Wolfgang Ertl's scholarly interests focus on 20th and 21st century German literature and culture, with emphasis on GDR and postunification literature and German lyric poetry. His research and teaching interests also extend to 19th century German literature and interdisciplinary studies in literature and ecology. He is furthermore engaged in studies in art history and has been exhibiting his paintings in oil, pastel, and acrylics since 2007 in various juried shows in New England (www.wolfgangertlart.com).

Before her retirement in 2023, Prof. Gölz taught German and Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa's Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She was also active in the University of Iowa's Program in Literary Translation. In addition to her scholarly work, she has also worked with photography and made documentary films. Her teaching and research interests include theories of textuality, gender and figurative language, theory and poetics of reading, the history and social impact of the invention of writing, manuscript studies, the relation of photography and textuality, performativity, and the construction of "space," and urban semiotics.