Andrea Römmele to receive prestigious Thomas Mann Fellowship

Professor Andrea Römmele will be one of thirteen Thomas Mann Fellows in 2024. The association Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is endowing the Hertie School’s Dean of Executive Education and Vice President with the fellowship for her outstanding commitment to fostering democracy.

“I am honoured to join the inspiring group of Thomas Mann Fellows,” Römmele says. “I look forward to exchanging and advancing ideas on the present and future of democracy, one of the fundamental challenges of our times.” 

The 2024 cohort connects intellectuals addressing the vulnerability of democracy

As part of the fellowship, Römmele will head to Los Angeles in spring 2024 to live and work at the former residence of German writer and intellectual Thomas Mann. 

“To work, think and exchange at the Thomas Mann House, an important piece of German-American history, fills me with great respect. I am looking forward to new experiences, meaningful connections and fruitful exchanges on next year’s annual topic democracy and vulnerability – a theme which connects well to my research, teaching and outreach both in Germany and the United States,” Römmele says.

Among others, Römmele will exchange with legal scholar and former German federal constitutional court judge Prof. Susanne Baer, author Friedemann Karig and philosopher Rahel Jaeggi.

Andrea Römmele joined the Hertie School in 2010 as Professor for Communication in Politics and Civil Society. In addition to this role, she also currently holds the position of Vice President and Dean of Executive Education. She is a frequent commentator in German and international media and politics. Her research focusses on comparative political communication, political parties and social media and its role in campaigns. She works as a consultant to political and corporate campaigns. She obtained her PhD from Heidelberg University and completed her habilitation at the Freie Universität Berlin.

The Thomas Mann Fellowship – a transatlantic forum for debate

Since 1995 the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. have nominated public intellectuals, researchers and artists for the exclusive fellowship programme in honour of the Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann. After fleeing Nazi Germany, Mann lived in the United States between 1939 and 1952, where he intensively addressed questions regarding the roots of fascism, democratic renewal and freedom in his literary works, lectures and essays. Up to today, the Thomas Mann House and Villa Aurora act as a transatlantic forum for debating the most important issues of our time. In the year of the US presidential election, the 2024 fellows will connect over the topic of democracy and vulnerability.