1979
B.A. (German, History, and Philosophy), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1980
B.A. Hons (German), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1985
M.A., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Title of dissertation: Zur Bedeutung von Geschichte, Sexualität und Tod im Werk Heiner Müllers.
1988 H. Dip. Ed. (Post Graduate), University of South Africa, Pretoria

1998
Ph.D., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Title of thesis: Masochismus und Macht. Eine kritische Untersuchung am Beispiel von Klaus Manns Mephisto. Roman einer Karriere.

Berufliche Tätigkeit

1982 – 1985
Junior Lecturer, Dept. of German Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1986
Teacher (German 1st & 3rd language and History, Religious Studies), Deutsche Schule Johannesburg

1987 – 1989
Assistant Lecturer, Dept. of German Language & Literature, University of Cape Town

1990 – 1998
Lecturer, Dept. of German Studies (transferred to Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures from 1993), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1999 – 2000
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures (transferred to School of Literature and Language Studies from 2001), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

2001 – 2004
Associate Professor, German Studies & European Literature, School of Literature and Language Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Fall 2003
Humanities Fellow at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, USA, Fall Semester

Since 2004
Professor of German (from 1 July 2004) and Chair of Department of Modern Foreign Languages, Stellenbosch University (from 1 October 2004)

von Maltzan Lecture