Ben Gibson

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ben received his dual-major B.A. in Political Science and German from the University of Osnabrück in February 2024, his B.A. thesis having focused on the intermedial relationship between photography and German Trivialliteratur at the end of the 19^th century. His B.A. studies were shortly interrupted by a semester abroad in Fall 2022/23 at the University of Plymouth in Great Britain under the care of the Erasmus+ program. After the attainment of his Bachelor degree, Ben continued his studies, this time within the framework of an M.A. program, at the University of Columbia in Missouri where he simultaneously taught German to Undergraduate classes. After four semesters, Ben completed his M.A. thesis on the literary-philosophical relationship between Arthur Schopenhauer and Heinrich von Kleist with a selective analysis of the latter’s prose tales, titled: “‘Das Leben schien ihm verhaßt‘: Eine Untersuchung der Bereiche Ethik, Recht und Religion innerhalb ausgewählter Kleist’scher Werke hinsichtlich der Philosophie Arthur Schopenhauers“. 

Ben is generally interested in German pessimistic philosophy and its relationship to literature and religion at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, with a further emphasis on the then emerging exchange with Buddhism and Indological studies, in the wider research area of comparative analysis. Outside of his studies, Ben enjoys reading, meditation and walks, either solitary or in profitable company.