• Senior Fellowship Programme

Senior Fellows at the College

The College welcomes up to 20 distinguished international scholars from universities and research institutions around the globe as Senior Fellows each year. During their six-month residencies at the College, commencing in spring or autumn, they collaborate with UA Ruhr researchers who are also considered members of the College for the time of the fellowship.

This section introduces the College’s current Senior Fellows and their tandem partners from the UA Ruhr, presenting their research profiles and joint projects.

 

Senior Fellows | Summer Term 2024

Prof. Stephen Brown

University of Ottawa (Canada) | Political Science

E-mail:

Stephen Brown is a professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he is also affiliated with the School of International Development and Global Studies. His research focuses mainly on the intersection of domestic and international politics. He has published on democratisation, political violence, peacebuilding and transitional justice/rule of law in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Rwanda. He has conducted research on foreign aid in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mongolia, and Peru, as well as on global COVID-19 vaccine inequities. He is now primarily carrying out research on international LGBTQI+ rights. He is completing a research project on international actors’ efforts to defend the rights of sexual and gender minorities in the Global South. His latest project is on how people in some African countries, such as Botswana, Mauritius, and Kenya, use domestic courts to try to force their governments to decriminalise homosexuality. He has been a visiting scholar at universities and research institutes in Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Project description

Website

https://stephenbrown.xyz

Tandem Partner

Prof. Dennis Dijkzeul

Ruhr University Bochum, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) | Conflict and Organisation Research

E-mail:

Prof. Sule Emmanuel Egya

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (Nigeria) | African Literature, Environmental Humanities

E-mail:

Sule Egya is professor of African Literature and Environmental Humanities at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria. His research interests include literature and environment, African migration writing, knowledge production in Africa, and decolonial discourse. His current research examines environmental imagination in African 20th century literature. His monographs include:

  • “Nation, Power and Dissidence in Third Generation Nigerian Poetry in English” (NISC, 2014, 2019)
  • “Niyi Osundare: A Literary Biography” (SevHage, 2017)
  • “Power and Resistance: Literature, Regime, and the National Imaginary” (SevHage, 2019)
  • “Nature, Environment and Activism in Nigerian Literature” (Routledge, 2020)

Sule Egya has co-edited “Studies in Scientific and Cultural Ecology” (SevHage, 2021) and “Orality, Textuality, Society: New Perspectives on Nigerian Literature and Culture” (SevHage, 2023). He also writes fiction and poetry under the pen-name E. E. Sule. He is the author of the novels “Sterile Sky” (winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize Africa Region, 2013) and “Makwala” (ANA Prose Prize, 2019) and the poetry collection “What the Sea Told Me” (winner of the ANA Gabriel Okara Prize, 2009).

Project description

Tandem Partner

Prof. Patricia Plummer

University of Duisburg-Essen | English and Postcolonial Studies

E-mail:

Prof. Mila Ganeva

Miami University Ohio (USA) | German Studies, Film Studies

E-mail:

Mila Ganeva is Professor of German and affiliate member of the Film Studies programme at Miami University in Ohio. She is the author of Women in Weimar Fashion: Discourses and Displays in German Culture, 1918-1933 (Camden House, 2008) and Film and Fashion amidst the Ruins of Berlin: Between Nazism and Cold War, 1945-1953 (Camden House, 2018) as well as numerous articles on fashion history and German film. Her essay on fashion photographers in Berlin of the 1920s was included in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition “The New Woman Behind the Camera” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (July 2021-January 2022). Most recently she published about the costumes and set designs in the popular German TV-series “Babylon Berlin” and is completing an article “Dressing Babylon Berlin for a Global Audience: Extravaganza, Glamour, and Grit” forthcoming in 2024. She is currently writing a book-length study on “Cabaret and Film: Synergy and Competition in the Weimar Republic.”

Project description

Website

https://miamioh.edu/profiles/cas/mila-ganeva.html

Tandem Partner

Prof. Gudrun König

TU Dortmund University | Cultural Anthropology of Textiles

Asst. Prof. Marta García Morcillo

Durham University (UK) | Ancient History

E-mail:

Marta García Morcillo is an Ancient Historian, currently Research Fellow at Durham University and UK Principal Investigator of the AHRC-DFG collaborative project “Twisted Transfers: Discursive Constructions of Corruption in Ancient Greece and Rome” (2020-24). Previously, she worked as Senior Lecturer and Lecturer at the Universities of Roehampton (London), Wales TSD, Leicester and Dresden; and was Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Universities of Heidelberg and Potsdam. Her research revolves around the study of ancient economies, with a particular interest in Roman financial activities, economic mentality and motivation, and the relationship between markets and ideas of value. She also works on the reception of antiquity in modern visual cultures, with a special interest in cinema, advertising and printed media. Marta is cofounder of the international networks "Imagines: Antiquity in the Visual and Performing Arts" and "Engendering Ancient Economies".

Project description

Website

https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/marta-garcia-morcillo

Tandem Partner

Prof. Florian Freitag

University of Duisburg-Essen | American Studies

E-mail:

Prof. Mustafa Erdem Özgür

Dokuz Eylül University Izmir (Turkey) | Economics

E-mail:

M. Erdem Özgür is Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir. Previously, he was employed by Bülent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, where he had served as vice director of the Maritime Business School. He received his PhD degree from George Mason University in 2005, and his MSc and BSc degrees from Middle East Technical University. His research interests include economic history and history of economic thought with a specific focus on the 19th century. He has papers presented at various professional conferences on his research interests. He has published articles and book chapters as well as co-edited books on the economic history of and history of economic thought in the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Europe, and the US. The courses he taught include history of economic thought, institutional economics, economic history, and principles of economics.

Project description

Website

https://debis.deu.edu.tr/akademik/index.php?cat=3&akod=20120252

Tandem Partner

Prof. Jakob Kapeller

University of Duisburg-Essen | Socio-Economics

E-mail:

Prof. Manuel Souto-Otero

Cardiff University (UK) | Education Policy, Sociology

E-mail:

Manuel Souto-Otero is a Professor of Education Policy and Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University (UK), where he is Director of Research and Head of the Education Research Group. He has published widely on the link between education and work (in particular digitalisation, the future of work and its implications for skills development), social stratification and inequalities, and non-formal education. He has recently completed a project on “Digital Disruption and the Future of Work: reimagining education, skills and employ-ability” for Skills Futures Singapore, and has also undertaken a large number of research projects for international organisations (European Commission, European Parliament, Cedefop, UNESCO, OECD), national governments (Belgium, Spain, Estonia, UK), and think tanks and third sector organisations (including the European Youth Forum and the Institute for Public Policy Research). He is an executive editor of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, Associate Editor of the Journal Education and Work, and Advisory Board Member for the Journal of Education Policy.

Project description

Website

https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/souto-oterom

Tandem Partner

Prof. Birgit Apitzsch

Ruhr University Bochum | Sociology of Work, Economy, and Welfare

E-mail:

Prof. Małgorzata Sugiera

Jagiellonian University Cracow (Poland) | Performativity Studies

E-mail:

Małgorzata Sugiera is Professor and Head of the Department for Performativity Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and Head of the Department for Performativity Studies. She was a Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, DAAD, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, the American Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the International Research Center “Interweaving Performance Cultures” at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research concentrates on performativity theories, environmental and decolonial studies, particularly in the context of the history of science. She published twelve scholarly books in Polish, translates scholarly books and co-edited several books in English and German, most recently with Dorota Sajewska for “Crisis and Communitas: Performative Concepts of Commonality in Arts and Politics” (Routledge 2022).

Website

https://performatyka.polonistyka.uj.edu.pl/psugiera

Tandem Partner

Prof. Dorota Sajewska

Ruhr University Bochum | Theatre Studies

© © University of California Santa Barbara

Assoc. Prof. Christina Vagt

University of California Santa Barbara (USA) | European Media Studies, German Studies, Comparative Literature

E-mail:

Christina Vagt is Associate Professor of European Media Studies, German, and Comparative Literature at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her research intersects media theory with European philosophy and the history of science and technology. Selected publications: Impossible-Possible Machines (communication +1, 2022), Action at A Distance (Minnesota, 2020); Design as Aesthetic Education: On the Politics and Aesthetics of Learning Environments (History of the Human Sciences, 2020), Geschickte Sprünge. Physik und Medium bei Martin Heidegger (Diaphanes, 2012).

Project description

Website

https://www.gss.ucsb.edu/people/christina-vagt

Tandem Partner

Prof. Florian Sprenger

Ruhr University Bochum | Media Studies, Virtual Humanities

E-mail:

Prof. Douglas Wegner

Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil) | Business Administration

E-mail:

Douglas Wegner is a professor of the Professional Master in Administration at Fundação Dom Cabral, a business school in Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is currently co-leader of the track on “Interorganizational and Interpersonal Relations” at Anpad, the National Association of Graduate Programs and Research in Administration, and member of the research group Collab4Good, which focuses on grand challenges, collaborative governance, innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurial ecosystems, social innovation, and inter organisational cooperation. His current research interests include collaborative strategies and networks, network governance, and network orchestration. He also works as associate editor of Revista Base for the topics of Collaboration and Interorganisational Relations. Besides the academic activities, Douglas worked as a business consultant, forming and developing strategic networks in Brazil. Douglas Wegner holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2011), Brazil. He was a visiting researcher at TU Dortmund University (2019) and the University of Sevilla (2016) and published various articles in peer reviewed journals.

Project description

Website

https://www.fdc.org.br/en/aboutfdc/faculty/douglas-wegner

Tandem Partner

Prof. Jürgen Howaldt

TU Dortmund University, Social Research Centre Dortmund | Sociology, social innovation research

E-mail:

Prof. Peter Woelert

University of Melbourne, Australia | Education

E-mail:

Peter Woelert is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Graduate Research) at the Faculty of Education of the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published on issues such as universities’ internal responses to national research funding settings, the politics of research evaluation, and the unintended effects of national policy reform on institutional diversity. His current programme of research is focused on exploring new forms of bureaucratisation within universities and their ramifications.

Project description

Website

https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/219058-peter-woelert

Tandem Partner

Prof. Uwe Wilkesmann

TU Dortmund University, Centre for Higher Education (zhb) | Organisation Studies and Management of Continuing Education

E-mail:

Tandem Partners | Summer Term 2024

Prof. Birgit Apitzsch

Ruhr University Bochum | Sociology of Work, Economy, and Welfare

E-mail:

Birgit Apitzsch is professor of sociology at Ruhr University Bochum. She received her doctorate at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies, where she also worked as a postdoctoral researcher, followed by a Max Weber fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence, and a position as a senior researcher at the Sociological Research Institute in Göttingen. Her research focuses on non-standard work, especially in creative, social and knowledge-intensive services, on digitalisation and changes in industrial relations. Furthermore, she specialises in research on transformations within the legal professions, such as current challenges to the rule of law in Europe, and the introduction of digital technologies in the legal professions, courts and civil society organisations.

Website

https://www.sowi.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/sozaww/lehrstuhlinhaberin/apitzsch.html.de

Prof. Dennis Dijkzeul

Ruhr University Bochum, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) | Conflict and Organisation Research

E-mail:

Dennis Dijkzeul is professor of conflict and organiation research at the School of Social Sciences and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum. He was the founding director of the Humanitarian Affairs Program at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University in New York. He has conducted research projects on international and local organisations in the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and Afghanistan, and has worked as a consultant for UN organisations and NGOs in Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America. His main research interests concern humanitarian crises, the management of international organisations (UN, NGOs, and diaspora organisations) and their interaction with local actors.

Website

https://www.ifhv.de/team/Prof-Dr-Dennis-Dijkzeul

Prof. Florian Freitag

University of Duisburg-Essen | American Studies

E-mail:

Florian Freitag is Professor of American Studies at the Department of Anglophone Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen. His research interests include Transnational American Studies, Canadian Studies, Popular Culture, Theme Park Studies, Periodical Studies, and Performance Studies.

Website

https://www.uni-due.de/amerikanistik/freitag_florian

Prof. Jürgen Howaldt

TU Dortmund University, Social Research Centre Dortmund | Sociology, social innovation research

E-mail:

Jürgen Howaldt is the director of the Social Research Centre Dortmund and professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of TU Dortmund University. He is an internationally renowned expert in the field of social innovation. His research fields include social sciences-based innovation research and social innovation, new management concepts, and organisational development and consulting. As a sociologist, his internationally oriented research activities focus on the significance of social innovations for society as well as on socio-technical change processes in various social fields.

Website

https://sfs.sowi.tu-dortmund.de/en/about-us/people/howaldt

Prof. Jakob Kapeller

University of Duisburg-Essen | Socio-Economics

E-mail:

Jakob Kapeller is a philosopher who  accidentally became an economist. He serves as a Professor at the Institute for Socio-Economics (www.uni-due.de/soziooekonomie) at the University of Duisburg-Essen and heads the Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy (ICAE) at Johannes Kepler University Linz (www.jku.at/icae). Jakob has published widely in different disciplinary contexts and has received several scientific awards for his works. He regularly participates in the organization of academic conferences and other scientific community services. Most importantly, he serves as the editor of the Heterodox Economics Newsletter (www.heterodoxnews.com) since 2013.

Website: www.jakob-kapeller.org

Website

https://www.uni-due.de/soziooekonomie/kapeller.php

Prof. Gudrun König

TU Dortmund University | Cultural Anthropology of Textiles

Gudrun König is professor at the Institute of Arts and Material Culture of TU Dortmund University and holds the Chair of Cultural Anthropology of Textiles. Since 2014, she has also served as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sports Sciences. Her research and teaching focus on the analysis of material culture, history of consumption, cultural history, historical anthropology, museology, ethnography of daily life, gender studies, visual anthropology, and German-Jewish cultural history.

Website

https://kultur.kmst.tu-dortmund.de/institut/personen/professorinnen/prof-dr-gudrun-marlene-koenig

Prof. Patricia Plummer

University of Duisburg-Essen | English and Postcolonial Studies

E-mail:

Patricia Plummer is Professor of English and Postcolonial Studies at the Department of Anglophone Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her publications, research, and teaching focus on English literature and culture since the Long Eighteenth Century, Orientalism and travel writing, postcolonial literatures and gender studies as well as popular culture. She currently leads the project "Orientalism in Colonial Australia, 1770-1901: A Transimperial Perspective" (2022-2025) as part of the DFG-funded interdisciplinary research group "Ambiguity and Difference: Historical and Cultural Dynamics". Patricia Plummer has been visiting professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, (2019) and has held several research fellowships.

Website

https://www.uni-due.de/anglistik/postcolonial_studies/patricia_plummer.php

Prof. Dorota Sajewska

Ruhr University Bochum | Theatre Studies

Dorota Sajewska is professor at the Institute of Theatre Studies of Ruhr University Bochum since 2023. Her research focuses on performative arts and theories from a comparative perspective, considering local as well as global, European and non-European manifestations of social, cultural and aesthetic performances. Previously, she was assistant professor at the University of Zurich, where she was also a member of the Centre for Art and Cultural Theory. From 2018 to 2023, Dorota Sajewska led the SNSF-funded research project “Crisis and Communitas” on performative concepts of commonality in art and culture (www.crisisandcommunitas.com). Alongside her academic work, Dorota Sajewska has been involved in the international theatre and arts scene for over 20 years as dramaturge, programme coordinator for theatre festivals, and author of theatre and film scripts, lectures, and performative installations.

Website

https://theaterwissenschaft.blogs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/institut/personen/professorinnen/dr-hab-dorota-sajewska

Prof. Florian Sprenger

Ruhr University Bochum | Media Studies, Virtual Humanities

E-mail:

Florian Sprenger is Professor of Virtual Humanities at the Institute for Media Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He is also principal investigator at the collaborative research group Virtual Lifeworlds, where he has a research project on “Virtual Environments – Sensor-Algorithmic Virtuality in Self-Driving Cars” and directs the Virtual Humanities Lab. He is author of numerous articles and books, among them Uexkülls Surroundings – Umwelt Theory and Right-Wing Thought (with Gottfried Schnödl, 2022, Meson Press) and forthcoming “Von wo und von wem? Skizzen einer Genealogie der Situiertheit“ (August Verlag, 2024). His research covers topics such as the history of artificial environments, media of immediacy, the history of situatedness, and mobility cultures.

Website

https://ifm.rub.de/institut/personen/prof-dr-florian-sprenger

Prof. Uwe Wilkesmann

TU Dortmund University, Centre for Higher Education (zhb) | Organisation Studies and Management of Continuing Education

E-mail:

Uwe Wilkesmann is Director of the Centre for Higher Education (zhb) at TU Dortmund University and professor for Organisation Studies and Management of Continuing Education. He teaches as a co-opted professor at the Department of Social Sciences. His research focusses on higher education, knowledge-intensive organisations, and organisational sociology.

Research profile (TU Dortmund University): https://ow.zhb.tu-dortmund.de/en/research/profile.

Website

https://ow.zhb.tu-dortmund.de/en/professorship/team/prof-dr-uwe-wilkesmann

Tandem Projects