Photo of Kiley Kost

Kiley Kost

Lecturer in German, German and Russian

Education & Professional History

University of Minnesota, MA; PhD

I received my PhD in Germanic Studies from the University of Minnesota in 2019. My research interests include environmental humanities, ecocriticism, critical theory and German-language literature. In particular, I explore geologic time scales in fiction and how stories of the deep past are told. I love teaching courses in German and English at all levels and I especially enjoy creating new classes that integrate exciting theoretical approaches with careful analysis of literature and other media. Together with several colleagues, I co-created the online resource hub Environment and Engagement in German Studies.

I have studied at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg and at the Universität Graz. After finishing my undergraduate degree, I spent two years teaching English in Austria as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant. In 2017-2018 I held a Fulbright research grant at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at the LMU in Munich.

Are you interested in study abroad? Check out the OCS program in Vienna, which will be offered next in Spring 2026, and contact me with questions.


At Carleton since 2019.

Highlights & Recent Activity

Faculty Director German OCS Program
German Student Worker Coordinator
German Language Associate Coordinator

Current Courses

  • Fall 2024
    GERM 204: Intermediate German
  • Winter 2025
    GERM 102: Elementary German
  •  
    GERM 240: Half-Lives: Science, Protest, and Nuclear Power in Germany
  • Fall 2025
    CCST 208: International Coffee and News
  •  
    GERM 204: Intermediate German
  • Winter 2026
    GERM 102: Elementary German
  • Spring 2026
    GERM 262: German Studies in Austria Program: Cultural History of Food and Drink in Vienna
  •  
    GERM 264: German Studies in Austria Program: Theater and Opera in Vienna
  •  
    GERM 265: German Studies in Austria Program: The Nation through Art: East-Central European Music, Literature, and Visual Arts
  •  
    GERM 322: German Studies in Austria Program: Contemporary Austrian Literature and Cultural Production