He held invited visiting professorships at the University of Freiburg and Havard University. His research interests include high medieval German epic, romance, and Minnesang, historical narratology, the history of pain as well as medieval and early modern texts on Alexander the Great. He is the principal investigator of a multi-year research project, Spatial Practices in German literature, 1150-1300, funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.