 11, 2025.
https://www.everyscififilm.com/the-silent-star

Khan, Ayesha. “Episode 5. Metropolis: The Most Influential Sci-Fi Film Ever.” Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever. (Dubai, UAE). With Noah Isenberg and Sonja Fritzsche. August 27, 2024.
https://www.everyscififilm.com/metrpo

Visiting Professorships
Yogyakarta State University/Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Visiting Senior Professor Program, International Office, Dept. of English Education and Department of German Education, May 11-19, 2026.

Free University/Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. Lecturer/Dozentin, International Summer School (FUBiS), Summer 2015.

See CV for full list of publications, etc.

Videos
College of Arts & Letters News
Notice of Nondiscrimination | Privacy Statement | Site Accessibility
SPARTANS WILL | © Michigan State University