International Diversity Guest Professorships
To strengthen and promote diverse, inclusive research in international scholarly exchange at the University of Bamberg, international guest professorships focusing on diversity-related research will be funded in 2025, financed by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.
Call for Proposals
As part of the program, international scholars are invited to Bamberg for a diversity-related research and teaching stay of one month. The program is meant to foster international research collaborations on diversity-related issues, and to increase the diversity of research and teaching at the University of Bamberg.
By emphasizing the significance of diversity in academic research, the University of Bam-berg heeds the concepts of diversity as defined by internationally recognized research in-stitutions. Subjects of diversity research are the dimensions of diversity and their intersectionality, including age groups, socio-economic, cultural, and geographical backgrounds, physical and mental abilities, genders, sexual orientations, religions and ideologies (https://www.charta-der-vielfalt.de/en/for-employers/diversity-dimensions/). Conceptually, the various facets of diversity in research are best described by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the DFG / German Research Council:
- https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/explore/newsroom/dossier-diversity
- https://www.dfg.de/en/basics-topics/developments-within-the-research-system/diversity-dimensions
During their stay at the University of Bamberg, the international guest professor should collaborate with their Bamberg host on a diversity-related research project and present aspects of this research to members of the university (i.e. in the form of a guest lecture); they are highly welcome to participate actively in seminars or lectures on diversity-related issues; and they should meet with junior faculty or Ph.D. students to discuss questions of diversity-related research. The overall and most important goal is to foster sustainable international research collaborations on questions of diversity. This entails possible future visits of Bamberg scholars, including junior scholars, to the international guest’s home university to facilitate diversity-related research synergies on all levels.
The guest professor will receive an honorarium of € 3,000 (remuneration including travel expenses, accommodation, and all other expenses). The stay ought to take place within the calendar year 2025.
International scholars with physical and mobility impairments are expressly invited to participate in the guest professorship program. In such cases, courses, lectures, and research collaborations can take place remotely.
Application
The proposal should be submitted by the prospective host at the University of Bamberg, after it has been agreed upon by their international colleague. Bamberg scholars are kindly asked to submit the proposal (in German or English; comprised in a single PDF file) to the Vice President for Diversity and International Affairs at vp.div-int(at)uni-bamberg.deby 27 January 2025. Questions regarding the call for proposals may also be directed to the Vice President.
The following documents are asked for:
- Curriculum vitae and list of publications of the potential visiting professor
- Information on the planned period of the research and teaching stay (by December 2025 at the latest)
- Short statement on the planned work program during the stay (max. 800 words)
- Information on the long-term impact of the stay with regard to existing and prospective cooperations between the guest professor and the Bamberg host; information on the strategic value for the University of Bamberg, e.g. concerning university partnerships, cooperative study programs, graduate schools, or PhD programs (max. 800 words)
- Information on the visiting scholar’s planned contributions to teaching (embedded in one or more courses where students can earn ECTS points)
Among all submitted proposals, a selection committee appointed by the university’s board of management will make the final decision. It will take into account the range of disciplines of the applications granted.
The 2025 call for proposals is also available as a PDF(228.3 KB).
The application period for 2025 has ended.
2023 Diversity Guest Professors and Their Joint Projects with Bamberg Scholars
Dr. Guillermo Aguirre Martínez - Romance Studies and Translation, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Research topic: The Spanish Poet Manuel Álvarez Ortega. From Inner Exile during Dictatorship to the Margins of the Literary Industry in Times of Democracy - with Prof. Dr. Enrique Rodrigues-Moura (Hispanic Studies)
Dr. Noran Amin - English Language and Literature, Cairo University, Egypt
Research topic: Who Am I? A Cultural Exploration of the Construction, Deconstruction, and Reconstruction of the Self across Media - with Prof. Dr. Lale Behzadi (Arabic Studies)
Prof. Fiona Ellis - Philosophy, University of Roehampton, UK
Research topic: Unity of Nature and Diversity of Spirit - with J.-Prof. Dr. Silvia Jonas (Philosophy)
Dr. Kaye Mitchell - English/American Studies and Creative Writing, University of Manchester, UK
Research topic: Writing Shame: Negative Affect at the Intersection of Gender, Sexuality and Disability in Anglophone Literature and Autobiographical Life Storying - with Prof. Dr. Katrin Röder (English Literature)
Dr. Elisabeth Punzi - Critical Heritage Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Research topic: Autobiographical Narratives and Life Storying at the Intersection of Gender, Ethnicity, Disability and Mental Distress - with Prof. Dr. Katrin Röder (English Literature)
Prof. Dr. Trinidad Rico - Heritage Conservation, University of Southern California, USA
Research topic: Diversity and Cultural Heritage. Methods, Loci, Practices. - with Prof. Dr. Gerhard Vinken (Heritage Conservation)
Dr. Wouter Vleugels - Management, Deakin University, Australia
Research topic: The Dark Side of Person-Organisation Fit - with Prof. Dr. Maike Andresen (Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour)
2022 Diversity Guest Professors and Their Joint Projects with Bamberg Scholars
Prof. Dr. Antonella Ghersetti
Ca’Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Arabic Language and Literature
Research topic: Discourses of Alterity in the Classical Arabic adab Tradition with Special Reference to Language Ideology with Prof. Dr. Lale Behzadi (Arabic Studies)
Prof. Dr. Don E. Walicek
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Linguistics
Research topic: Diversification of the International Corpus of English with Prof. Dr. Manfred Krug (English Linguistics)
Prof. Dr. David D. Kim
University of California, LA, USA
European Languages and Transcultural Studies
Research topic: Hannah Arendt - Exile and Diversity with Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Marx (Modern German Literary Studies)
Prof. Daniel Mayerhoffer
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Computational Social Science
Research topic: Modelling intra- and inter-generational network effects on life courses of marginalised groups mediated by value change in society with Prof. Dr. Johannes Marx (Political Theory)
Prof. Dr. Nancy Kendall
University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA
Educational Policy Studies
Research topic: Gender Issues in International Education Research with Dr. Susanne Ress (General Pedagogy)
Dr. Mervi Kaukko
Tampere University, Finland
Education
Research topic: Expertise in Innovative Research with Refugee Children and Youth with Prof. Dr. Annette Scheunpflug (General Pedagogy)
Dr. Yariv Feniger
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Education
Research topic: From Research to Education Policy in Israel with Prof. Dr. Steffen Schindler (Sociology with Focus on Education and Work in the Life Course)
Dr. Laura Swift
Open University, UK
Classical Studies
Research topic: Dramatic Discourses on Diversity in the Bacchae of Euripides with Prof. Dr. Sabine Vogt (Classical Philology with a focus on Greek Studies)
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dion A. Forster
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology
Research topic: Social Coherence and Mechanisms of Othering during the Corona Pandemic in South Africa and Germany with Prof. Dr. Thomas Wabel (Systematic Theology)
2021 Diversity Guest Professors and Their Joint Projects with Bamberg Scholars
Dr. Anna Nedoluzhko
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic
Formal and Applied Linguistics
Research topic: Modeling Language Learner Diversity with Prof. Dr. Sandra Birzer (Slavic Linguistics)
Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi
University of Kent, England
Heritage Studies
Research topic: Diversity, Gender, Women, and Heritage with Prof. Dr. Mona Hess (Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation)
Pravdoliub Ivanov, PhD
National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria
Psychology of Art, Art Education, and General Education
Research topic: Collective Aesthetic Situations in Theory and Practice with Dr. Notburga Karl (Didactics of Fine Arts)
Dr. Ella Peltonen
University of Oulu, Finland
Ubiquitous Computing
Research topic: Encouraging Young Female Engineers by Citizen Science and Crowd Sensing for Smart Cities with Prof. Dr. Daniela Nicklas (Mobile Systems)
Dr hab. Maria Nowak
University of Warsaw, Poland
Roman Law and the Law of Antiquity
Research topic: Diversity in Roman Law with Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Peter Riedlberger (Late Antique History and Culture)
Prof. Dr. Alexander Yao Cobbinah
Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil
Linguistics
Research topic: West-African Heritage in Colonial Brazil: Language, Culture, and Resistance in Minas Gerais with Prof. Dr. Enrique Rodrigues-Moura (Romance Literary Studies / Hispanic Literatures)