Curriculum Vitae

Head of Research Group
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/S., Germany (hereinafter MPI for Social Anthropology)

Extraordinary Professor of Social Anthropology
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/S., Germany (hereinafter MLU Halle-Wittenberg)

Current Research, Publications, Scholarly presentations, Teaching

Content

  • School education
  • University education and degrees
  • Academic positions
  • Grants, honors, fellowships
  • Organization of conferences and workshops
  • Memberships and functions in scientific, academic and political organizations
  • Miscellaneous professional activities (selection)
  • Websites/Social networks

School education

1974-1980             
Ramseyer Memorial School (Swiss School) and Ghana International School, Accra (Ghana); Kollegschule am Kikweg, Düsseldorf (A-Levels/Abitur)

1966-1973
Primary Education in Neuss (Germany) and Accra (Ghana)

University education and degrees

2006   
Habilitation in Social Anthropology (PD Dr. habil.), Martin Luther-University Halle- Wittenberg, Halle/S.

1994-96    
Postdoctoral  fellow,  Interdisciplinary  Graduate  School  (Graduiertenkolleg) “Conflicts in the Context of Social and Cultural Diversity”, University of Münster

1990-94        
PhD candidate, Interdisciplinary Graduate School (Graduiertenkolleg) “Intercultural Relations in Africa”, University of Bayreuth (PhD in Social Anthropology 1994)

1984-88    
Study of Social Anthropology, Political Sciences and English Philology, University of Cologne, M.A. 1989

1983    
Study of Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine

1981-84    
Study of Social Anthropology and Political Sciences, University of Hamburg

1980    
Nora-Hengstenberg-Schauspielschule (Drama School) in Düsseldorf

Academic positions

ongoing     
Head of Research Group (Faculty member), Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/S. (hereinafter MPI for Social Anthropology) (since 2004)

Extraordinary Professor at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/S. (hereinafter MLU Halle-Wittenberg) (since 2013)

2016
Visiting Professor, Departamento Antropologia, Universidade Brasília (Jan./Feb.)

2008-09      
Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology and Centre for Society, Technology and Development, McGill University, Montreal (recurrent, April 08-September 09)

2008-09   
Visiting (Full) Professor, Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Bayreuth, (October 08-February 09)

2006-12          
Reader (Privatdozent), Institute for Social Anthropology, MLU Halle-Wittenberg

2004-09   
Minerva Professor / Head of Research Group, MPI for Social Anthropology, Halle/S. (see also “Grants, honors, fellowships”)

2007       
Visiting  Professor,  Departamento  Antropologia,  Universidade  Brasília  (August- September)

2006        
Visiting Professor at Indiana University Bloomington (December)

Visiting Professor, Institute for Social Sciences, Lisbon (November)

2003-04       
Senior Researcher, MPI for Social Anthropology, Halle/S.

2000-02       
Visiting Fellow, University of Indonesia, Jakarta

1997-99         
Scientific Coordinator, Research School “Cultural Diversity and the Construction of the Polity in Southeast Asia: Continuity, Discontinuity, Transformation”, University of Münster.

1994-96    
Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate School (Graduiertenkolleg) “Conflicts in the Context of Social and Cultural Diversity”, University of Münster (see also “Grants, honors, fellowships”)

1990-93    
PhD candidate, Graduate Center (Graduiertenkolleg) “Intercultural Relations in Africa” (linked to the SFB “Identity in Africa”), University of Bayreuth (see “Grants”)

1991-92   
Visiting Fellow, University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay College, Freetown

Grants, honors, fellowships

2010    
Upon nomination by the Max Planck Society: Inclusion in AcademiaNet, Internet da- tabase for excellent researchers (http:www.academianet.de)

2004-09          
Minerva Professorship / Minerva Programme of the Max Planck Society (awarded within the Special Programme “Promotion of Exceptional Female Scientists and Researchers”)

2000-03   
Lise Meitner Habilitation Grant (Lise Meitner Habilitationsstipendium, Ministry of Education, Science and Research, North Rhine-Westphalia

2001   
Grant to conduct archival research at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

1999       
Short-listed for the “Bennigsen-Förderpreis” (highest scientific award of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany)

1994-96        
Postdoctoral grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Graduate Center (Graduiertenkolleg) “Conflicts in the Context of Social and Cultural Diversity”, University of Münster

1990-93       
PhD grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Graduate Center (Graduiertenkolleg) “Intercultural Relations in Africa” (linked to the Special Research Field (SFB) “Identity in Africa”), University of Bayreuth

1983       
Foreign exchange scholarship, awarded by the Academic Foreign Office, University of Hamburg to study at the University of California, Irvine (UCI)

Organization of conferences and workshops

Annual Retreat, Research Group IC_UGC
Düsseldorf, July 2016

Annual Retreat, Research Group IC_UGC
Düsseldorf, July 2015

Creole Languages and Postcolonial Diversity in Comparative Perspective
Fifth International Conference of the Research Group IC_UGC, Halle/S., September 2014

Annual Retreat, Research Group IC_UGC
Düsseldorf, July 2013

Workshop in the Field, Research Group IC_UGC
Freetown/Sierra Leone, March 2013

Transcending Traditional Tropes: Conceptualizing Politics and Policies in 21st Century Upper Guinea Coast
Fourth International Conference of the Research Group IC_UGC, Halle/S., September 2012

Annual Retreat, Research Group IC_UGC
Düsseldorf, February 2012

Workshop in the Field, Research Group IC_UGC
Gomoa Fetteh/Ghana, October 2011

Annual Retreat, Research Group IC_UGC
Düsseldorf, March 2011

The Upper Guinea Coast in Transnational Perspective
Third International Conference of the Research Group IC_UGC, MPI for Social Anthropology, Halle/S., December 2010

Workshop in the Field, Research Group IC_UGC
Cape Coast/Ghana, October 2010

Margins, Diasporas, Networks: The Upper Guinea Coast and the Making of the Atlantic
Second International Conference of the Research Group IC_UGC, co-organized by the MPI for Social Anthropology, Halle/S. and the Institute for Social Sciences (ICS), Lisbon, December 2008

Workshop in the Field, Research Group IC_UGC
Banjul/Gambia, July 2008

Comparative Perspectives on Postcolonial Nation-Building and Concepts of Nationhood in Africa
Biannual conference of the German Anthropological Association (DGV), Halle/S., October 2007

Workshop in the Field, Research Group IC_UGC
Freetown/Sierra Leone, March 2007

The Powerful Presence of the Past. Historical Dimensions of Integration and Conflict along the Upper Guinea Coast
First International Conference of the Research Group IC_UGC, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/S., December 2006

Conflicts–Human Rights–Interventions
Biannual conference of the German Anthropological Association (DGV) (member of organizing committee), Halle/S., October 2005

Childhood and Migration
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Hamburg, October 2003

Representations of Modernity and Tradition in Processes of Cultural Transformation
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Göttingen, 2001

Concepts of Intercultural and Transcultural Identity in connection to Gender Theories
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Heidelberg, October 1999 (with Nadig and Schlehe)

Virtual Diasporas
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Heidelberg, October 1999

Representations of Ethnicity and Intercultural Processes in the Global City
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Frankfurt/M., October 1997

Women and Migration: Anthropological Perspectives
International conference of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, German Anthropological Association (DGV), Münster, October 1997

Migration, Multiculturality and Identity as Areas of Anthropological Research
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, Biannual conference of the
German Anthropological Association (DGV), Vienna, October 1995

Anthropology of Migration
Workshop of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity”, German Anthropological Association (DGV), Bonn, July 1995

Leadership roles and committee work in scientific/academic organizations and joint re-search projects (selection)

  • Member of the Executive Board, Graduate School Society and Culture in Motion, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (since 2011)
  • Representative of Scientific Staff, Max Planck Society (12-15)
  • Mentor, Minerva FemmeNet, Max Planck Society (since 09)
  • MPI for Social Anthropology’s Head of Project (with Günther Schlee), Principal Investigator and Supervisor within the Volkswagen Foundation Project: “Travelling Models in Conflict Management: a comparative research and network building project in six African countries (Chad, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Sudan)” (2006-2011) https://www.eth.mpg.de/3418057/vw_project_travelling_models
  • Head of the Project Development Group, MPI for Social Anthropology, (05-07)
  • Board member of the German Anthropological Association (DGV) (03-07)
  • Chairwoman of the section “Migration, Multiculturality and Identity” and Associate Board Member of the German Anthropological Association (DGV) (95-03)
  • Representative of Scientific Staff, Faculty of History/Philosophy, University of Münster (98-99)

Editorial boards
Integration  and  Conflict  Studies,  Max  Planck  Institute  for  Social  Anthropology, Berghahn


Memberships in scientific organizations
European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA)
European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EUROSEAS)
African Studies Association (ASA)
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
Vereinigung der Afrikanisten in Deutschland(VAD)/Union of Africanists in Germany
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde (DGV)/German Anthropological Association
Social Sciences History Association (SSHA)
Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR)
Working Group on Childhood and Migration, Rutgers State University of New Jersey
Anthropology of Children and Youth Network, University of Amsterdam
LeadNet, Max Planck Society
Minerva FemmeNet, Max Planck Society
Deutscher Hochschulverband (Assembly of German Universities)


Miscellaneous professional activities (selection)

Scientific advisor to the German Parliament (recurrent)
Expert witness in asylum cases (UK, USA, Germany, Netherlands) (recurrent)
Counsellor for expatriates, repatriates (to be) (recurrent)
Reviewer for German and international funding agencies (DFG, ESF etc.)
Freelancer at the German Foundation for Development (DSE), Bad Honnef (90/91)
Teacher of English and German as foreign languages (VHS and ASG Düsseldorf, 1985-1990)
Volunteer in a law-firm specialized in immigration law, Santa Ana, California (83)

Go to Editor View