PD Dr. Viola Thimm

Biographical note and research interests

PD Dr. Viola Thimm is an Associate Professor (Privatdozentin) of Anthropology at Heidelberg University and Senior Lecturer at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Most recently, she was fixed-term Professor (W2) of Social and Cultural Anthropology as well as  Managing Director and Program Director at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, MA Elite Graduate Programme “Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures” (SDAC) from 2022–2023. She was awarded her Habilitation and Venia Legendi in Anthropology (German qualification for full professorship) in 2021 with her professorial thesis “Shopping with Allah: Muslim Pilgrimage, Gender, and Consumption in Malaysia and Dubai”.

Paying attention to queer elsewhere, Dr. Thimm is currently working on the project “Sexual im/mobilities in Muslim pilgrimage” which compares and links conditions and experiences of queer Muslims in Malaysia and in Germany with regard to their pilgrimage experiences. Dr. Thimm was Principal Investigator of the research project “From Malaysia to Dubai: Muslim pilgrimage and gender in the context of consuming practices”, (2017–2021) (funded by the German Research Foundation [DFG, “Eigene Stelle”]; the Olympia Morata Programme in support of young female professors; and by the “Nachwuchsinitiative Universität Hamburg” – Initiative for young scholars). She studied Cultural Anthropology, Gender Studies and Romance Studies and received her doctoral degree in Cultural Anthropology by the University of Göttingen in 2013 with a dissertation on Gender and Educational Migration in Singapore and Malaysia (funded by the DFG Research Training Group 1599/1 “Dynamics of Space and Gender” and the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung).

Viola Thimm was a guest researcher at, among other things, Universiti  Malaya (UM) (2023–2024), Zayed University (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) (2017-2018), Monash University (Malaysia) (2017),  Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (2009) and at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) (now ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) (Singapore) (2008).

Her research interests include cultural practices of im/mobility  (especially those of transnational migration, pilgrimage and tourism);  gender relations, sexuality, queer issues and intersectionality; Islam and its socio-cultural entanglements; kinship and family networks; local economies and consumer culture. Her regional focus lies in Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Singapore) and the Arabian Peninsula (United Arab Emirates, Oman), where she has carried out extensive ethnographic fieldwork since 2007.

She has published 6 books, three single-authored monographs and three (co-)edited volumes on Islam, gender and im/mobility, including: Shopping with Allah: Muslim Pilgrimage, Gender, and Consumption in a Globalised World (UCL Press, 2023), Narrating Intersectional Perspectives Across Social Scales: Voicing Valerie (Routledge 2022);  (Re-)Claiming Bodies: Gendered Configurations in Islam (Palgrave Macmillan 2021), and Gender and Educational Migration: Life Projects and Images of Femininity of Female Educational Migrants from Malaysia in Singapore [Geschlecht und Bildungsmigration: Lebensentwürfe und Weiblichkeitsbilder malaysischer Bildungsmigrantinnen in Singapur].

Supervision
Dr. Thimm welcomes applications from prospective candidates who wish to do a PhD in social and cultural anthropology and would like to work on projects related to her research themes including, but not limited to: mobilities, migration, transnationalism, gender, sexuality, corporeality and embodiment, intersectionality, intergenerational ties, religious transformations, Muslim life-worlds, the anthropology of space and place, postcolonial and decolonial critique, feminist
ethnography, identity politics. Dr. Thimm accepts candidates wishing to carry out long-term fieldwork in a range of geographical locations.

Current PhD students are:

• Laila Borrie, „Indo-lranian Diasporas of the 19th – 21th century: Traders, wives, border runners and citizens“, Universität Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology, (First supervisor).
• Sumiya Mahmud, „Transnational Homemaking among Bangladeshi Migrants across Continents”, Universität Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology, (First supervisor).
• Ana Mattioli, “TransClass trajectories among trans people in Barcelona”, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, SDAC, (First supervisor).
• Junyan Zhou, “Care Dynamics between Chinese Transmigrants and Their Families”, Universität Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology, (First supervisor).
• Yanyi Zheng “Digital nomads and Place-making in the Mobile Context”, Universität Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology, (First supervisor).
• Anwar Masduki, “Ziarah Wali: An Inquiry of Contemporary Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism in
  Indonesia”, University of Groningen, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. Second supervisor (First supervisor: Marjo Buitelaar).

Former PhD student was:

• Shadma Ahmed, “Gendered religious resistance: Exploring the Spatial Dynamics of Identity Formation through the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India” (First supervisor 2022–2023, now with a Fellowship at the University of Bristol).

 

Academic Positions

• Since 07/2021 Associate Professor (Privatdozentin), University of Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology
• Since 02/2023 Senior Lecturer, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute for Near Eastern & East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Elite Graduate Program “Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures (SDAC)”
• 01/2023–01/2024 Senior Research Fellow & Research Associate, Universiti Malaya (Malaysia), Department of Anthropology and Sociology and Gender Studies Programme
• 04/2022–02/2023 Fixed-term Professor of Social & Cultural Anthropology (W2), University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute for Near Eastern & East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Elite Graduate Program “Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures (SDAC)”
• 10/2022–02/2023 Managing Director (Geschäftsführende Direktorin) and Program Director University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute for Near Eastern & East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Elite Graduate Program “Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures (SDAC)”
• 10/2018–02/2022 Principal Investigator „Muslim Pilgrimage, Gender and Consumption”, University of Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology
• 01/2017–12/2019 Project Leader (“Eigene Stelle” by the German Research Foundation DFG)
  University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa-Institute, Department of Languages & Cultures of Southeast Asia
• 12/2018 Guest lecturer, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, India
• 12/2017–04/2018 Research Fellow (Visiting), Zayed University, Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates
• 05/2017–10/2017 Research Fellow (Visiting), Monash University, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Malaysia
• 03/2015–12/2016 Associate Postdoctoral Research Fellow
• 10/2013–02/2015 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa-Institute, Department of Languages & Cultures of Southeast Asia
• 03/2015–07/2016 Research Assistant, HIS Institute for Higher Education Development, Hanover, Germany
• 10/2011–09/2013 Doctoral Student/Research Associate
• 10/2010–09/2011 Associate Doctoral Student, University of Kassel and University of Göttingen, DFG Research Training
• Group 1599/1 “Dynamics of Space and Gender” (“Graduiertenkolleg” by the German Research Foundation)
• 10/2009–09/2012 Lecturer, University of Göttingen, Institute for Social & Cultural Anthropology; Gender Studies Program
• 02/2009–08/2009 Visiting Scholar, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Institut Kajian Malaysia dan Antarabangsa – Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS)
• 09/2008–01/2009 Visiting Scholar, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore
• 01–06/2007 Freelance employee, Overseas Museum (Übersee-Museum) Bremen, division „Anthropology“

 

Education

07/2021	Habilitation and Venia Legendi (German qualification for full professorship) in Cultural Anthropology, University of Heidelberg.
08/2013	Ph.D. (Dr. disc. pol.) in Cultural Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Germany.
01/2007	M.A. (Magistra Artium), University of Göttingen, Germany. Major: Cultural Anthropology. Minors: Gender Studies and Romance Studies.

 

2016–2022	“Advancing Intersectionality Theory & Method: Narrating Intersectional Perspectives Across Social Scales” (with Sarah J. Mahler [FIU]) (self-funded)
2013–2022	“From Malaysia to Dubai: Muslim pilgrimage and gender in the context of consuming practices”, (funded by the Olympia Morata Programme in support of young female professors, by the German Research Foundation [DFG, “Eigene Stelle”], and by the “Nachwuchsinitiative Universität Hamburg” – Initiative for young scholars)
2008–2013	“Educational migration and gender in the regional context of Malaysia and Singapore,” (funded by the German Research Foundation and the Hans-Böckler-Foundation)
2006	“Doing cultural difference in ethnological museums” (self-funded)

 

03/2020–02/2022	Olympia Morata Fellowship in support of young female professors, University of Heidelberg
01/2017–12/2019	Research Fellowship (“Eigene Stelle”), German Research Foundation (DFG), held at University of Hamburg
10/2013–02/2015	Postdoctoral Fellowship, Nachwuchsinitiative der Universität Hamburg
07/2008–08/2011	Doctoral Fellowship, Hans-Böckler-Foundation, held at University of Göttingen
2014	Travel funds from the Nachwuchsinitiative der Universität Hamburg for explorative fieldwork in the United Arab Emirates
2013	Travel funds from the KMU network of Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences for a conference trip to Sydney, Australia
2010	Travel funds from the Hans-Böckler-Foundation for a conference trip to Singapore

 

Monographs

• 2023: Thimm, Viola; Shopping with Allah. Muslim pilgrimage, gender, and consumption in a Globalised World. London: UCL Press.
• 2022: Thimm, Viola: Narrating Intersectional Perspectives Across Social Scales: Voicing Valerie. Routledge.
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: Geschlecht und Bildungsmigration: Lebensentwürfe und Weiblichkeitsbilder malaysischer Bildungs­migrantinnen in Singapur [Gender & Educational Migration: Life Projects and Images of Femininity of Female Educational Migrants from Malaysia in Singapore]. Bielefeld: transcript.

Edited volumes

• in press: Thimm, Viola and Thajib, Ferdiansyah (eds.): Embracing Faith and Desire. Queer and Feminist Engagements with Islam and Christianity as Lived Religions. Routledge.
• 2021: Thimm, Viola (editor): (Re-)Claiming Bodies: Gendered Configurations in Islam. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
• 2021: Buitelaar, Marjo*; Manja Stephan-Emmrich*; Viola Thimm* (editors; *The order of editor names for the volume as a whole is purely alphabetical, reflecting equal contribution and responsibility): Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring Gender, Religion, and Mobility. Abington/New York: Routledge.
• 2018: Thimm, Viola (editor): Understanding Muslim Mobilities and Gender. Basel: MDPI.
• 2018: Chaudhuri, Mayurakshi und Viola Thimm (guest editors): Special Section “Postcolonial Intersections: Asia on the Move” Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies, Vol 8 (3).
• 2018: Thimm, Viola (guest editor): Special Issue “Understanding Muslim Mobilities and Gender” Social SciencesVol. 6–7. http://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci/special_issues/muslim_mobilities_ gender.
• 2016: Thimm, Viola (associate editor): The International Journal of Diverse Identities, Vol. 16.

Original articles, peer-reviewed

• pending revisions: “Super-power” in the grave: Meaning-making of Muslim saints’ graves in Southeast Asia and on the Arabian Peninsula. TRaNS: Trans -Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia.
• under review with Indonesia and the Malay World: Keramat, miracles and magic: Veneration at Muslim saints’ graves in Malaysia in the context of syncretic traditions.
• in press: Queer Muslim subjectivity: LGBTQIA+ identity in Malaysia between transnational self-awareness, pilgrimage politics and Islamic repression. Current Anthropology
• 2025: Sexual im/mobilities: On queer Muslim pilgrimage. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 15(1): 74–86. https://doi.org/10.1086/734602
  
• 2025: Reconfiguring Gender, Kinship, Spirituality: Space- and Placemaking in Muslim Malaysia. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 31(1): 82–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.14164
• 2025: Bringing Intersectionality to the Core of Social and Cultural Anthropology: Scaling Holistic Intersectionality. Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, 90(1): 110-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2023.2226833
• 2021: Thimm, Viola: Gendered Pilgrimage: Hajj and umrah from women’s perspectives. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol 36 (2): 223–241.
• 2021: Thimm, Viola: Muslim Fashion: Challenging Transregional Connectivities between Malaysia and the Arabian Peninsula. TRaNS: Trans -Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, Vol 9 (2): 117–128.
• 2019: Thimm, Viola und Mayurakshi Chaudhuri: Migration as Mobility? An Intersectional Approach. Applied Mobilities. https://doi.org/10.1080/23800127.2019.1573780
• 2018: Chaudhuri, Mayurakshi und Viola Thimm: Postcolonial Intersections – Asia on the Move: Introduction. Special Section “Postcolonial Intersections: Asia on the Move” Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies, Vol 8 (3):28–35.
• 2018: Thimm, Viola: Embodying and consuming Muslim pilgrimage: Gendered shopping and clothing practices by Malaysian women on “umrah and ziarah Dubai.“Asian Anthropology, Vol 17 (3): 185–203.
• 2018: Thimm, Viola: Muslim Mobilities and Gender: An Introduction. Social Sciences, 7(1), 5.
• 2017: Thimm, Viola: Commercialising Islam in Malaysia: Ziarah at the intersection of Muslim pilgrimage and the market-driven tourism industry. UKM Ethnic Studies Paper Series No. 56, December. Bangi: Institute of Ethnic Studies.
• 2017: Thimm, Viola; Mayurakshi Chaudhuri; and Sarah J. Mahler: Enhancing intersectional analyses with polyvocality: Making and illustrating the model. Social Sciences. 6(2), 37.
• 2016: Thimm, Viola: “I really love that guy!” Romantische Liebe als Weg zur Moderne im regionalen Kontext Singapurs und Malaysias. [“I really love that guy!” Romantic love as a path to modernity in the regional context of Singapore and Malaysia]. Asien – The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 139 2/2016: 25-43.
• 2016: Thimm, Viola: “I can give you money but there is no use. The best thing I [can] give you is education.” Negotiating educational migration and gender in a Chinese Malaysian family. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and National Studies of Southeast Asia, 4(1): 65-84.
• 2015: Thimm, Viola: Die arabische abaya in Malaysia: Verhandlungen von muslimischen Kleidungspraktiken, weiblicher Körperlichkeit und Modernität The arabic abaya in Malaysia: negotiations of Muslim practices of clothing, female corporeality and modernity]. Paideuma, 61:95-116.
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: Soziale Mobilität für Frauen durch bildungsmotivierte Land-Stadt-Migration: Eine Biographie aus Malaysia [Social mobility for women through education-motivated rural-urban migration: A biography from Malaysia]. Ethnoscripts, 16(2):27-41.
• 2013: Thimm, Viola: Education, Migration, Gender: Policies of Education in Malaysia and Singapore. GSE Journal of Education 2013:1-11.
• 2012: Thimm, Viola: “My dad wants to see me graduate with a good degree (…)” Bildungsmigration und Geschlecht im regionalen Kontext Malaysias und Singapurs. Journal Netzwerk Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung NRW, 31: 62-67.

Book chapters, peer reviewed

• Forthcoming: Thimm, Viola and Thajib, Ferdiansyah: Introduction – Embracing Faith and Desire. Routledge.
• Forthcoming: Thimm, Viola: Queering pilgrimage in Germany: Spiritual mobility as alternative routes to Mecca. Routledge.
• Accepted: Thimm, Viola: Pilgrims and Mobility. In: Salazar, Noel (ed.): Anthropological Handbook of Mobility. Berghahn.
• 2021: Thimm, Viola: Introduction: (Re-)Claiming Bodies through Fashion and Style. Gendered Configurations in Muslim Contexts. In: Thimm, Viola (ed.): (Re-)Claiming Bodies: Gendered Configurations in Islam, pp. 1-18. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
• 2021: Thimm, Viola: Men’s Non-Fashion: Embodying Traditionality in the Gulf. In: Thimm, Viola (ed.): (Re-)Claiming Bodies: Gendered Configurations in Islam, pp. 109-126. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
• 2021: Buitelaar, Marjo*; Manja Stephan-Emmrich*; Viola Thimm* (*The order of author names in the introduction and that of editor names for the volume as a whole is purely alphabetical, reflecting equal contribution and responsibility): Introduction: Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring Gender, Religion, and Mobility, pp. 19-35. Abingdon/New York: Routledge.
• 2021: Thimm, Viola: Under male supervision? Islamic belief and nationality as basis for Muslim women’s pilgrimage. In: Buitelaar, Marjo; Manja Stephan-Emmrich; Viola Thimm (eds.): Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring Gender, Religion, and Mobility, pp. 19-35. Abingdon/New York: Routledge.
• 2019: Chaudhuri, Mayurakshi; Viola Thimm und Sarah J. Mahler: Scaling Educational Policy and Practices Intersectionally: Historical and Contemporary Education Policies, Practices and Effects in South and Southeast Asia. In: Hankivsky, Olena and Julia Jordan-Zachery (eds.): The Palgrave Handbook of Intersectionality in Public Policy, S. 367-385. Houndsmills: Palgrave MacMillan.
• 2018: Thimm, Viola: Muslim Mobilities and Gender: An Introduction. In: Viola Thimm (ed.): Understanding Muslim Mobilities and Gender, S. 1-10. Basel: MDPI.
• 2014: Chaudhuri, Mayurakshi; Viola Thimm and Sarah J. Mahler: Gendered Geographies of Power: Their Value for Analyzing Gender across Transnational Spaces. In: Gruhlich, Julia and Birgit Riegraf (eds.): Transnationale Räume und Geschlecht, S. 94-209. Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot.
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: The Female Body in Transnational Space between Malaysia and Singapore. In: Buccieri, Kristy (ed.): Body Tensions: Beyond Corporeality in Time and Space, S. 55-72. Oxford: ID-Press.
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: Gender and the Body in Transnational Space: Female Educational Migrants from Malaysia in Singapore. In: McLean, Loyola et al. (eds.): Exploring Bodies in Time and Space, S. 37-45. Oxford: ID-Press.
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: “Gendered Geographies of Power”. Ein Modell zur Analyse von Bildungsmigration und Geschlecht am Beispiel von Malaysia und Singapur. In: Förschler, Silke et al. (eds.): Verorten – Verhandeln – Verkörpern, S. 61-84. Bielefeld: transcript.
• 2013: Thimm, Viola: Education, Migration, Gender: Policies of Education in Malaysia and Singapore. In: Mokmin Basri et al. (eds.): Emerging Trends for Sustainability in Global Education: Opportunities and Challenges, Kajang (Malaysia): WorldConferences.net, S. 1-11.
• In preparation, by invitation:    Pilgrims. In: Salazar, Noel (ed.): Anthropological Handbook of Mobility. Berghahn.

Other publications

• 2018: Jongmanns, Georg and Viola Thimm: Förderprogramme in der Lehre und die Frage der personellen Nachhaltigkeit: Kriterien für eine tragfähige Aufgaben- und Personalstruktur (Funding programmes in teaching and the question of “personnel sustainability”). (https://his-he.de/projekte/detail/projekt/mwk-niedersachsen-personelle-nachhaltigkeit-in-der-lehre/)
• 2014: Thimm, Viola: Die Bersih-Bewegung in Malaysia [The Bersih movement in Malaysia]. Südostasien 1/2014:27-29.
• 2012: Thimm, Viola: “Singapore sucks!” – Skateboarding als Grenzraum zwischen Subkultur und staatlicher Kontrolle [“Singapore sucks!” – Skateboarding as a contested space between subculture and state control]. Südostasien 4/2012: 26-28.

• 01/2025 Co-Convenor and organizer of the international conference „Queer worldmaking amidst and beyond conservatism” (together with Vilashini Somiah [Universiti Malaya], Benjamin YH Loh [Taylor’s University, Malaysia] and Ferdiansyah Thajib [FAU]).
• 10/2025 Organiser of the creative-art workshop „Sexuality as sensory and spiritual: an art-making workshop exploring embodied affective experiences at the intersection of faith, migration, gender, and sexuality”with Gabriel Hoosain Khan, FAU (together with Ferdiansyah Thajib)
• 09/2024 Co-Convenor and organizer of the international conference „Queer worldmaking amidst and beyond conservatism” (together with Ferdiansyhah Thajib [FAU]).
• 07/2024 Co-Organisation of the International Summer School “Social Inequalities through the lens of Area Studies” (with Giovanni Maltese, Oleg Vasilchenko und Ferdiansyah Thajib), University in Malaysia.
• 11/2023 Co-Convenor and organizer of the international conference „Decolonize the Anthropology of Gender“ (together with Soledad Cutuli [Universidad Complutense de Madrid] and Rafael Costa Cazarin de Brito [Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona] EASA-NAGS-conference, Barcelona.
• 09/2023 Co-Convenor and organizer of the international Autumn School „Embracing Faith and Desire. Autumn school on the Anthropology of Gender, Sexuality and Religion“ (together with Ferdiansyah Thajib [FAU]), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
• 06/2022, Convenor and organizer of the panel „Gender and sexual pluralism in Southeast Asia“, EuroSEAS conference 2022, Paris.
• 05/2022, Co-convenor and organizer of the conference “Im/Mobilities in Southeast Asia“, (together with Rosalie Stolz), Interim Conference of the German Anthropological Association’s “Southeast Asia Study Group”, Heidelberg.
• 09/2021, Convenor, organizer and discussant of the panel “‘Race, class, gender‘: Achsen der Ungleichheit im Anthropozän“ [Axes of inequality in the Anthropocene], Conference of the German Anthropological Association,Bremen.
• 09/2019, Convenor, organizer and discussant of the panel “Islam and Capitalism in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia” at the EuroSEAS conference 2019, Berlin, Germany.
• 06/2019, Convenor, organizer and discussant of the international workshop “Gender, Fashion, and Embodiment in Islam”, University of Hamburg.
• 06/2019, Discussant at one session of the international workshop “Transnational giving. Evolving paths of religion, community and citizenship in globally connected Asia”, University of Göttingen.
• 08/2018, Discussant of the panel “Migration, tourism, business: Reconfiguring Muslim pilgrimage through the lens of women’s new mobilities” at the 15th EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) Biennial Conference, Stockholm, Sweden.
• 08/2018, Co-convenor and organizer of the panel “Migration, tourism, business: Reconfiguring Muslim pilgrimage through the lens of women’s new mobilities” (together with Marjo Buitelaar; and Manja Stephan-Emmrich) at the 15th EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) Biennial Conference, Stockholm, Sweden.
• 03/2016, Co-convenor and organizer of the symposium “Funding programmes and sustainability in the field of teaching and learning”, HIS Institute of Higher Education Development, Hanover.
• 01/2013, Organizer of the guest lecture “Gender in Motion” by Sarah J. Mahler, University of Göttingen, Germany.
• 01/2013, Organizer of the workshop “Space and Gender” with Sarah J. Mahler, University of Göttingen, Germany.
• 04/2013, Organizer of a methodology workshop on scientific writing, University of Göttingen, Germany

• Professional reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) – Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF) and the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation
• Editorial Advisory Board Member, Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Anthropology Series)
• Editorial Advisory Board Member, Book Series “Religion–Geschlecht–Körper/Religion–Gender–Bodies”, Nomos Verlag
• Reviewer for Contemporary Islam, Applied Mobilities, Mobilities, Social Sciences, Genealogy, The Global Studies Journal, The International Journal of Diverse Identities, International Journal of Diversity in Education
• Scientific advisory services for the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Germany) on sustainable project funding in institutions of tertiary education, 2016
• Scientific advisory services for six German universities and universities of applied sciences on how to deal with temporal project funding in a possibly sustainable way, 2016

• 11/2024 “Queer Hajj: Muslimische Im/Mobilitäten in Malaysia und Deutschland.“ Von Dr. Anette Rein geladene Referentin, Berufsverband für Ethnolog*innen e.V.
• 10/2024 “’Super-power’ in the grave: Meaning-making of Muslim saints’ graves in Southeast Asia and on the Arabian Peninsula.” Von Prof. Dominik Müller geladene Referentin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• 07/2024 „Queere Pilger-Geschichten aus Malaysia und Deutschland.“ Von Sabine Ahmadzai geladene Referentin, Universität Frankfurt.
• 01/2024 „Hajj at the margins: Queer perspectives from Malaysia and Germany.“ Von Prof. Dr. Guido Sprenger geladene Referentin, Universität Heidelberg.
• 01/2024 „Labour migration and gender in Malaysia.” Von Dr. Ferdiansyah geladene Referentin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 12/2023 „Methodologies of Intersectionality.“ Von Prof. Dr. Jean-Baptiste Pettier geladene Referentin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 07/2023 „Queering Hajj in Malaysia und Deutschland.“ Von Marco Linguri geladene Referentin, Gemeindetreffen des Liberal
  Islamischen Bunds e.V. (LIB).
• 03/2023 „Gender and Sexuality at the Margins in Malaysia: A Case Study of a Pilgrimage.” Von Prof. Dr. Kamal Solheimi und Dr. Vilashini Somiah geladene Referentin, Universiti Malaya, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
• 02/2022, “How to research Queer Muslim Pilgrimage?” Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Claudia Liebelt und Max Schnepf, The Queer Anthro Interstice.
• 01/2022, “Shopping with Allah. Pilgrimage, Gender and Consumption.” Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Guido Sprenger, University of Heidelberg.
• 07/2021, Becoming a visible pious Muslim woman: Pilgrimage, gender and embodiment in Malaysia. Presentation by invitation of Dr. Cathrine Bublatzky, University of Heidelberg.
• 05/2021, Going Shopping on Muslim Pilgrimage: Gendered Mobility in a Pilgrimage-Tourism Nexus. Presentation by invitation of Dr. Anna Lisa Ramella, Dr. Fabiola Mancinelli and Dr. Silvia Wojczweski to the EASA Anthropology and Mobility Network [ANTHROMOB] MoMO Online Lecture Series.
• 05/2021, Politicizing Mecca as a spiritual homeland. Presentation by invitation of Dr. Sanam Roohi, Max Weber Kolleg, Universität Erfurt.
• 01/2021, Ida Pfeiffer and Eva Lips: Two Feminist Anthro S/Heroes? Presentation by invitation of A/P Claudia Liebelt and Max Schnepf, The Queer Anthro Interstice.
• 09/2019, Bringing back piety: Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca as catalyst for gendered Islamization processes in Malaysia. Presentation by invitation of Prof. Claudia Derichs, EuroSEAS conference 2019, Berlin (Germany).
• 12/2018, From Malaysia to Dubai: Scaling Intersectionalities of Muslim Pilgrimage and Gender. Presentation by invitation of Dr Mayurakshi Chaudhuri, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur (India).
• 01/2018, Clothing and shopping practices of Malaysian pilgrims on “Umrah & Ziarah Dubai”. Presentation by invitation of Assoc Prof Dr Rima Sabban, CHSS Lecture Series, Zayed University (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).
• 01/2018, “Umrah & Ziarah Dubai:” Clothing and shopping practices of Malaysian pilgrims. Presentation by invitation of Assoc Prof Dr Rima Sabban, CHSS Lecture Series, Zayed University (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).
• 11/2017, Clothing and shopping practices among Malay umrah and ziarah travellers. Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Monika Arnez. Research colloquium of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Passau (Germany)
• 11/2017, Von Malaysia nach Dubai: Muslimisches Pilgern und Geschlecht im Kontext von Konsumpraktiken. Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Judith Schlehe. Research colloquium of Society of Geography and Cultural Anthropology, University of Freiburg (Germany).
• 10/2017, Going shopping on Muslim pilgrimage: Clothing and consumption by Muslim Malay pilgrims on ‘umrah and ziarah Dubai’. Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Shamsul AB. Seminar Series of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
• 07/2017, Umrah and Ziarah Dubai: Muslim pilgrimage, gender and consumption in the Malaysian context. Presentation by invitation of Assoc Prof Sharon A. Bong. Lectures series of the Faculty for Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University (Malaysia).
• 04/2017, Embodying and consuming Muslim pilgrimage: Gendered shopping and clothing practices by Malaysian women on “umrah and ziarah Dubai.“ Presentation by invitation of Prof. Dr. Guido Sprenger. Colloquium of the Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Heidelberg. Heidelberg (Germany).
• 04/2017, From Malaysia to Dubai: Muslim Pilgrimage and Gender in the context of Consuming Practices. Public lecture by invitation of Prof. Dr. Monika Arnez. Lecture series: “50 Years ASEAN.” Hamburg (Germany).
• 06/2016, Sustainable quality in study and teaching (with Dr. Georg Jongmanns). Presentation by invitation of Uwe Krüger. Network meeting: Network Science Management. Hanover (Germany).
• 05/2016, Sustainability: The Teaching Quality Pact and consequences for structuring academic personnel (together with Dr. Georg Jongmanns). Network conference ‘Quality Offensive Teaching’. Presentation by invitation of Karolina Bielak. Wolfenbüttel (Germany).
• 11/2013, Gendered Geographies of Power: An analytical tool to study educational migration and gender in Malaysia and Singapore. Presentation by invitation of A/Prof. Sarah J. Mahler. Annual Conference of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), Chicago (USA).
• 11/2010, Methodische Fragen akteurszentrierter Forschung [Methodological questions on person-centred research]. Presentation by invitation of Dr. Ina Alber. Conference of the Centre of Methods in Social Sciences, University of Göttingen, Germany.
• 02/2010, Across the Causeway: Bildungsmigrantinnen zwischen Malaysia und Singapur [Female educational migrants between Malaysia and Singapore]. Presentation by invitation of Dr. Gundolf Krüger. Matinee of the Ethnographic Collection, University of Göttingen. Göttingen, Germany.

• SoSe 2024 Doktorand*innen-Kolloquium und -Labor. Universität Heidelberg und Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• SoSe 2024 Ethnographic Reading and Writing, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• SoSe 2024 Theories and Practices of Decoloniality, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• SoSe 2024 Feministische Ethnologie/Anthropology of Gender, BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Institut für Ethnologie, Universität Heidelberg.
• SoSe 2024 Mentoring, 1 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2023/24 PhD colloquium and laboratory. Universität Heidelberg und Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2023/24 Ethnologische Debatten um Kultur, Kulturvergleich und Repräsentationen, BA Seminar, 2 SWS Universität Heidelberg
• Winter term 2023/24 The Anthropology of Gender, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2023/24 Anthropological Critiques of Culture, Comparison and Representation, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2023/24 Mentoring, 1 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 03/2023 Doing Qualitative Research: Methodologies and Research Project Crafting, PhD Workshop, Universiti Malaya, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
• Summer term 2023 PhD colloquium and laboratory. Universität Heidelberg und Universität Erlangen Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2023 Embracing Faith and Desire. Autumn school on the Anthropology of Gender, Sexuality and Religion, Autumn School für Doktorand*innen, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2023 Theories of Decoloniality, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2023 Understanding Muslim Feminism, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2023 Mentoring, 1 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 03/2023 Research Project Crafting and Anthropological Methodologies, Workshop für PhDs, Universiti Malaya (Malaysia)
• Winter term 2022/23 Methodologies in Anthropology, MA Vorlesung und Übung, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2022/23 SDAC Guest Lecture Series. Internationales Kolloquium, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2022/23 Anthropology of Mobilities and Migration, MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2022/23 Mentoring, 1 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2022/23 Lektürekurs: Ethnographien lesen, BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Institut für Ethnologie, Universität Heidelberg.
• Summer term 2022  SDAC Guest Lecture Series. Internationales Kolloquium, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2022 Queer sexualities and identities in Southeast Asia. MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2022 Gender, Fashion and the Body in cross-cultural perspective. MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2022 Critical reflections on Mobilities and Migration. MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Summer term 2022 Mentoring, 1 SWS, SDAC, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• Winter term 2021/22 Queeres Südostasien, BA Seminar, 2 SWS Universität Heidelberg
• Summer term 2021 Perspektiven auf Dekolonialität, BA Seminar, 2 SWS Universität Heidelberg
• Summer term 2021 ÜberRassismus. Schirmherr*innenschaft für studentisches BA-Seminar, 1 SWS Universität Heidelberg
• Winter term 2020/21 Muslimischer Feminismus: Theorieansätze und praktischer Aktivismus. BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Heidelberg
• Summer term 2020 Transnationale Mobilitäten: Fallbeispiele, Theorien und kritische Reflexionen. BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Heidelberg
• Winter term 2019/20 Muslim Fashions. Zusammenwirken von Geschlecht, Körper und Mode. BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Heidelberg
• Summer term 2019 Islam und Kapitalismus in Malaysia. BA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Heidelberg
• Winter term 2018/19 Gender, Fashion, and Embodiment in Islam. BA und MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Hamburg
• Summer term 2018 Islam and Pilgrimage: Cases from Maritime Southeast Asia. BA und MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Hamburg
• Summer term 2012 Modernität und Geschlecht in Malaysia und Singapur. MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Göttingen
• Winter term 2011/12 Ethnographische Feldforschung, BA Vorlesung und Übung, 0,75 SWS, Universität Göttingen
• Summer term 2010 Migration und Gender. BA und MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Göttingen
• Winter term 2009/10 Geschlecht und Identität in Malaysia und Singapur. BA und MA Seminar, 2 SWS, Universität Göttingen
• Winter term 2008/09 Intersektionalität – historische und theoretische Perspektiven. BA Tutorium, 2 SWS, Universität Göttingen

• Since 12/2022: Germany
• 02-04/2024, 08/2024: Malaysia
• 02/2023–04/2023: Malaysia and Singapore (2 months)
• Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, and Oman (a total of 11 months, multi-sited), 05/2017 – 04/2018
• United Arab Emirates (1 month), 04/2014
• Malaysia (2 months), 12/2013 – 01/2014
• Malaysia, Singapore and Germany (a total of 14 weeks), 12/2009 – 01/2015
• Singapore and Malaysia (12 months, multi-sited), 09/2008 – 08/2009
• Singapore (1 month), 08/2007