Vanessa Ohlraun, M.A.
Research Staff
Address
Im Moore 21
30167 Hannover
Building
Room
Vanessa Ohlraun, M.A.
Research Staff
Address
Im Moore 21
30167 Hannover
Building
Room

Research areas

  • Colonial past in Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Legacies of slavery and cultures of remembrance
  • Political concepts of representation and identity in postcolonial societies of the 20th century (especially Cuba and Indonesia)
  • Poststructuralist theories in cultural anthropology and history
  • Decolonizing education

Current Resarch Project

I am currently working on a transatlantic history of the emergence of Black Studies in Latin America as viewed through the work of African American anthropologist Ellen Irene Diggs. One of the first scholars to focus on African-derived culture in Latin America, Diggs was influenced by and in turn had an impact on her close collaborators W.E.B. Du Bois and Fernando Ortiz, Cuban anthropologist and founder of Afro-Cuban Studies, among others. Focussing on her writings from the 1930s-1950s, especially on those published in the journals Crisis and Phylon of which she was co-founder and editor, I aim to trace the intellectual exchanges which propelled a transatlantic circulation of ideas on issues of race in the African diaspora.

Conference participation and talks

Panel contributions on conferences and talks

Courses

Seminars

Curriculum Vitae

  • Academic education

    2000 - Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology, Art History and Gender Studies at Humboldt University and Free University, Berlin, Germany

    1997-2000 - Graduate studies in Cultural Anthropology, Art History and Gender Studies at Humboldt University and Free University, Berlin, Germany

    1996-1997 - Graduate studies in Cultural Anthropology, Art History and Gender Studies at University of Washington - Graduate College, Seattle, USA         

    1993-1996 - Undergraduate studies in Cultural Anthropology and Art History at Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany

  • Memberships and posts

    Since 2023 - Member of the Society for Caribbean Research

    Since 2021 - Member of the Caribbean Philosophical Association

    Since 2021 - Member of the general advisory board of the Braunschweigische Stiftung

    Since 2019 - Member of the administrative committee and representative of the management committee of the COST action "European Forum for Advanced Practices" within the framework of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology of the EU funding line Horizon 2020

    From 2018-2023 - Member of the board of trustees of the Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany

    From 2017-2021 - Member of the administrative board of the State Theatre Braunschweig, Germany

    Since 2006 - Member of the International Council of Museums