I typically teach several courses per year and am constantly engaged in thesis supervision and related projects.
| 2025 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar, hybrid |
| 2025 |
Independent Studies |
Independent Studies |
| 2024 |
Various lectures, seminars, and Independent Studies |
Lecture, hybrid |
| 2023 |
Introduction to Cognitive Science |
Lecture, hybrid |
| 2023 |
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI |
Seminar hybrid |
| 2023 |
Neurocognitive Communication |
Lecture, hybrid |
| 2023 |
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI |
Seminar hybrid |
| 2022 |
Introduction to Cognitive Science |
Lecture, hybrid |
| 2022 |
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI |
Seminar, hybrid |
| 2022 |
Media Neuroscience |
Seminar, in-person |
| 2022 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar, hybrid |
| 2021 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar, online, asynchronous |
| 2021 |
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI |
Seminar, online, asynchronous |
| 2021 |
Independent Study |
Independent Studies |
| 2020 |
Mass Communication and Public Health |
Seminar, online |
| 2020 |
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI |
Seminar, online |
| 2020 |
Media Neuroscience |
Seminar, online, hybrid |
| 2020 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar, online, hybrid |
| 2019 |
Mass Communication and Public Health |
Seminar |
| 2019 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar |
| 2019 |
Communication Neuroscience |
Seminar |
| 2019 |
Think Tank: Communication as a Dynamic Process |
Seminar |
| 2019 |
Independent Study |
Independent Studies |
| 2019 |
Social Influence and Interpersonal Conflict |
Seminar |
| 2018 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar |
| 2018 |
2 Independent Studies SS2018,FS2018 |
Independent Studies |
| 2018 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar |
| 2018 |
Neurocognitive Communication |
Seminar |
| 2017 |
4 Independent Studies SS2017 |
Independent Studies |
| 2017 |
Public Communication Campaigns |
Seminar |
| 2016 |
Communication and the Brain |
Seminar |
| 2014/2015 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2014 |
Learning and Memory in the Real World |
Seminar |
| 2014 |
Research Colloqium Biopsychology |
Colloqium |
| 2013/2014 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2013 |
Learning and Memory in the Real World |
Seminar |
| 2013 |
Research Colloqium Biopsychology |
Colloqium |
| 2012/2013 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2012 |
Empirical Research Methods II |
Seminar |
| 2012 |
Research Colloqium Biopsychology |
Colloqium |
| 2011/2012 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2011 |
Empirical Research Methods II |
Seminar |
| 2010/2011 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2010 |
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the CNS |
Seminar |
| 2009/2010 |
Empirical Research Methods I |
Lecture & Seminar |
| 2007 |
Emotion, Stress, and Social Neuroscience |
Seminar |
| 2006-2008 |
Baden-Württemberg higher education teaching certificate |
| 2001-2005 |
>10 seminars as TA |
|
Neurocognitive Communication - CAS 992 (taught 2*)
This course will provide an introduction to the emerging field of Neurocognitive Communication, one of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ new signature areas. The course is appropriate for students with no prior background in neuroscience. Basic training in both functional neuroanatomy and neuroimaging methods (mostly fMRI and EEG) will be provided in the first half of the course. In the second half of the course we will cover foundational studies that have begun to examine brain activity in substantive areas in communication science: For example, you will learn about how the brains of people who communicate with each other begin to synchronize and how the brains of recipients tune in to messages (e.g. TV viewers, listeners of radio shows, readers of newspaper articles). We will cover relevant work from neighboring fields like media and social psychology, affective science, and social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience more broadly. After taking this course, you will be able to understand neuroimaging papers, come up with original research ideas, and have a general sense of where this field is heading over the next decade.
Mass Communication and Public Health - CAS 825 (taught 2*)
This course will provide you with a foundation of relevant theories and research related to health communication. We will focus mostly on mass media health communication campaigns, but will also cover the portrayal of health issues in medicine and mass media, general theories of health and behavior change, and current issues related to public health.
Introduction to Cognitive Science - LIN/PHL/CAS 463(taught 2*)
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind, whether mind is embodied in the brain, or in artificial brain-like systems. The creation of a successful scientific explanation of mind requires a concerted effort by investigators with many intellectual talents, from many different theoretical perspectives and empirical traditions, and across many different academic disciplines. This course introduces the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science, drawing on the perspectives and issues in the disciplines of psychology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, communication, and computer science.
Media Neuroscience - CAS 892 (taught 2*)
This course will provide a foundation of knowledge, skills, and theoretical expertise in the emerging field of Media Neuroscience. Students who complete this course will: Know basic functional neuroanatomy, Learn basic concepts in Cognitive Neuroscience (including Social & Affective Neuroscience), Learn current research trends in Media Neuroscience, Learn about the key methods of data acquisition in this field, Be able to understand this kind of research and critique it, Know and understand the main analysis methods, Learn the strengths and limitations of the most widely used techniques, Be able to carry out basic analyses (or know how to overcome difficulties), Be able to come up with own research ideas, Be part of a team-science project that is intended to lead to a publication-quality paper.
Formative Research in Health Communication: From time-proven tools to neuroscience and AI - COM 302 (taught 5*)
Every communicator dreams of being able to give the right message to the right person at the right moment in time. How can we find out what this message should be, optimize it, and deliver it with precision? In this course, we will examine methods that can help us achieve these goals. Every week, we will learn about a concrete method, from classic tools like focus groups and survey research, modern tools for audience analysis on social media, and cutting-edge methods like neural response measurement and AI systems for message evaluation and generation. The emphasis will be on learning the basic principles of available methods and developing practical skills via a hands-on approach. There are no prerequisites regarding computer or research skills aside from basic knowledge of communication methods, curiosity, and creativity.
Communication Neuroscience - COM399 (taught 3*)
In this course students will read foundational literature on research at the intersection of communication science and brain research. For example, we will learn about how the brains of people who talk to each other start to synchronize and how the brains of recipients (e.g. TV viewers, listeners of radio shows, readers of newspaper articles) tune in to messages. Such work can not only inform our understanding of communication, but it also opens up exciting possibilities for applications. This course is appropriate for students with no prior background in brain imaging. Basic training in both functional neuroanatomy and neuroimaging methods will be provided in the first half of the course.
Social Influence and Conflict - COM325 (taught 1*)
This course is an introduction to social influence in the context of interpersonal conflict. Theoretical and practical perspectives will be addressed. Our goal is to help you see how personal influence processes work in the course of managing conflicts. Topics will focus on understanding social influence and conflict processes including persuasion, negotiation and mediation. Among the skills that will be developed are message analysis and conflict communication.
Think Tank - Communication as a dynamic process - COM892 (taught 1*)
Although researchers often talk about ‘communication processes’, prevailing theories and methods are usually very static and not at all process-oriented. In this course, we will explore cutting-edge methodological and analytic tools for answering novel questions, including: use of virtual reality and studies of realistic social interactions, multi-modal and process-based measurements, analytic methods from nonlinear dynamics and machine learning, and simulation and computational modeling. The course will be highly interactive, involving discussions, hands on training on measurement and simulation technologies , data collection and data analysis and visualization.
Communication Campaigns: Design and analysis of campaigns presented through mediated channels COM 475 (taught 5*)
This course will increase your understanding of the public communication campaign process. You will learn about relevant theories, research, and current issues related to the development, implementation, and evaluation of public communication campaigns. We will focus mostly on health-related campaigns, but will also discuss politics or social and environmental issues. In doing so, we will emphasize research-based campaign design, theory and evaluation, and provide detailed applications to international campaigns addressing social, political, and health issues.
Empirical Research Methods I (taught 6*)
This course teaches principles of empirical – mainly experimental – research to first-year psychology students. Students take part in small studies, which are then analyzed and discussed in an interactive lecture in the following week. This way, they learn in a hands-on approach about all critical issues surrounding data analysis, data interpretation, report writing, and dissemination of results. I have been in charge of the “Empiriepraktikum” for over 5 years, which included lecturing as well as full responsibility for grading, and leadership of the tutoring team.
Empirical Research Methods II (taught 4*)
In this course, students work on an actual research project during a whole semester in order to learn critical skills related to planning, executing, and analyzing genuine psy-chological experiments (e.g. surveying the literature, in-depth statistical analysis and interpretation of results, report writing and creation of illustrations). For instance, in a recent course we explored how the temporal minimal conditions under which people can form impressions about others. Towards this end, we created an experiment that replicates a recent study of Alexander Todorov. Participants give snap judgments about the perceived trustworthiness of other individuals under time-constrained (e.g. 26 ms viewing time) and unconstrained conditions. By correlating the trustworthiness ratings from time-constrained and unconstrained conditions, we were able to show that a glance as short as 26 ms is long enough to extract the relevant information.
Learning and Memory ... In the real world (taught 4*)
Ulric Neisser’s famous statement “If x is an interesting memory phenomenon, psychologists avoid it like the plague” served as a starting point for exciting ventures into the intersection of psychological theory of learning and memory and real-world relevance. Although Neisser’s statement is over 30 years old, the basic challenge to relate theory back to practice and to show students how exciting Psychology can be, is as actual as ever. In a higly interactive seminar format, we addressed questions such as: Why don’t we remember what happended before our 2nd birthday? How reliable are eyewitnesses? How do emotions affect memory? What is nostalgia? What happens in PTSD? Can anxiety disorders be understood from a memory perspective? How does sleep affect memory? Hong do we retain what we’ve learned in school? How do we recognize people from their faces, voices, and by their names? Are preferences memory structures? What’s an earworm? How do we remmember what we had for breakfast? Why do we remember it so well if it made us sick? What can Google learn from my memory – and vice versa. These are just some examples of exciting questions we were able to address in this memorable course.
Neuroanatomy: A Hitchhiker's guide to the CNS (taught 1*)
In this course, second-year undergraduates learn about the macro-anatomical structure of the CNS (lobes, gyri, sulci, subcortical structures, ventricles) and about fundamental functional-anatomic relationships (anatomy of the primary sensory systems, limbic system, motor system etc.). More than 20 model brains, the Brainvoyager brain tutor and MRI-CroN software, and many graphics (e.g. the brain anatomy coloring book, Sylvius) allow students to actively engage with neuroanatomy and not only to passively learn anatomical terms. The goal of the course is that students are able to correctly recognize neuroanatomical images and describe them in correct terminology, thus becoming neuroanatomy-teachers themselves rather than simply learning and reproducing structure nomenclature.
Emotion, Stress, and Social Neuroscience (taught 1*)
This course was offered to graduate students with an emphasis on cognitive neuroscience and was held in English. It has been designed to provide a broad but rigorous, graduate-level overview of Social Neuroscience, including its methodological approach (e.g. fMRI, EEG/MEG) and a selection of its hottest topics (e.g. the interface between affect and social pro-cesses during person perception, the impact of social stress, self-related processes). Importantly, this course was also our ‘final project’ for the higher-education teaching certificate. This means that we used this course as an attempt to put into practice what we learned during the teaching-skill seminars: Specifically, innovative features of this course included i) English teaching, ii) team-teaching (I taught this course together with my colleague and collaborator Dr. Florian Bublatzky), and iii) reciprocal peer teach-ing (e.g. half of the students prepared a lesson about EEG methods and taught their fellows how this method works, while the other half learned about fMRI and taught their knowledge to the EEG-group). During the course, we wrote reflections and videotaped our performance, which was then assessed and criticized by experts of the committee that awarded the teaching certificate.
here or on the thumbnail, you can see a few evaluation results (older ones in German, further down recent English examples).
