Rachel Halverson specializes in post-war and post-unification German literature and culture and has published on the Historikerstreit, and the works of:

• Siegfried Lenz,
• Jurek Becker
• Thomas Brussig
• Günter de Bruyn
• Martina Hefter
• Wolfgang Hilbig
• Tobias Hülswitt
• Hanna Johansen
• Hermann Kant
• Judith Kuckart.

Narrative Theory 

In addition to journal articles and book chapters, she has co-edited three anthologies:

• Textual Responses to German Unification (Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2001) and Berlin
• The Symphony Continues (Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2004) co-edited with Carol Anne Costabile-Heming and Kristie Foell
• Taking Stock of German Studies in the United States: The New Millennium (Camden House, 2015) co-edited with Costabile-Heming.

She is deeply committed to furthering the study of German in the United States on the secondary and post-secondary levels and was a member of the Goethe Institute Trainernetzwerk from 2001 until 2018 when this initiative was discontinued.

Books

• Historiography and Fiction: Siegfried Lenz and the 'Historikerstreit.' Published in the German Life and Civilization series. Ed. Jost Hermand.  New York:  Lang, 1990.

Edited Books

• Taking Stock of German Studies in the United States: The New Millennium. Ed. Rachel J. Halverson and Carol Anne Costabile-Heming. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2015.
• Berlin. The Symphony Continues: Orchestrating Architectural, Social and Artistic Change in Germany's New Capital. Ed. Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Rachel J. Halverson, and Kristie Foell. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2004.
• Textual Responses to German Unification: Processing Historical and Social Change in Literature and Film. Ed. Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Rachel J. Halverson, and Kristie Foell. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2001.

Select Articles and Book Chapters

• “Reading Literature in the Digital Age: Connecting Students to Texts Orally and Aurally.” Co-authored with Dr. Carol Anne Costabile-Heming. Unterrichtspraxis. 56:2 (2023): 131-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/tger.12260. 
• "Jakob’s Story in Fiction and Film: Narrating Truths and Lies in Jakob der Lügner (1974) and Jakob the Liar (1999).” Literature/Film Quarterly. 48:3 (2020).
• “Follow-the-Leader: Tracing Male Influence on Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph des Willens.” Realities and Fantasies of German Female Leadership: From Maria Antonia of Saxony to Angela Merkel. Eds. Patricia A. Simpson and Elisabeth Krimmer. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2019. 225-242.
• “Narrating the Twenty-First Century: Tobias Hülswitt’s Exploration of Nonlinearity and Transmediality.” German Life and Letters. 71:1 (2018): 67-88.
• “Becoming a Writer in the Digital Age: German Author Tobias Hülswitt’s Path from Published Author to Performance Intellectual.” Pacific Coast Philology 51.2 (2016). 177-194.
• “New Media Texte für die Millennials im DaF Unterricht.” Co-authored with Dr. Pennylynn Dystra-Prium. Unterrichtspraxis 48.2 (2015): 255-274.
• “EIKK: A Case for Professional Development.” Taking Stock of German Studies in the United States: The New Millennium. Ed. Rachel J. Halverson and Carol Anne Costabile-Heming. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2015. 104-113.
• “The New German Lesbarkeit in Action: Narrative and Context in Martina Hefter’s Zurück auf Los.” Symposium 64.2 (2010): 73-88.
• “Living in the Moment, Reflecting on the Past: Exploring Loss, Language and Identity in Martina Hefter’s Zurück auf Los and Die Küsten der Berge.” “Wenn sie das Wort ich gebraucht." Festschrift für Barbara Becker-Cantarino von SchülerInnen, KollegInnen, und StudentInnen. Eds. Jacqueline Vansant and John Pustejovsky. Chloe. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2013.

Interviews

• Hülswitt, Tobias. “»Das war wie der Eintritt in ein anderes Universum, eine andere Zeit, ein anderes Selbst«.” Interview by Rachel J. Halverson. Kritische Ausgabe: Zeitschrift für Literatur im Dialog 37 (2021). 12-19. (Peer Reviewed)
• Hülswitt, Tobias. “Über das Schriftstellerdasein im 21. Jahrhundert – Interview mit Tobias Hülswitt, Autor des Romans Dinge bei Licht, Blogger, und Performance-Intellektueller.” Interview  and one-page introduction by Rachel J. Halverson. Glossen 41 (2016). August 2016. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/glossen/glossen-41-august-2016/

Translations

• Hülswitt, Tobias. “Granular.” Introduction and translation by Rachel J. Halverson. Delos 34:1 (2019): 21-27.
• Hülswitt, Tobias. “Angel Pool.” Introduction and translation by Rachel J. Halverson. Delos 32 (2017): 152-160.

• Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Postsecondary Teacher Award (National), 2016
• Continuing Service Award, Washington Association of Foreign Language Teachers (State), 2009
• Ray Verzasconi Pacific Northwest Postsecondary Teacher of the Year Award (Regional), 2008
• Goethe-Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit (National), 2005