Commitment to Politics and Society

Smart City Research Lab

• Prof. Dr. Susanne Gruß
  • 2024-09 to present: mentoring programme Deutscher Anglistikverband / German Association for the Study of English
  • 2021 to present: advisory committee Fachinformationsdienst Anglo-American Culture (FID AAC)
  • 2017 to 2023: advisory committee Deutsche Gesellschaft für das Studium britischer Kulturen / German Association for the Study of British Cultures

Kooperation mit Church and Church Instiutions

• Lectures in parish conventions and church council meetings
• Participation in the Kirchentag (German Protestant Church Congress)
• ESG Bamberg (Protestant student community)
• KSB Church Study Support
• RPZ Heilsbronn (Religious Education Center)

Research Topics

• Children and Religion: Qualitative explorations in the German-speaking context
• Identity constructions of women in Free Churches using the example of the SELK (Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church)
• Strengthening denominational religious education in vocational schools (StReBe)
• Research project DOLORES

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Research Center for Public Theology (DBFÖT)

• Conference “home” in cooperation with the University of Pretoria: Intergenerational living, the German longing for a single-family home in the countryside, and the unspoiled view of plastic housing  (research focus since 2024)
• Research Workshop on “Memory and Rememberance in Germany and South Africa” (2024)
• Further Research Foci:
  • Space, Place, Positionality: Theological perspectives on conditions of social life contexts (since 2019)
  • Public Theology and Emotions (since 2017)

Ongoing Projects

• “MitMachKlima (MMK)” (05/2022 - 12/2025); “ClimateToParticipate”
• “Resilience through Orchestration of Citizen-Driven Innovation using Digital Platforms in Urban-Rural Constellations (ROBIN)” (01/2024 - 12/2025)
• “CultureLandscapeImages - Images of Rurality in the Cultural and Creative Industries” (03/2023 - 02/2026)
• “Pleasure and Common Good: New Voluntary Strategies for the Village Tavern (GEGE)" (12/2024 - 11/2027)

Cooperations

• BASIS Institute for Social Planning, Consulting and Design GmbH
• Citizens' Association Bamberg Mitte e.V.
• Archdiocese Bamberg
• Institute for Development Research in Rural Areas of Upper and Middle Franconia e.V.
• Landkreis Bamberg (District of Bamberg)
• PCG Project Consult GmbH
• plan&werk - Office for Urban Development and Architecture
• City of Bamberg
• Economic Development Agency of the District of Bamberg

Other

• Dr. Astrid Jahreiß (at the Academy for Teacher Training and Personell Management, Dillingen a.D.):
  • Editorial board member of the information and professional development portal “Identifying and Supporting Highly Gifted Learners” („Besonders Begabte finden und fördern“)
  • Editorial board member of the information and professional development portal “Gender-Sensitive Teaching” („Gendersensibel unterrichten“)
  • Editorial board member and spokesperson for the authors of the Academy report “Working Geographically with Children: Developing Geographical Competencies in Primary Education” („Mit Kindern geographisch arbeiten. Entwicklung geographischer Kompetenzen in der Grundschule“)
  • Member of the professional development team “Qualification of Teachers at Competence Centers for Gifted Education” („Qualifizierung von Lehrkräften der Kompetenzzentren für Begabtenförderung“)

• Transfer related work by Prof. Dr. Sabine Freitag (Chair of Modern and Contemporary History including Regional History):
  • Jury member for the Bundestag Science Prize in the 20th legislative period
  • Appraiser for the Bavarian historical lexicon (member of the scientific advisory board)
  • Member of the scientific advisory board for the Otto-von-Bismarck foundation (consulting for conventions, publications, and the public image of the foundation)

• Prof. Dr. Markus Behmer:
  • starting 2014: Chairman of the Ludwig-Delp-Foundation

Arabic Studies

• Arabic Association e.V. (initiative for the promotion of teaching Arabic in several fields of education and the study of Arabic linguistic and artistic education)
• Regular teacher training courses, e.g., “Arabic in Schools”, “Cultural Education and Linguistic Training, e.g., for Arabic” or “Intercultural Education in the Foreign Language Classroom” with the Academy for Teacher Training and Human Resource Management (ALP) Dillingen 

Judaic Studies

• Project “Jewish Cemeteries in Franconia” by the Chair of Jewish Studies
  • Objective: interdisciplinary documentation, analysis, and sustainable visibility of Franconian-Jewish history through the many well-preserved Jewish cemeteries, with close involvement of local stakeholders and academic partners
  • Biannual network meetings in cooperation with the Johanna-Stahl-Center for Jewish Histroy and Culture in Lower Franconia (Contact for interested individuals or institutions: judaistik(at)uni-bamberg.de)
• In Collaboration with the Digital Monument Technologies division at the Competence Center for Heritage Science and Monument Technologies: “Stone Whitnesses Digitally. German-Jewish Sepulchral Culture between the Middle Ages and Modernity - Space, Form, Inscription” (01/2023 - 12/2046)

• Franconian Society for Philosophy

• Collaboration with Santa Casa da Misericordia in Lisbon in the context of the book presentation of Res Sinicae