Assistant Professor Dr. Barbara Wittmann
Assistant Professor of European Ethnology with Focus on Intangible Cultural Heritage
2022 Assistant Professorship of European Ethnology with Focus on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg.
2021 Researcher in Residence, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich
2020 Parental leave
2020 Completion of doctoral studies (summa cum laude) at the University of Regensburg
2016-2019 Doctoral Fellow German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU)
2018 Lecturer University Salzburg, Gastrosophical Sciences
2015-2016 Research Assistant Comparative Cultural Studies, Institute for Information and Media, Language and Culture, University of Regensburg
2011-2014 Master studies Comparative Cultural Studies University of Regensburg, University of Lucerne
2008-2011 Bachelor studies University of Regensburg; Subjects: Comparative Cultural Studies, Russian Philology, Art History
2005-2008 Vocational training as a Church Painter
2022 Research Award of the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies of the University of Regensburg for the dissertation
2020 Sponsorship Award of the Bavarian Academy of Rural Areas
for the dissertation "Intensivtierhaltung. Agricultural positioning in the field of tension between ecology, economy and society"
2016 Young Scientist Award of the German Society for Agricultural History.
for the master thesis "Cultural science perspectives on stations and structures of the German poultry industry 1948 to 1980"
Commitment
- since 2024 permanent delegate to the Philosophical Faculty Association of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Bamberg
- since 2023 Spokeswoman of the Commission for the Cultural Analysis of the Rural of the German Society for Empirical Cultural Studies
- since 2023 Co-editor of the Journal for Empirical Cultural Studies, responsible for the review section
Memberships
- German Society for Empirical Cultural Studies (DGEKW)
- International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF)
- Medical Anthropology Europe
- Rural Sociological Society (RSS)
- German Society for Agricultural History
- Network Food Culture e.V.
Monographs
Wittmann, Barbara: Intensivtierhaltung. Landwirtschaftliche Positionierungen im Spannungsfeld von Ökologie, Ökonomie und Gesellschaft (=Umwelt und Gesellschaft Bd. 25; zugl. Univ. Diss. Regensburg). Göttingen 2021. Link zur open access-Publikation: https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/kulturwissenschaft/56170/intensivtierhaltung
Editorship
Wittmann, Barbara/Hirschfelder, Gunther (Hrsg.): Fremde Nähe. Migrantische Perspektiven auf Bayern. Münster u.a. 2013.
Contributions to anthologies and journals
Wittmann, Barbara: "Wir sind Massentierhalter." Landwirt:innen im Spannungsfeld von Fürsorge, Ausbeutung und Naturbeherrschung. In:
AgrarBündnis e.V. (Hrsg.): Der kritische Agrarbericht 2024, S. 291-298.
Wittmann, Barbara: Der Faktor Erinnerung: Innerlandwirtschaftliche Perspektiven auf das Verschwinden von multispecies contact zones im Schweinestall. In: Body Politics. Zeitschrift für Körpergeschichte. Heft 15 (11), 2023, S. 169-194. Open Access: http://bodypolitics.de/de/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Body_Politics_15_08_Wittmann_Erinnerung_end.pdf, peer reviewed.
Wittmann, Barbara: Inner-Professional Perspectives on Factory Farming: Moral Positioning in a Field Considered as Immoral. In: May, Sarah/Growth, Stefan/Müske, Johannes (Hrsg.): Morality as Organizational Practice. Negotiating, Performing, and Navigating Moral Standards in Contexts of Work (= Freiburger Studien zur Kulturanthropologie Bd 6). Münster/New York 2023, S. 23-38.
Wittmann, Barbara: Vom Hähnchenschlegel zur Insektenfarm? Nutztierhaltung im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert. In: May, Herbert/Rodenberg, Markus (Hrsg.): Tierisch nützlich. Der Mensch und sein Vieh. Bad Windsheim 2023, S. 32-43.
Wittmann, Barbara: München - Bayern mal ganz anders. (Anm.: Feldforschungen und Interviewstudien in jüdischen Restaurants) In: Hirschfelder, Gunther/Reck, Antonia/Stöxen, Jana u.a.: Foodguide Jüdische Küche. Berlin 2022, S. 127-140.
Wittmann, Barbara: Fatigue vor Covid 19: Eine Patientinnensicht auf Gender-Aspekte, Psychosomatisierung und medizinische (Nicht-)Wissensregime bei ME/CFS. In: Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 1/22 (2022), S. 12-16.
Wittmann, Barbara: Beruf Massentierhalter:in. Landwirtschaft zwischen Fürsorge, Ausbeutung und Natur-Beherrschung. In: ForAP 5/22 (2022), S. 9-23. Link zur open access-Publikation: http://rzbvm049.uni-regensburg.de/index.php/slk/article/view/70
Wittmann, Barbara: Herr L., das Ferkelchen und ich. Forschungserfahrungen und Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen im Feld landwirtschaftlicher Intensivtierhaltung. In: Fenske, Michaela/Best, Daniel/Peselmann, Arnika (Hrsg.): Ländliches vielfach! Leben und Wirtschaften in erweiterten sozialen Entitäten. Würzburg 2021, S. 141-168.
Wittmann, Barbara: Skandal Massentierhaltung. Der bundesdeutsche Käfighuhn-Diskurs ab 1973. In: Steinberg, Swen/Jacob, Frank (Hrsg.): Semmeln aus Sägemehl. Lebensmittelskandale des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts als Orte des Wissens. (= Wissen über Waren – Historische Studien zu Nahrungs- und Genussmitteln, Bd. 2). Marburg 2020, S. 211-243.
Wittmann, Barbara: Stallbauproteste als Indikatoren eines kulturellen Anerkennungsverlustes konventioneller Landwirtschaft. In: Trummer, Manuel/Decker, Anja (Hrsg.): Das Ländliche als kulturelle Kategorie. Aktuelle kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Stadt-Land-Beziehungen. Bielefeld 2020, S. 167-184. Link zur open access-Publikation: https://epub.uni-regensburg.de/44641/10/09_WITTMANN_185%E2%80%93204.pdf
Wittmann, Barbara: Politisierte Ernährung. Vegane Lebensstile als kulturelle Positionierungen. In: Trummer, Manuel/Gietl, Sebastian/Schwemin, Florian (Hrsg.): „Ein Stück weit ...“ Relatives und Relationales als Erkenntnisrahmen für Kulturanalysen. Münster/New York 2019, S. 113-128.
Wittmann, Barbara: Vorreiter der Intensivtierhaltung: Die bundesdeutsche Geflügelwirtschaft 1948 bis 1980. In: Zeitschrift für Agrargeschichte und Agrarsoziologie 65 (2017), S. 53-74.
Wittmann, Barbara: Vom Mistkratzer zum Spitzenleger. Stationen der bundesdeutschen Geflügelwirtschaft 1948–1980. In: Jahrbuch für Geschichte des ländlichen Raumes, Sonderheft „Tiere nutzen. Ökonomien tierischer Produktion in der Moderne“ (2017), S. 134-153.
Wittmann, Barbara/Hirschfelder, Gunther: „Was der Mensch essen darf“ – Thematische Hinführung. In: Hirschfelder, Gunther/Plöger, Angelika/Rückert-John, Jana u.a. (Hrsg.): Was der Mensch essen darf. Ökonomischer Zwang, ökologisches Gewissen und globale Konflikte. Wiesbaden 2015, S. 1-18.
Wittmann, Barbara/Rückert-John, Jana: „Was der Mensch essen darf“ – Abschließende Zusammenschau. In: Hirschfelder, Gunther/Plöger, Angelika/Rückert-John, Jana u.a. (Hrsg.): Was der Mensch essen darf. Ökonomischer Zwang, ökologisches Gewissen und globale Konflikte. Wiesbaden 2015, S. 391-404.
Wittmann, Barbara/Hirschfelder, Gunther: Zwischen Fastfood und Öko-Kiste. Alltagskultur des Essens. In: Theologisch-Praktische Quartalschrift 2 (2014), S. 132-139.
Wittmann, Barbara/Hirschfelder, Gunther (2013): Mitsommernacht. In: Lexikon zur Geschichte der Hexenverfolgung. Hrsg. v. Gudrun Gersmann, Katrin Moeller und Jürgen-Michael Schmidt. In: historicum.net. Online unter: www.historicum.net/no_cache/persistent/artikel/ 9927/ (Stand: 07.12.2023).
Wittmann, Barbara: Ich bin hier so ganz mit meinem Herzen. Geboren in Kasachstan, beheimatet in Bayern. In: Dies./Hirschfelder (Hrsg.): Fremde Nähe. Migrantische Perspektiven auf Bayern. Münster u.a. 2013, S. 25-63.
Wittmann, Barbara: Einblicke in die Lebenswelt Sexarbeit. In: Fensterplatz. Studentische Zeitschrift für Kulturforschung (2012). Online unter: www.zeitschrift-fensterplatz.de/2012/09/die-denken-wir-sind-von-nem-anderen-planeten/ (Stand: 07.12.2023).
Lectures
- Disciplinary History of European Ethnology (winter term 2024/25)
- Agro-Food Studies. Interdisciplinary humanities perspectives on the production and consumption of food (summer term 2024)
- Intangible Heritage. An Introduction (winter term 2022/23)
- Nature-culture conceptualizations and environmental discourses. European ethnological perspectives (summer term 2022)
Seminars
- The cultural construction of illness: sociological and ethnological perspectives (winter term 2024/25, in cooperation with Marvin Reuter, Junior Professorship for Sociology, especially Work and Health, University of Bamberg)
- Advanced seminar for final theses (winter term 2023/24, in cooperation with Gunther Hirschfelder, University of Regensburg)
- A perfect world in a petticoat? Everyday cultures in the period of the so-called economic miracle of the 1950s/60s (summer term 2024)
- Franconia and the World: Migration from, around and to Bamberg (winter term 2023/24)
- Gender Medicine. Cultural scientific perspectives on feminist approaches, body norms and historical developments (winter term 2023/24)
- Water is Life. Dealing with a Natural Resource as Intangible Cultural Heritage (winter term 2023/24)
- European-ethnological perspectives on cultural practices of collecting (summer term 2023)
- Idyllic, backward, affordable? Cultural analysis of rural areas (summer term 2023)
- Food Culture 2.0. European Ethnological Perspectives on the Present and Future of Nutrition (winter term 2022/23)
- Culture 100 years ago: The "Golden Twenties" between Art, War and Emancipation (winter term 2022/23)
- Intangible Cultural Heritage. Empirical approaches and theoretical concepts (summer term 2022)
- History of food culture (winter term 2017/18, University of Salzburg)
- Housing practices in the context of flight and migration (winter term 2017/18, in cooperation with Gunther Hirschfelder, University of Regensburg)
- Environmental movements: Origins, goals, structures. Perspectives on the Field of Tension Nature - Culture (summer term 2016, University of Regensburg)
- Preservers of tradition, animal abusers, TV jerks. Society's Perception of the Rural (winter term 2015/16, University of Regensburg)
- Utopia and social criticism in science fiction. Everyday life on the Enterprise (winter term 2015/16, University of Regensburg)
- A perfect world in a petticoat? Living and working worlds in the economic miracle of the 1950s and 60s (summer term 2015, University of Regensburg)
- Rural Everyday and Agricultural Culture between Tradition, Transformation and Medialization (summer term 2015, University of Regensburg)
Field Trips (in selection)
- Museum of Medical History Ingolstadt
- Bad Windsheim. Insights into the concept and professional field Open Air Museum
- Tavern Culture Regensburg
- Visit to the Mühldorfer Hart Concentration Camp Memorial Site
- NaturVision 2015. Evaluation of an International Film Festival (multi-day)
- Open Air Museum Neusath-Perschen
- Visit of the Hermannsdörfer Landwerkstätten Glonn
- Insight into the Regensburg Initial Reception Facility for Refugees
Since assuming of the Assistant Professorship
2024
- "From the women's health movement to gender medicine - cultural science perspectives on an unfinished proces", University of Mainz, "Colloquium in European Ethnology - Current Research", Mainz, November 13, 2024 (held in German).
- "Vegan burgers or roast pork? Why we eat what we eat", University of Bamberg, Children's University, Bamberg, November 9, 2024 (held in German).
- "Intensive livestock farming. Perspectives on the past, present and future of a socio-ecological problem complex", University of Bamberg, Discourse Workshop "Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development", Bamberg, October, 29 2024 (held in German).
- "From the women's health movement to gender medicine. On the influence of historical developments and feminist impulses", Museums of the City of Bamberg, lecture series “University in the museum”, Bamberg, September 12, 2024 (held in German).
- "Rural Heritage. Valorisation Processes of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Mirror of Sustainability". Inaugural lecture, University of Bamberg, July 9, 2024 (held in German).
- "The profession of livestock farmer - In the field of tension between social criticism, economy and animal welfare", Katholische Erwachsenenbildung (KEB) in Stadt und Landkreis Hof e.V., Hof, March 13, 2024 (held in German).
2023
- "Gender Medicine. European-Ethnological Perspectives on Medial Reception and Institutional Hierarchies"; Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Art and Cultural History University of Augsburg, November 30, 2023 (held in German).
- ",Oldʻ or ,newʻ normal of work? On the continuity of paradigms of self-disciplining, subjectivization, and flexibilization in craft and agriculture"; conference "New Normal of Work" of the dgekw Commission on Work Cultures, Munich, November 2-4, 2023 (held in German).
- "Of pigeons, carps and cows - European-ethnological perspectives on animals in the context of intangible cultural heritage"; symposium "Animals as cultural heritage", Halle, September 28-29, 2023 (held in German).
- "Factory farming between ecology, economy and society"; Munich Volkshochschule, June 29, 2023 (held in German).
- "Research field of intensive animal husbandry: on the messiness of agrarian levels of relationships between exploitation, care and economic pressure"; Institute of Sociology, Munich, June 29, 2023 (held in German).
- "Chronic fatigue and chronic denial. Subject-centered insights into the failure of the medical system concerning treatment and diagnosis of the disease ME/CFS"; SIEF Congress, Brno/CZ, June 8, 2023.
- "Research field of intensive animal husbandry: qualitative methodology and results from guided interviews"; Online Oral History Ring Lecture at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, March 2023 (held in German).
2022
- "Intensive Animal Husbandry. Insights into agricultural positioning with consideration of Christian-religious motivations"; Bamberg Theological Forum, December 15, 2022 (held in German).
- "Intensive animal husbandry in the field of tension between economy, ecology and society"; Conference "Bioeconomy and Agriculture" in Freiburg, November 24, 2022 (held in German).
- "100 years of food culture: from Sunday roast to vegan schnitzel"; Fall Forum of Forum 1.5 Mittelfranken in Erlangen, October 22, 2022 (held in German).
- "Sport is always good? On the stigmatization of chronically ill people by (lay) medical exercise imperatives"; Annual Conference of the Görres Society in Aachen, September 24, 2022 (held in German).
- "Farms instead of agricultural factories? Discourses around threat, reshaping and preservation of rural structures"; Commission Conference Cultural Analysis of the Rural of the dgekw in Cloppenburg, September 22, 2022 (held in German).
- "Planability vs. pressure to adapt. Perceptions of time as a conflict between agriculture and animal welfare"; dgekw congress, Regensburg/Online, April 7, 2022 (held in German).
The Assistant Professorship for European Ethnology with focus on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg has been filled with Assistant Professor Dr. Barbara Wittmann in summer semester 2022.
The position holder represents the field of European Ethnology with a focus on intangible cultural heritage in research and teaching. Her responsibilities also include active involvement in the bachelor and master’s programs in European Ethnology and other programs in which the discipline participates, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration within the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies and, in particular, in the research profile field "Analysis and Preservation of Cultural Heritage" at Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg.