University of Bayreuth

The Africa Multiple Research Center (AMRC) at the University of Bayreuth was established within the framework of the Africa Multiple – Cluster of Excellence, a major interdisciplinary research initiative by the German Research Foundation, launched in 2019. The Cluster was created to advance the reconfiguration of African Studies through innovative, collaborative, and transcontinental research conducted jointly with partner institutions across Africa. The AMRC Bayreuth serves as a hub within an international network of five interconnected research centres in Germany, Nigeria, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and South Africa. Through interdisciplinary scholarship, knowledge exchange, and partnerships with both academic and non-academic actors, the AMRC contributes to developing new perspectives on Africa and its global entanglements while promoting more equitable forms of knowledge production.

Structure of Bayreuth-AMRC

Dean: Rüdiger Seesemann (Professor of Islamic Studies)
Deputy Dean, Vice Dean of Internationalisation and Public Engagement: Ute Fendler (Professor of Romance & Comparative Literature)
Vice Dean of Research: Eva Spies (Professor for the Study of Religion with special focus on Africa)
Vice Dean of Early Career and Equal Opportunity: Thoko Kaime (Professor of African Legal Studies)
Vice Dean of Digital Solutions: Mirco Schönfeld (Professor for Data Modeling and Interdisciplinary Knowledge Generation)
Head of Gender & Diversity office: Pepetual Mforbe
Academic Coordinator Internationalisation and Public Engagement: Doris Löhr
Academic Coordinator Research: Robert Debusmann
Academic Coordinator Early Career and Equal Opportunity: Christine Scherer

Members in the research sections

• Accumulation: Serawit Debele (Professor for Gender, Sexuality and Religion with a focus on Africa), Joël Glasman (Professor of African History), Stefan Ouma (Professor of Economic Geography), Alexander Stroh-Steckelberg (Professor of African Politics), Thoko Kaime (Professor of African Legal Studies)
• Digitalities: Jia Hui Lee (Professor of Science & Technology Studies), Mirco Schönfeld (Professor for Data Modeling and Interdisciplinary Knowledge Generation), Katharina Schramm (Professor of Social & Cultural Anthropology), Rüdiger Seesemann (Professor of Islamic Studies), Lena Kästner (Professor for Philosophy, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence), Cassandra Mark-Thiesen (African History)
• Ecologies: Eric Anchimbe (Associate Professor of English Linguistics), Sandra Calkins (Professor for Social and Cultural Anthropology with a focus on Africa), Steven Higgins (Professor of Plant Ecology), Nina Rholan Honguè (Climatology), Lisa Hülsmann (Professor of Ecosystem Analysis), Benjamin Kirby (Professor for the Study of Religion with focus on Global Entanglements), Cyrus Samimi (Professor of Climatology)
• In/securities: Martin Doevenspeck (Professor of Political Geography), Jana Hönke (Professor of Sociology of Africa), Melina Kalfelis (Professor of Social & Cultural Anthropology with a focus on Social Belonging), Joschka Philipps (Professor of Sociology of Insecurity), Adam Sandor (Political Science), Biruk Terrefe (Sociology), Billian Otundo (English Linguistics)
• Re:membering: Aleo Susan Arndt (Professor of Anglophone Literatures), Markus Coester (Ethnomusicology), Ute Fendler (Professor of Romance & Comparative Literature), Jochen Lingelbach (African History), Susanne Mühleisen (Professor of English Linguistics)
• Translating: Tim Dorlach (Professor of Global Nutrition and Health Policy), Albert Kasanda (African Philosophy), Gilbert Ndi Shang (Professor for Comparative Literature/Cultural Studies with a special focus on Africa and Latin America), Mariam Popal (Comparative Literature), Alena Rettová (Professor of African & Afrophone Philosophies), Eva Spies (Professor for the Study of Religion with special focus on Africa), Clarissa Vierke (Professor of Literatures in African Languages)