History of the Horn of Africa
Ethiopian history and culture
European Expansion
Religious contact and cross-cultural exchanges in the Middle Ages
Late medieval and Renaissance art in Europe
Medieval trade routes
Women in history
Material culture studies
Current Projects:
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Royal Women as Political and Cultural Agents in the Horn of Africa, 1300-1650
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Diplomatic, cultural and trade contact as well as artistic transmission between Solomonic Ethiopia and Latin Christianity in the 15th and 16th century
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JewsEast - Jews and Christians in the East: Strategies of Interaction between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean (a European Research Council project at the Center for Religious Studies, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
Curriculum Vitae:
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2014 Dr. phil. / PhD, summa cum laude, University of Constance, Germany, and Mekelle University, Ethiopia (bi-national degree)
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2010 M.A. in History with distinction, University of Constance, Germany and University of York, UK
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2007 B.A. in Literature, Art and Media Studies with distinction, University of Constance, Germany
Academic and Research Experience
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Postdoctoral Fellow at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, Hebrew University Jerusalem (2014 – present)
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Visiting researcher at the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg University; specialist for object and artwork description for the European Research Council research project "ETHIO-SPARE: Cultural Heritage of Christian Ethiopia: Salvation, Preservation, Research" (Dr. Denis Nosnitsin) (intermittently from 2012-2014)
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Visiting researcher at the Department of History and Cultural Studies, Mek'elle University, Ethiopia (2011-12)
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Visiting researcher at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (2011)
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Fieldwork research team leader during a four-month fieldwork research trip through Tigrai and Amhara regions of Ethiopia (2012)
Scholarships & Research Funding
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2014-15: Martin Buber Fellowship, Hebrew University and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
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2013-14: EXC16 (“Cultural Foundations of Integration” Centre of Excellence at the University of Constance) completion scholarship for the PhD project
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2012: EXC16 (“Cultural Foundations of Integration” Centre of Excellence at the University of Constance) fieldwork research funding grant
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2011-12: DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) research grant for research in Ethiopia
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2011: EXC16 (“Cultural Foundations of Integration” Centre of Excellence at the University of Constance) PhD start-up funding for preliminary research trips to Addis Ababa and Mek'elle, Ethiopia
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2010-13: Landesgraduiertenförderung Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg State PhD Fellowship Bursary) 3-year PhD scholarship award
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2008-09: Graduate Erasmus Scholarship to study Medieval History (M.A. level) at the University of York, UK