Mercer Greenwald

mercer

Mercer Greenwald is a doctoral student in Harvard’s Germanic Languages & Literatures and the Studies of Women, Gender, & Sexuality working on the intersections of literature, music, and philosophy from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Thematically, her work focuses on the poetics of the body, issues of maternity, rhythm and repetition, and the philosophy of language.

Mercer has published on Ingeborg Bachmann and Clarice Lispector and has given conference talks on authors such as Franz Grillparzer, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Vilém Flusser, Theodor Reik, Tamara Stajner, and the unknown author of the poem “Antwort an ‘Undine.’”

She was the recipient of a Combined Research and Teaching Grant to Vienna through Fulbright Austria in 2022. Mercer also received the William Weaver Prize in Music and Languages, the William J. Lockwood Prize, and the Irma Brandeis Prize from Bard College. 

As a classical violist, Mercer has also performed in numerous chamber music and orchestra festivals in the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Austria, China, and Palestine. She received a B.M. in Viola Performance and a B.A. in German Studies from the Bard College Conservatory of Music in 2022. 

 

  • Recent Publications: “The School of Depth: Ingeborg Bachmann Meets Clarice Lispector” (Austrian Studies, vol. 32 no. 1, 2024), p. 146-158.
  • Recent courses: GERM-16: Writing the Dreamwork (Williams College WSP 2024); COMP-13: On Stupidity (Williams College WSP 2025, co-taught with Jemma Paek)
  • Upcoming Courses: GERM-10: Beginning German (Harvard GLL 2025);
  • Languages: German, English, Portuguese (beginner/reading), French (beginner/reading)