Team > Dr. Matthias Gebauer
Dr. Matthias Gebauer
Faculty of Biology, Chemistry & Earth Sciences
Research Group Social Geography
Dr. Matthias Gebauer is a Social Geographer with a background in Geography, Middle Eastern Studies and Law. His work brings together sciences and practice. Making the future through knowledge and progress is his aim. His recent work is:
- The research mission FUTURE YOUTH and the research program Rural Youth in an Aging Society. Together with the Kreisjugendring Kulmbach, the city and region of Kulmbach, and the Bundesprogramm Demokratie Leben, he inquires into youth participation in urban and rural areas and promotes the creation of sustainable spaces for youth and young adults together with policy makers.
- The development initiative Kultur- und Genusswelten. As a member of the network of museums "Kultur und Genuss", the Genussregion Oberfranken, the museums of Mönchshof and the Fichtelgebirgsverein, he designs future spaces of museum tourism.
Dr. Matthias Gebauer graduated as a PhD in 2019 at Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz with the topic of conversion to Islam among the population of formerly Black African classified areas in South Africa. Before that, he researched on the effects of the 2010 soccer world cup on the population, development and policies of South African cities.
Practice
- Research mission FUTURE YOUTH (together with KJR Kulmbach)
- Designing Kultur- und Genusswelten (together with Museumsnetzwerk Kultur und Genuss, Museen im Mönchshof, Genussregion Oberfranken and Fichtelgebirgsverein)
Topics
- Youth, youth participation and spaces for youth in urban and rural areas
- Festivals and events, tourism of the future
- Technological innovations and social progress
- Cosmologies and global religious communities
- Systemic Thinking, system-theory-oriented methods, and multilevel Governance Analysis
Regions
- Franconia
- Atlantic Islands
- Southern Africa
- North America
Presentations (Selection)
12/2022: Erlebe den Versuch von Zion! Die Religionsgeschichte der Mormonen als Living History Museum und sakrales Event. Jahrestagung des Arbeitskreises Religionsgeographie.
11/2022: Party zu Ende! Träume und Grenzen festivalisierter Stadtpolitik am Beispiel von eThekwini (Durban), Südafrika. Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Köln e.V.
06/2021: Black Islam South Africa: Religiöse Territorialität, Konversion und die Transgression geordneter Indigenität. Arbeitskreis Subsahara-Afrika, Gießen.
11/2019: Black Islam South Africa. Global passages of racialized Muslim identities and the bringing about of African indigeneity in a post-colonial society. American Academy of Religion, San Diego.
06/2018: Township Hijra: Konversion, Emigration und der Traum von einer neuen Gesellschaft jenseits der Post-Apartheid Stadt. GEOS SMIGG Talk, University of Osnabrück.
07/2016: South Africa’s Islamic shore on the Black Indian Ocean. Summer school The Indian Ocean World and Eurasian Connections: „Networks of Connectivities: Routes, Commodities, and the Politics of the Indian Ocean”.
10/2012 und 04/2013: Festivalisation of Urban Governance in the Context of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Summer school SPP 1448, Maputo (10/2012); Urban Affairs Association Conference, San Francisco and Association of American Geographers Conference, Los Angeles (04/2013).
09 and 12/2011, 03/2013: ‘The food may grow but the city is starving’ – a critical perspective on urban agriculture under South African conditions of local social dynamics. CRESC Conference, Manchester (09/2011), GAPSYM, Gent (12/2011), Land Divided Conference, Cape Town (03/2013).
07/2012: Watana und seine Stämme: von ‘Reichweiten und Grenzen’ eines geographisch-analytischen Konzeptes von Heimat. Workshop Muslim Diasporas II, Erlangen.