Prof. Dr. Welf Werner

Director/Professor for American Studies

Contact

Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Hauptstr. 120
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 6221 543880
E-Mail: wwerner@hca.uni-heidelberg.de

Office Hours

By appointment
Room 211

Areas of Specialization

  • U.S. economic policies
  • financial market globalization
  • monetary regime change
  • natural disasters and international risk management
  • globalization and inequality 

Education and Employment

Since 2018: Director of the HCA, Joint Appointment with the Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences 
2004-2018: Professor of International Economics, International University Bremen
1995-2003: Assistant Professor, John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Free University Berlin
2003: Habilitation and Venia Legendi in economic policy and theory from the Economics Department, Free University Berlin 
1986-1993: Research Associate at the John-F.-Kennedy-Institute, Free University Berlin
1997-1998: Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies und der George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, Washington, DC
1994-1995: John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University, Minda de Gunzburg Center
1992: PhD, Economics Department, Free University Berlin
1981-1986: Studies of economics, finance, management, and economic history at the Free University Berlin and Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
1986: Diplom, Economics Department, Free University Berlin

Selected Publications

Natural Disasters in the United States: Making Sense of Risks and Vulnerability. Ed. with Natalie Rauscher. Berlin: SpringerNature, 2025.
Participation in American Culture and Society. Ed. with Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy and Natalie Rauscher. Heidelberg: Winter, 2024.
“Broken Social Contract: The Domestic Roots of US Hegemonic Decline in the World,” with Christian Lammert, in: Welf Werner und Florian Böller (eds.), Hegemonic Transition. Global Economic and Security Orders in the Age of Trump. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, pp 43-65.
Hegemonic Transition: Global Economic and Security Orders in the Age of Trump. Ed. with Florian Böller. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
„Pragmatismus: Obama und die Überwindung der Wirtschaftskrise,“ Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik 10 (2017), pp 39-64.
“Natural Catastrophes and Their Effects on Reinsurance,” in: J. Jones and N. Haueter (eds.), Managing Risk in Reinsurance: From City Fires to Global Warming. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2016, pp 273-297. 
Wie viel Ungleichheit verträgt die Demokratie? Ed. with Winfried Fluck, Frankfurt: Campus, 2004.
Handelspolitik für Finanzdienste. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2004.

Positions and Projects

  • Principal Investigator, DFG Research Training Group (Graduiertenkolleg) “Authority and Trust in American Culture, Society, History, and Politics” (GRK 2244)