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.
CURRENT PROJECTS
COMPLETED PROJECTS
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 here, here and here.
Editorship
[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.
Peer-reviewed articles and book chapters
[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.
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.
[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.
[4] "Malta ist wie ein Gefängnis". Guest Commentary for science.ORF.at, 12 March 2017.
[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
2025/2026
Research practice as negotiation. Collaborative research in the field of migration studies
University of Arts Linz Austria
Department of Cultural Studies
2025
Decolonizing Ethnography. Collaborative knowledge production in ethnographic research
Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Austria
Department of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology
2024
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2022/23
University of Innsbruck, Austria
Department of History and European Ethnology
2021/22
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2021
University of Würzburg, Germany
Chair for European Ethnology
Islands and global mobility
LMU Munich, Germany
Institute for European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis
2020/21
University of Würzburg, Germany
Chair for European Ethnology
Engaging, Criticizing, Changing: Methods and Interventions of Critical Migration Studies
Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Austria
Department of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology
2020
University of Würzburg, Germany
Chair for European Ethnology
2019/20
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2019
LMU Munich, Germany
Institute for European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis
Scientific Working and Writing
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2018/19
University of Bremen, Germany
Department of Ethnology and Cultural Studies
Scientific Working and Writing
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2018
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
Islands as spaces of identity, belonging and migration: Ethnographic excursion to Europe's "tumultuous fringes"
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2016/17
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
2016
University of Vienna, Austria
Department of European Ethnology
IN THE MEDIA
2025
Erasmus+ Teaching Visit at the University of Zadar (Croatia) in October 2025.
Podcast "Esoteric Crossroads: Scholars Meet Practitioners" in RENSEP in collaboration with Rejected Religion, 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.
Semesterfrage 2016: Wie verändert Migration Europa? EthnologInnen antworten. uni:view Magazin/University of Vienna , 16 June 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.


























