Ulrike Wagner's research and teaching interests are in the field of German Romanticism and American Transcendentalism, in particular aesthetic theory, religion, philology, the rise of new models of Bildung, and debates about the relationship between classicism and modern cultures. Her PhD dissertation-in German and Comparative Literature from Columbia University-examines links between the rise of the science of antiquity, Biblical criticism and educational and cultural reform projects in works by Johann Gottfried Herder, Germaine de Sta l, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Several forthcoming publications explore these topics. In 2009/10 she was a member of the bi-national PhD-Net "Das Wissen der Literatur" at Humboldt University  and she is currently an associated member of the University's collaborative research center "Transformationen der Antike."