1. Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient
  2. Press kit
  3. List of Experts

List of Experts

Since its foundation, ZMO has put significant stress on transferring the results of its research and its expertise into society. ZMO research fellows are available for expert interviews in relation to their research focus.

  • Prof. Dr. Ulrike Freitag

    Director

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-0
    Country Focus: Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen
    Topics: Contemporary history of the Middle East, democratisation, Arab historiography, history of the Indian Ocean

  • Dr. Sonja Hegasy

    Vice Director, Head of Public Relations & Knowledge Transfer

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-223
    Country Focus: Egypt, Morocco
    Topics: Modern Arab intellectual thought, Arab cultural history, state and society in the MENA region, trauma, reconciliation and politics of memory, cultural globalization, youth studies and social mobilization.

  • Prof. Dr. Kai Kresse

    Vice Director, Head of Research Unit "Religion and Intellectual Culture"

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-230
    Country Focus: East Africa, especially Kenia and the Swahili coast
    Topics: Anthropology (in the North) and Theory (from the South); Anthropology and Philosophy; anthropology of philosophy; knowledge and intellectual practice in society; Islam and Muslims in (East) Africa; Anthropology of Religion/Islam; African philosophy; Swahili intellectuals and intellectual culture; postcolonial theory; decolonial challenges.

  • Dr. Anandita Bajpai

    Research Fellow

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-249
    Country Focus: South Asia, India
    Topics: India-GDR linkages, politics and political rhetoric in India, nationalism in postcolonial India, broadcasting history, Deutsche Welle and Radio Berlin International, India in German archives, Cold War in the GDR, FRG and India

  • Florian Coppenrath

    Affiliated Researcher

    Country Focus: Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia
    Topics: Popular culture, youth, creative economy, Cultural Globalisation

  • Dr. Aksana Ismailbekova

    Research Fellow

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-146
    Country Focus: Central Asia, Russia
    Topics: Kinship, ethnicity, clientelism, corruption, conflict, peacebuilding, gender, migration

  • PD Dr. Stefan B. Kirmse

    Senior Research Fellow and Research Coordinator

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-220 E
    Country Focus: Russia (with a focus on Tatarstan and Krim), Caucasus and Central Asia
    Topics: Muslims in Russia and Central Asia, globalisation in Eurasia, regionalisation and federalism in Russia, history of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, youth and youth organisations in Eurasia from the October Revolution until present day

  • Dr. David Leupold

    Affiliated Researcher

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-114
    Country Focus: Central Asia, Southern Caucasus, Turkey
    Topics: Memory and reconciliation, urbanity in post-socialist contexts

  • Dr. Heike Liebau

    Head of Research Unit "State and Society"

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-226
    Country Focus: India
    Topics: History of colonialism, history of missions, history of German-Indian relations

  • Dr. Nitin Sinha

    Head of Research Unit "State and Society"

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-133
    Country Focus: South Asia
    Topics: History, contemporary politics

  • PD Dr. Abdoulaye Sounaye

    Head of Research Unit "Religion and Intellectual Culture"

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-218
    Country Focus: Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mali, Sahel, West Africa
    Topics: Religion, State and Society, Dynamics in Contemporary Africa

  • Dozent Dr. Samuli Schielke

    Head of Research Unit "Lives and Ecologies"

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-217
    Country Focus: Gulf region, Egypt
    Topics: Migration from and within the Middle East region; gender, masculinity; religion and society; art and culture; ethics and conflict; academic freedom

  • Dr. Juliane Schumacher

    Associated Researcher

    Phone: +49-(0)30-80307-221
    Country Focus: Morocco, Egypt
    Topics: Climate change and climate policy in the MENA region, forest policy, environmental justice, social movements, interdisciplinary research

  • Dr. Frédérick Madore

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire
    Topics: Islam, religion, state and society

  • Dr. Deniz T. Kilincoglu

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Turkey and Middle East
    Topics: Nationalism, ethnicity, collective memory, culture and mentality, education, intellectual history

  • Robin Schmahl

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Egypt
    Topics: Ottoman Egypt, French Expedition in Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Middle East, democratic theory, deliberation

  • Dr. Steven Serels

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Horn of Africa, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia
    Topics: Poverty, disease, war, armed groups, economics, development, corruption, peace building, conflict, migration, slavery, environmental change

  • Dr. Arpan Roy

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Palestine and Jordan
    Topics: Kinship, religion, Islam, Christianity, language

  • Dr. Maria Ketzmerick-Calandrino

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Central Africa (Cameroon); GDR in the international
    Topics: Decolonization French Empire; post/decolonial and postsocialist security research; Cameroon Anglophone Conflict; transnational continuities in peace and conflict

  • Dr. Gevorg Avetikyan

    Affiliated Researcher

    Country Focus: Armenia, Russia, Iran, South Caucasus
    Topics: Modern history, politics, international relations, conflicts, nationalism, energy politics

  • Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei

    Research Fellow

    Country Focus: Lebanon, Syria. Iraq, Middle East (Mashreq) geopolitics
    Topics: ‘Deeply divided societies’ and 'super-diversity' including in protracted wars and civil and sectarian conflict, conflict stabilization, post-conflict dynamics, governance in areas of limited statehood, and preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) especially in relation to Islamism, Shia politics and MENA geopolitics