Pascal Michelberger

I am a postdoctoral scholar at the Western Academy for Advanced Research at Western University in London, ON, where I work on an interdisciplinary team of scholars and policymakers examining the unique challenges and possibilities for interstate peace and international justice in the twenty-first century.

In my research, located at the intersection of literary studies, legal studies, and history, I highlight the ways in which the examination of fictional and non-fictional sources with the tools of scholarship rooted in the humanities can offer meaningful perspectives on conflict, peace, and the rule of law.

My recent doctoral research project, for instance, which was awarded an Ontario Trillium Scholarship, examined fictional approaches to the legal prosecution of Third Reich crimes in (West) Germany with a special focus on the adequacy of legal investigations and trials for the purpose of addressing systematic human rights violations, establishing the truth about past events, and normalizing relationships between conflict parties.

Currently, I am working on a research project that considers forward-looking storytelling in the context of peace and conflict as a powerful device that can equip us with the tools to navigate moments of crisis in real time more successfully.