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SARAH NIMFÜHR

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Cultural Anthropologist

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SARAH

NIMFÜHR

_______

Cultural Anthropologist


Welcome!


Hi, my name is Sarah Nimführ and I’m a cultural anthropologist of forced migration, transnational memory cultures, and Island Studies with a regional focus on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Further, I’m interested in engaged anthropology and collaborative knowledge production.


I'm currently affiliated with the University of Arts Linz in the Department of Cultural Studies where I worked as a principal investigator on a postdoc project on transgenerational memory work of Jewish exile, which was funded by the FWF-Firnberg Program from June 2021 to April 2026. In June 2020 I earned my PhD in European Ethnology from University of Vienna on non-deportability in the EU border regime.


My first book Umkämpftes Recht zu bleiben. Zugehörigkeit, Mobilität und Kontrolle was published in Dampfboot-Verlag in 2020 and was awarded with the Theodor-Körner-Prize. I have co-edited the collected volumes Raum – Theorie – Empirie. Ein Arbeitsbuch (2025, Springer), Writing Together. Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld (2023, transcript) and Forschen und Arbeiten im Kontext von Flucht (2019, Springer) as well as several special issues, inter alia Representing islands, producing islandness (2021, Island Studies Journal). Among others, my work has appeared in the Island Studies Journal, the Anthropological Journal of European Cultures and in Comparative Migration Studies. Since 2022 I am a Associate Editor of the Island Studies Journal and Vice President of the International Small Island Studies Association .


Since 2016, I have taught various types of courses at graduate and undergraduate level comprising ethics and methods in the field of flight, engaged anthropology as well as forced migration studies with a focus on Mediterranean islands at the universities of Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Bremen, Munich and Würzburg. In addition, I was invited to teach as a guest lecturer at the Goethe-University of Frankfurt (Cultural Anthropology), LMU Munich (Intercultural Communication; Romance Studies), University of Arts Linz (Cultural Studies), University of Zadar (Ethnology and Anthropology) and South China University of Technology Guangzhou (School of Foreign Languages).


A detailed CV can be found here.


I am looking forward to reading from you!

mail [at] sarahnimfuehr.com



CURRENT PROJECTS


COMPLETED PROJECTS

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SHARING MEMORIES, SHARING STORIES


Transgenerational memory work of Jewish Exile in Sosúa

This research provides transgenerational insights into memory practices and experiences of Jewish exile in Sosúa in the Dominican Republic. Between 1939 and 1945, numerous Jews found refuge from the Nazi regime in the small town in the north of the island of Hispaniola. While almost all countries closed their borders to persecuted Jews from Germany and Austria, a settlement project was established in the dictatorially governed island state. Until today, descendants of the settlers remember and share their family stories in many ways. Based on transgenerational memory work, the project aims to reconstruct how descendants remember the family experience of exile and if and how the (remembered) past shapes and influences their present lives.


This postdoc project is completed and was funded by the FWF-Firnberg Program from 2021 to 2026. A book presenting the research findings is currently in preparation with the publishing house Neofelis.
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CONTESTED RIGHT TO STAY

Belonging, Mobility and Control in the EUropean Deportation Regime

This ethnographic project explores the living situation of non-deportable refugees at the EU external border Malta. The majority of rejected asylum seekers in Malta cannot be deported. Many are in a legal grey area, as they are usually denied a formal residence status. In this situation they have limited access to employment, basic services and medical care for several years. The study provides insight into the negotiations of belonging, mobility and control between non-deportable refugees, their supporters and state actors. The interactions, everyday practices and restrictive migration measures lead to a contested transnational space in which adaptation, resistance and agency are revealed.


This project was completed as a Phd thesis at the University of Vienna at the Department of European Ethnology and was funded by ÖAW-DOC Fellowship from 2016 to 2019. It was awarded the Theodor-Körner-Prize 2019 in the field of humanities and culture.
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NADIE BAILAR CON DOLOR

Traditional Cuban music between (neo)colonialism and decolonization in the transatlantic Caribbean

In the vibrant landscape of Caribbean culture, music stands as a powerful testament to the region’s history of resistance, resilience, and cultural identity. Focusing on Cuba, this project highlights that from the era of Spanish colonization to the present day, Cuban music has been a powerful tool for expressing social critique, asserting sovereignty, and fostering solidarity within the transatlantic diaspora. The study reveals how the musicolonial empire is tied into historic and present forms of power inequalities and which decolonial approaches are used to liberate, heal, and remember.

This study was generated by a collaboration with the musical artist and expert in traditional Cuban music Raisel Tejeda Martínez. Excerpts from a proposal of a decolonial mode of listening were broadcast on the "Radio Kolleg of Ö1" in June 2023 and published in 2025 in the journal "Folk, Knowledge, Place."

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REPRESENTING ISLANDS

Rethinking Identities, Mobilities, and Relations in Island research

This project examines how islands are represented and islandness is produced by researchers. Current research designs as well as research perspectives and positionalities are reflected and analyzed. Epistemically and methodologically, scholars face the challenge of countering the dominance of external perspectives on islands with an insular internal view while at the same time not essentializing the island nor reproducing Western perspectives. To avoid producing another layer of a colonial view, this project aims to critically reflect on how islands are represented in our research, which theoretical concepts are referred to, what knowledge is produced by applying them, and how the researcher’s own position within the field can be reconsidered.

This project comprised the workshop "Anthropology of Islands" funded by the University of Vienna and the eponymous colloquium series at the Department of European Ethnology, in collaboration with Greca N. Meloni. It culminated in a guest editorship of a special section of Island Studies Journal published in 2021.




PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

[55] Erinnerungen in Bewegung. Die Spuren von Sosúa über Generationen und Meere [Echoes from Sosúa. Memories across generations and oceans]. Berlin: Neofelis, forthcoming.

[54] Umkämpftes Recht zu bleiben. Zugehörigkeit, Mobilität und Kontrolle im EUropäischen Abschieberegime. Münster: Verlag Westfälisches Dampfboot, 2020. Review of the book herehere and here.



Editorship

[53] Dekolonialität. Thematic Issue in kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur, 1(25), Guest editor together with Lydia Arantes, 2025.

[52] Raum - Theorie - Empirie. Ein Arbeitsbuch. Together with Cornelia Dlabaja and Nicolas Goez. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2025.

[51] Memories. Thematic Issue in kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur, 2(23), Guest editor together with Barbara Reichsöllner-Frischling and Christina Sternisa, January 2024.

[50] Writing Together. Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld. Together with Martina Blank. Bielefeld: transcript, 2023. Review of the book here and here.

[49] Solidarität. Thematic Issue in kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur, 2(21), Guest editor together with Jo Menhard, 2021.

[48] Representing islands – producing islandness: Rethinking identities, mobilities, and relations in island research. Special Section in Island Studies Journal 16(2), Guest editor together with Greca N. Meloni, 2021.

[47] Forschen und Arbeiten im Kontext von Flucht. Reflexionslücken, Repräsentations- und Ethikfragen. Together with Margrit E. Kaufmann, Laura Otto and Dominik Schütte. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2019.

 

Peer-reviewed articles and book chapters

[46] Nobody dances with pain. Re-centering traditional Cuban music in musicolonial politics in the transatlantic Caribbean, together with Raisel Tejeda Martínez, in: Folk, Knowledge, Place 2(2), 2025.

[45] Caribbean Archipelagic Memory: Entangled Jewish Dominican Histories on Kiskeya-Hispaniola,  in Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures 19(2), 21–43, 2025.

[44] Memoria archipelágica. Confluencias judeo-transnacionales en y fuera del Caribe, in: ISLAS 65(204), e1269, 2023.

[43] Insulare Identifikationsräume – Multidisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Kollektivierungsphänomene im Mittelmeerraum, together with the research network „Mediterranean Studies on Island Areas“, in: Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Kollektivwissenschaft 8(2), 129-157, 2022.

[42] Can collaborative knowledge production decolonize epistemology? In: Migration Letters, 19(6), 781–789, 2022.

[41] Asyl. In: Schmidt-Lauber, Brigitta/Liebig, Manuel (Eds.): Begriffe der Gegenwart: Ein kulturwissenschaftliches Glossar. Wien: Böhlau, 2022: 31–38.

[40] Decolonial thinking: A critical perspective on positionality and representations in island studies (Guest Editorial). Together with Greca N. Meloni. In: Island Studies Journal 16(2), 2021: 3–17.

[39] Being there while not being there: Reflections on multi-sited ethnography and field access in the context of forced migration. Together with Laura McAdam-Otto. In: Anthropological Journal of European Cultures 30(2), 2021: 41–61.

[38] (Un)Making Smallness: Islands, Spatial Ascription Processes, and (Im)Mobility. Together with Laura Otto. In: Island Studies Journal 16(2), 2021: 39–58.

[37] Denying while demanding integration. An analysis of the Integration Paradox in Malta and refugees’ coping strategies. Together with Laura Otto and Gabriel Samateh. In: Hinger, Sophie/Schweitzer, Reinhard (Eds.): Politics of (Dis)integration. Cham: Springer, IMISCOE research series, 2020: 161–181.

[36] Doing research on, with and about the island: Reflections on islandscape. Together with Laura Otto. In: Island Studies Journal 15(1), 2020: 185–204.

[35] Preserving Maltese identity in refugee management: On the emergence and absence of a prison spatiality. Together with Laura Otto and Patrick Bieler. In: Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures 13(2), 2019: 135–154.

[34] Lost in Limbo? Navigating (im)mobilities and practices of appropriation of non-deportable refugees in the Mediterranean area. Together with Buba Sesay. In: Comparative Migration Studies Journal 7(26), 2019. Winner of the Rinus Penninx Best Paper Award at the IMISCOE 2018.

[33] Living Liminality. Ethnological insights into the life situation of non-deportable refugees in Malta. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, 70/119, H. 3+4, 2016: 245-271.

 

Book chapters, journal articles and other text formats

[32] Translokale Wissensökologien. Afrokubanische Regla de Osha und jüdisch-karibische Diaspora, together with Raisel Tejeda Martínez, in: Bischoff, Christine & Stetter, Manuel (Eds.): Religionsethnographie. Perspektiven und Praktiken. Eine Einführung, forthcoming, 2027.

[31] "Zwischen Werkstatt und Wissensfeld: Ein Gespräch über kollaborative peer-review-Prozesse im kuckuck", together with Lydia Maria Arantes, Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1(26), Jubiläum, 2026: x-x.

[30] "Islands of Hope and Despair: The failed refuge on the Isla de Pinos." Center for Jewish History Blog, December 2025.

[29] (Un)Doing Island Identities. Islandness, islandscape and collective identitites, together with Jan-Christoph Marschelke, in: Laura Linzmeier and Thorsten Kruse (Eds.): Mediterranean Islands and Coastal Areas: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity through the Ages. Waxmann, 2025: 11-31.

[28] „Dekoloniales Unbehagen. Reflexionen zur kollaborativen Wissensproduktion", Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1(25), Decoloniality, 2025: 17–21.

[27] “Editorial: Decoloniality in Contemporary Scholarship and Practice”, together with Lydia Arantes, Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1(25), Decoloniality. 2025: 3–6.

[26] “Editorial: Decolonialidad en la ciencia y la práctica contemporáneas”, together with Lydia Arantes, Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1(25), Decoloniality,  2025: 3–6.

[25] "Editorial: Dekolonialität in gegenwärtiger Wissenschaft und Praxis“, together with Lydia Arantes, Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1(25), Decoloniality, 2025: 3–6.

[24] Urbane Räume und Landschaften. Raum im Spannungsfeld von Empirie und Theorie, together with Cornelia Dlabaja & Nicolas Goez, in: Cornelia Dlabaja, Sarah Nimführ and Nicolas Goez (Eds.): Raum - Theorie - Empirie. Ein Arbeitsbuch. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2025: 1-17.

[23] Archipelisches Erinnern. Insulare Postmemories, in: Cornelia Dlabaja, Sarah Nimführ and Nicolas Goez (Eds.): Raum - Theorie - Empirie. Ein Arbeitsbuch. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2025: 19-41.

[22] Insulare Raumregime. Ein Gespräch zur geteilten Insel Kiskeya_Hispaniola, together with Anne Brüske, in: Cornelia Dlabaja, Sarah Nimführ and Nicolas Goez (Eds.): Raum - Theorie - Empirie. Ein Arbeitsbuch. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2025: 263-273.

[21] "Verschwinde, Rosalinde!" – Wandernde Erinnerungen des (An)Kommens und Gehens. In: Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 2/23, memories, 2024.

[20] Editorial: Plurale Erinnerungskulturen. In; Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 2/23, memories, together with Barbara Reichsöllner-Frischling und Christina Sternisa, 2024.

[19] Migrationsforschung revisited: Zur Relevanz kritischer Forschungsansätze, together with Andrea Rumpel in: Jamal, Lobna & Odabaşı, Mirza (Eds.): Einwanderungsdeutschland. 1945 bis 2023. Zeitbilder. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb), 2023: 36-43.

[18] Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld: Annäherungen an eine dekoloniale Wissensproduktion, together with Martina Blank. In: Blank, Martina/ Nimführ, Sarah (Eds.): Writing Together. Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld. Bielefeld: transcript, 2023: 9-27.

[17] Handlungsempfehlungen für kollaboratives Schreiben in der Wissenschaft, together with Martina Blank. In: Blank, Martina/ Nimführ, Sarah (Eds.): Writing Together. Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld. Bielefeld: transcript, 2023: 239–243.

[16] Politiken und Ethiken der Namensgebung in kollaborativen Schreibprojekten. Anonymisierungs- und Pseudonymisierungsverfahren zwischen Schutz und Bevormundung. In: Blank, Martina/ Nimführ, Sarah (Eds.): Writing Together. Kollaboratives Schreiben mit Personen aus dem Feld. Bielefeld: transcript, 2023: 191-214.

[15] Asyl, in: Brigitta Schmidt-Lauber / Manuel Liebig (eds.): Begriffe der Gegenwart. Ein kulturwissenschaftliches Glossar. Wien: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Schriftenreihe der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung), 2022: 31–38.

[14] Editorial: Solidarität revisted. In: Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 2/21, Solidarität, 2021, together with Jo Menhard.

[13] Contesting Profit Structures. Rejected Asylum Seekers between Modern Slavery and Autonomy. Together with Jorinde Bijl. In: McGuirk, Siobhán/Pine, Adrienne (Eds.): Asylum for Sale. Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2020: 295–306.

[12] Liminalität. In: Heimerdinger, Timo/Tauschek, Markus (Eds.): Kulturtheoretisch argumentieren. Münster/NY: Waxmann/UTB, 2020: 270–293.

[11] “Better to be in quarantine on an island paradise than stay bored at home”. In: Boasblogs – Curare Corona Diaries, 8 November 2020.

[10] Reflections on collaborative knowledge production in the context of forced migration. In: Feministische Geo-RundMail 83. Special Issue "Feminist research practice in geography: Snapshots, reflections, concepts", 2020: 29–33.

[9] Forschungspraxis als Aushandlung. Kollaboratives Forschen im Wissen(schaft)sfeld Flucht_Migration. In: Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1/20, Handeln, 2020: 54–59.

[8] Umkämpfte Im-/Mobilitäten. Die soziale Produktion von Nichtabschiebbarkeit im transinsularen Raum. In: Johler, Reinhard/Lange, Jan (Eds.): Konfliktfeld Fluchtmigration. Historische und ethnographische Perspektiven. Bielefeld: transcript, 2019: 155–171.

[7] Ethnografisch forschen und die Wirkmächtigkeit der Kleinheit. Methodentheoretische Überlegungen und empirische Einblicke zur Produktion, Wahrnehmung und Repräsentation von räumlichen Zuschreibungsdiskursen. Together with Laura Otto. In: Kaufmann, Margrit E./Otto, Laura/Nimführ, Sarah/Schütte, Dominik (Eds.): Forschen und Arbeiten im Kontext von Flucht. Reflexionslücken, Repräsentations- und Ethikfragen. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2019: 69–93.

[6] Forschung und Praxis zwischen Handlungsdruck und Orientierungsunsicherheit im Kontext von Flucht_Migration. Together with Margrit E. Kaufmann, Laura Otto and Dominik Schütte. In: Kaufmann, Margrit E./Otto, Laura/Nimführ, Sarah/Schütte, Dominik (Eds.): Forschen und Arbeiten im Kontext von Flucht. Reflexionslücken, Repräsentations- und Ethikfragen. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2019: 1–17.

[5] Gerettet, aber nicht angekommen. Von Geflüchteten in Malta. Together with Laura Otto and Gabriel Samateh. In: Hess, Sabine/Kasparek, Bernd/Kron, Stefanie/Rodatz, Mathias/Schwertl, Maria/Sontowski, Simon (Eds.): Der lange Sommer der Migration : Grenzregime III. Berlin/Hamburg: Assoziation A, 2017: 137-150.

[4] "Malta ist wie ein Gefängnis". Guest Commentary for science.ORF.at, 12 March 2017.

[3] „Living in Malta without documents is like walking in a roundabout all the time“. Nicht abschiebbare Geflüchtete zwischen Selbstermächtigung und Schutzlosigkeit. In: Zeitung GEDENKDIENST, Ausgabe 2/16, 2016: 4-5.

[2] Stuttgarter Melange – Integrationserfahrungen in der Schwabenmetropole. In: Dauschek, Anja/Kubin-Scharnowski, Sarah/Tschofen, Bernhard (Hrsg.): stuttgarter leben : stuttgart erleben. Kulturwissenschaftliche Erkundungen zur Gegenwart einer Stadt. Tübingen, 2010: 39-54.

[1] „In Deutschland sieht man Weiß aus“ – Zum Umgang mit kultureller Vielfalt in Kindertageseinrichtungen. In: Faktor 14. Magazin für Forschung und Wissenschaft. Nr. 3, 2010: 24-27.

 

 

 

 

 



PUBLIC TALKS, WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION

– Selection –

2026

"Beyond Europe's Periphery. Island Border Spaces as Global Players in European Migration Governance." Annual Meeting Young Network TransEurope / Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences: Reimagining Europe - Hopeful Futures for the Next Century, Varna, Bulgaria, July 2026.

"Yemayá, Mazu, and the Shared Waters of Afro-Cuban and Chinese Worship." ISISA 2026, Mokpo National University, South Korea, July 2026.

"Koloniale Ordnungen der Staatsbürgerschaft: Rekonfigurierte Zugehörigkeit im dominikanisch-haitianischen Kontext." Workshop "Citizenship, institutioneller Wandel und das Recht zu bleiben", Department of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Germany, May 2026.

"Jewish Exile Stories from Shanghai to Sosúa" Spring Term Seminar, Center for Jewish History, New York, USA, April 2026.

2025

"Islands and collective identities" Workshop: Island Communities and Island Studies, Institute for Marine and Island Cultures, Mokpo National University, South Korea, May 2025.

"Traveling memories. Entangled (hi)stories of the Jewish diaspora in the Caribbean" Spring Term Seminar, Center for Jewish History, New York, USA, April 2025.

"Afrokubanische Santería und jüdisch-karibische Diaspora. Herausforderungen und dekoloniale Perspektiven religiöser Wissensproduktion." Conference "Religious ethnography. Perspectives and practices", University of Rostock, Germany, March 2025.

"Die Orishas in dir. Afrokubanische Einblicke in die Verbundenheit von Körper und Natur." Institute Colloquium of the Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, January 2025.

2024

"Ethnographic fieldwork in Jewish-Caribbean cemeteries. Epistemological and methodological reflections." EASA 2024, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, July 2024.

"'Nobody dances with pain' - Popular island music between (neo)colonialism and decolonization in the transatlantic area" ISISA 2024, Universitas Mataram, Indonesia, June 2024.

2023

"The beach as a site of knowledges. Choreographies of memories and intermingling." Workshop: Critical Beach Studies. Center for Global Cooperation Research, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany, June 2023.

"Jewish immigration to the Spanish Caribbean Archipelago. Insights into the funerary memoryscape in Cuba." Norwegian Association of Latin American Studies Conference, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, June 2023.

2022

"Repensar el patrimonio a través de una memoria archipelagica. " Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Central de Las Villas, Cuba, September 2022.

"A reflective journey through feminist ethnographic methodologies on the islands." ISISA Annual Conference: Islands – Nature and Culture. University of Zadar, Croatia, June 2022.

"Inseln als Aushandlungsräume von Sprache, Identität und Migration. Einblicke auf und aus Malta." Summer School 'Inselromania und Mediterranität', Department of Romance Studies, University of Regensburg, Germany, April 2022.

"Archipelagic Memory of Jewish exile and decolonization in the Dominican Republic." Postmemory International Conference, University of Gdańsk, Poland & Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, March 2022.

"Decolonizing Ethnography: Reflexionen kollaborativer Wissensproduktion an der EU-Außengrenze." Oberseminar at the Institute of Ethnology. Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, January 2022.

2021

"(Im)Mobilität und mediterrane Migration." CITAS-Lecture: The area and its blind spots: The Mediterranean in multidisciplinary and transhistorical perspective. University of Regensburg and University of Konstanz, Germany, December 2021.

"Preserving urban Jewish heritage in Sosúa." Memory Studies Association Annual Conference, University of Warsaw, Poland, July 2021.

"Remembering ‘an island within an island’. Transgenerational memory work of Jewish exile in the Dominican Republic." ISISA Annual Conference, Memorial University of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, June 2021.

2020

"Erfahrungen und Reflexionen zu kollaborativen Forschungspraktiken im Kontext von Flucht_Migration." Public talk with round table discussion, Chair for European Ethnology, University of Würzburg, Germany, November 2020.

"Forced migration to, in and from the island. Contested mobilities and negotiations of belonging in Malta." ISA Regional Guest Lecture. Institute for Social Anthropology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, October 2020.

"Politics of (Dis)Integration.” Book launch (eds. Hinger & Schweitzer 2020) and panel discussion as part of the IMISCOE Spring Conference, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, February 2020.

2019

"Reif für die Insel?! Forschen auf und über Inseln." Kick-Off event of the lecture series "Anthropologie der Insel", Institute Colloquium of the Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, October 2019.

"Wissenschaft nur der Wissenschaft? Ein Plädoyer für engagierte, kollaborative Wissensproduktionen" German Congress of Geography 'Umbrüche und Aufbrüche. Geographie(n) der Zukunft', Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany, September 2019.

"The island as an imaginary space." IUAES 2019: Inter-Congress, 'World Solidarities', Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza, Poznan, Poland, August 2019.

2018

"Understanding Island Societies: Ethnological Reflections on Islandscape as an Analytical Tool in the Context of Island Migration." In collaboration with Laura Otto; Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos 2018: 'Islands, Resources, Tourism, and Society. Sustainable Development under Globalization and New Urbanization', Zhejiang University’s Ocean College, Zhoushan Island (Shanghai), China, September 2018.

"Umkämpfte Mobilitäten. Die soziale Produktion von Nichtabschiebbarkeit im transinsularen Raum." Colloquium of the Institute for Emipirical Cultural Studies: 'Auf der Flucht, nach der Flucht. Kultur- und sozialwissenschaftliche Positionen, ethnographische Zugänge', University of Tübingen, Germany, July 2018.

"Lost in Limbo? Moving Contours and Practices of Settlements of Non-Deportable Refugees in the Mediterranean Area." In collaboration with Buba Sesay; IMISCOE Annual Conference 2018: 'Europe, migrations and the Mediterranean: human mobilities and intercultural challenges', Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, Spain, July 2018.

2017

"What if my research partners just don't cross national borders again? Multi-sited research in a single geographic locality." In collaboration with Laura Otto; International Conference - World on the Move. Migration, Societies and Change, University of Manchester, UK, Migration Lab, November 2017.

"'Malta is like a prison' - Islandness im Blickpunkt von Nichtabschiebbarkeit." International Research Center for Cultural Studies (IFK), Vienna, March 2017.

"Living Liminality. Ethnographische Einblicke in die Lebenssituation nicht abschiebbarer Geflüchteter in Malta.“ Kick-Off Doctoral programme "Dynamics of Inequality and Difference in the Age of Globalization", University of Innsbruck, Austria, January 2017.

2016

"Living Liminality. Ethnological insights on the life situation of non-deportable refugees in Malta." International Conference on Migration, Irregularisation and Activism, Malmoe University, Sweden, June 2016.

"kritisch: Positionierungen von ForscherInnen im Feld." Institute Colloquium of the Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, June 2016.

"Liminalität als Lebensform. Ein intersektionaler Blick auf nicht abschiebbare Migrantinnen in Malta." Interdisciplinary Doctoral Conference Zurich, Vienna, Berlin: Cultural Studies – Historical Anthropology, University of Zurich, Switzerland, January 2016.

2015

"Alltag im Dazwischen. Von nicht abschiebbaren Geflüchteten auf Malta." Interdisciplinary Conference: Everyday life of (in)security. Ethnographic-cultural science perspectives on the security society, Unversity of Graz, Austria, November 2015.

"'Being in limbo'. Grenzgänger*innen in Malta." Autumn School: Grenzgänger in Theorie und Praxis. Europe University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany, October 2015.

"Alltag im Dazwischen. Porträts von Geflüchteten auf Malta." Talking Anthropology and Wine. Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, Vienna, Austria, October 2015.




ORGANIZATION OF CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND PANELS

– Selection –

2026

"Island religions and sacred isles" Panel Co-Convenor together with Adam Gydrehøj, 20th Islands of the World Conference ISISA, Mokpo National University, South Korea, July 2026.

2022

"Whose voice? Power, knowledge and positionality in Caribbean Studies", Conference Convenor together with Luis Ramón Campo Yumar; Universidad Central de las Villas, Cuba and University of Arts Linz, Austria, October 2022.

"Writing Together. Collaborative Writing with persons from fieldwork", Workshop Convenor together with Martina Blank. Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany & University of Arts Linz, Austria, July 2022.

 

2021

"Urban Space and Landscapes. Stadt- und Raumforschung im Nexus von Theorie und Empirie", Workshop Convenor together with Cornelia Dlabaja; Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, November 2021.

"Verletzbarkeit und Institutionen. Anrufen – Aushandeln – Antworten", Conference Convenor together with Michaela Bstieler, Judith Klemenc, Stephanie Schmidt and Judith Welz; Institute of History and European Ethnology, University of Innsbruck, Austria, September 2021. Conference report here.

 

2020

"Forschen und Arbeiten zwischen Handlungsdruck und Orientierungsunsicherheit im Kontext von Flucht_Migration", Panel convenor together with Margrit E. Kaufmann, Laura Otto and Dominik Schütte; Annual Conference of the German Network of Forced Migration Researchers: 'Contexts of Displacement, Refugee Protection and Forced Migrants' Lives', Universität zu Köln, Germany, September 2020.

 

2019

"Anthropology of Islands. Reflecting islandness from a historical and cultural studies perspective" , Workshop Convenor together with Greca N. Meloni; Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, November 2019.

"Anthropologie der Insel" , Organization of the Lecture Series of the Institute Colloquium together with Brigitta Schmidt-Lauber and Greca N. Meloni; Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria, Winter semester 2019/2020.

"Island Ethnography: Reflecting islandness in the Anthropocene" , Panel Convenor together with Francesco Bachis and Greca N. Meloni; IUAES 2019: Inter-Congress, 'World Solidarities', Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza, Poznan, Poland, August 2019.

"PhD-Network Meeting" , together with Manuel Liebig and Greca N. Meloni, as part of the Network Meeting of the Institutes of Ethnology and Cultural Studies of Austria at the University of Vienna, Austria, March 2019.

"Escape from Syria. Rania's odyssey. Film screening and talk with Rania Mustafa Ali", Moderation of the Colloquium as part of the Institute Colloquium of the Department of European Ethnology "Begriffe als Probleme: Wortgebrauch in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft", University of Vienna and in cooperation with the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, January 2019.

TEACHING







IN THE MEDIA


2025

Erasmus+ Teaching Visit at the University of Zadar (Croatia) in October 2025.





Visiting Scholarship at the Center for Jewish History, New York City, 2025.



2024


Videoinstallation in the special exhibition 'Seeking Refuge. Stories told in 25 objects' in Haus der Geschichte des Museum Niederösterreich, 2 March 2024 - 2 February 2025.



2023


Radio report "Wasser – Pop – Musik" in Radio Kolleg of Ö1, 29 June 2023.



2022


Radio report "Die Insel als Ort und Metapher" in Radio Kolleg of Ö1, 1 August 2022.



2021


Radio report "Gemeinsame Forschung aus dem Flüchtlingslager" in dimensionen.diskussionen of Ö1, 17 June 2021.





Networking event and awarding of current Firnberg and Richter grantees of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), 25 March 2021.




Podcast "Kollaboratives Forschen" in MeltingPod – Migration im Dialog, InZentIM, 15 February 2021.




Radio report "Ein Leben in der Grauzone" in Dimensionen – Das Monatsmagazin of Ö1, 4 February 2021.



2019


Award of the Theodor Körner Prize for Humanities and Culture. Theodor Körner Fonds, 10 May 2019.




2018


The Winner of the Rinus Penninx Best Paper Award 2018 are: Sarah Nimführ and Buba Sesay. IMISCOE Network News, 4 July 2018.




ÖAW vergibt 82 Stipendien an NachwuchsforscherInnen. DOC-Stipendienverleihung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), 4. März 2016.


 

 

 

IMPRINT

Sarah Nimführ
Domgasse 1
4020 Linz
mail [at] sarahnimfuehr.com

Photos // Startpage, current and completed projects as well as reception at the Vienna Hofburg: Sarah Nimführ. 
Scholarship Award Ceremony: Reinhard Oehner. 
Theodor Körner Award Ceremony: Christian Fischer. Imprint: University of Vienna.