Franz-Josef Deiters read German Literature, Philosophy and Linguistics at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany) where, in 1993, he completed his studies with an MA (Magister Artium). In 1997, he received his PhD (Dr. phil.), and in 2004, he was awarded a Higher Doctorate (the Habilitation). In 2010, Franz-Josef Deiters was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Before joining Monash University in 2006, he taught German Literature at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, and he has held visiting appointments at the University of Sarajevo (2005) and at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt/M (2006). Franz-Josef Deiters has published widely on German literature and literary as well as theatre aesthetics.