Rate My Professor Fritz Breithaupt

Fritz Breithaupt is Professor of German in the Department of Francophone, Italian & Germanic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in German literature from Johns Hopkins University in 1997 and his M.A. in German literature from the same institution in 1993. Earlier studies include a Zwischenprüfung (B.A. equivalent) in Germanistik, Art History, and Law from Universität Hamburg in 1991, as well as studies in Comparative Literature at Free University Berlin from 1993 to 1995. Prior to joining Penn, Breithaupt held positions at Indiana University Bloomington, including Provost Professor of Germanic Studies and Cognitive Science from 2017, full Professor in Germanic Studies from 2010, Associate Professor from 2002 to 2010, and Assistant Professor from 1996 to 2002. He has also served as Guest Professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland multiple times between 2016 and 2023.

Breithaupt's research focuses on narrative thinking, empathy, emotions, aesthetics, and their cognitive dimensions, with particular attention to literary authors like Goethe. He directs the Experimental Humanities Laboratory at Penn, where interdisciplinary teams investigate narrative and empathy through experiments, and is affiliated with MindCORE's Interconnected Minds cluster. Key publications include The Narrative Brain: The Stories Our Neurons Tell (Yale University Press, 2025), winner of Austria's Science Book of the Year; The Dark Sides of Empathy (Cornell University Press, 2019); Kulturen der Empathie (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2012); Der Ich-Effekt des Geldes: Zur Geschichte einer Legitimationsfigur (Fischer Verlag, 2008); and Jenseits der Bilder: Goethes Politik der Wahrnehmung (Rombach, 2000). He has edited volumes such as Empathie und Narration (Rombach, 2010) and special issues on narrative empathy. Breithaupt's empirical work, involving thousands of participants in 'telephone game' experiments, reveals that narratives preserve emotional arcs like joy and triumph more than factual details, and he developed the Three-Person Model of Empathy explaining polarization. His contributions appear in journals including PNAS, Cognition and Emotion, and Critical Inquiry, with features in NPR, BBC, Der Spiegel, and Die Zeit. Awards include Indiana University's Trustees Teaching Award (2018, 2014, 2003), Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (2000), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship (2009), and Fulbright Grant (1991–1992).