Vita

Since 2014, I am Professor of Sociology and Head of the Research Group "Sociology of Emotion" at Freie Universität Berlin. I am a member of the Executive Board of the Collaborative Research Center Affective Societies and Research Fellow at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). My previous experience is summarized below.

2011 - 2014 Appointed DIW Research Professor at the German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, DIW)

2008 - 2014 Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) of Sociology, Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion" and Institute of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin

2007 - 2008 Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria

2004 - 2005 Fellow of the Research Group “Emotions as Bio-Cultural Processes”, Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Bielefeld University

2003 - 2007 Research Assistant at Deutscher Bundestag (German parliament)

2007 Doctorate in Economics and Social Sciences (Dr. rer. pol.), University of Hamburg

2002 Diploma in Sociology, University of Hamburg

Studied Sociology, Psychology, Economics, and Political Science at University of Hamburg

Research interests

I am working in the microsociology of culture, emotion, and stratification. Broadly speaking, my work addresses how culture and social structure shape the ways in which people feel, think, and interact and thereby reproduce and change social order. On the one hand, this approach includes symbols, norms, and values as well as inequality and stratification. On the other hand, it comprises emotions, identities, social interactions, and practices. My current research covers three broad areas: First, I investigate the social and cultural constitution of emotion. More specifically, my aim is to understand socially shared patterns of feeling, as both affective dispositions and short-lived collective emotions, and their role in groups and societies. Second, I am studying selected cultural and social underpinnings of economic action and institutions. A third area of inquiry is science and technology studies in which I investigate social interaction with non-humans, primarily robots and artificial agents. My research draws on a variety of methods, for example surveys, interviews, and experiments.

Major fields

• Microsociology, Social Psychology, Sociology of Culture, Economic Sociology, Science and Technology Studies
• Culture, Cognition, Affect and Emotion, Stratification, Norms and Values, Identity, Interaction
• Experimental methods, unobtrusive and nonreactive measures

Editorial Duties

• Associate Editor Soziale Welt (Nomos)
• Associate Editor Emotion Review (Sage)
• Editorial Board Member Emotion and Society (Bristol University Press)
• Editorial Board Member Series Routledge Series in Affective Societies (Routledge)
• Editorial Board Member Series Critical Emotion Studies (Brill)
• Editorial Board Member Series Emotionskulturen / Emotion Cultures (transcript)

Research