Team > Prof. Dr. Eva Spies
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Study of Religion
Academic
Since May 2014, Eva Spies is a professor for the Study of Religion with focus on Africa at the University of Bayreuth. She studied social and cultural anthropology, the study of religion, and political science in Tübingen and Mainz. In her anthropological PhD at the University of Mainz, she worked on intercultural contacts in the context of development cooperation in Niger (Spies 2009).
In her current research, she engages with the interface of religion and development cooperation. She is interested in forms of religious engineering, with which she designates attempts to shape and improve religious, social, and political worlds. The engineers are actors who refer to religious ressources (practices, teachings, symbols, or institutions) within their projects of transformation.
A further focus of her research is on questions of religious plurality: Conceptually, she works with notions of relationality and multiplicity; empirically, she works on forms of Christianity on the African continent and in particular on South-South missions in Madagascar.
Eva Spies currently is the speaker for the working group “Africa” within the German Association for the Study of Religion.
At the University of Bayreuth, she is
- Representative of the Institute of African Studies (IAS)
- PI of the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS)
- PI in the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2052: Africa Multiple: Reconfiguring African Studies, Member of its Academic Committee and coordinator of its Research Section Moralities
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies is on sabbatical leave during the summer term 2020. Dr. Katharina Wilkens from the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich will act as her substitute. Due to the current situation, Dr. Wilkens cannot be present at campus. However, you can reach her via e-mail: katharina.wilkens@uni-bayreuth.de.
The secretariat and Prof. Spies’ team members continue their tasks as usual. Please don’t hesitate to contact them by e-mail.
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Study of Religion
Fields of Research
- Religious plurality
- Christianity in Africa
- Religion and development cooperation
- (Religious) projects of transformation
- Intercultural communication and hermeneutics
- Religious epistemologies and anthropologies
Regional foci
- Madagascar/Indian Ocean
- Niger/West Africa
Current project
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Study of Religion
Publications
2020
Spies, Eva; Schrode, Paula
Religious engineering : exploring projects of transformation from a relational perspective
Bayreuth, 2020
doi:10.1080/0048721X.2020.1792053 ...
2019
Spies, Eva
Being in Relation : A Critical Appraisal of Religious Diversity and Mission Encounter in Madagascar
in Journal of Africana Religions vol. 7 (2019) issue 1. - pp. 62-83
doi:10.5325/jafrireli.7.1.0062 ...
2018
Fischer-Kattner, Anke; Kopf, Martina; Spies, Eva; Holtz, Menja
Introduction
in Comparativ : Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung vol. 28 (2018) issue 2. - pp. 7-21
Room for Manoeuvre : (Cultural) Encounters and Concepts of Place
publ: Fischer-Katter, Anke; Holtz, Menja; Kopf, Martina; Spies, Eva
Comparativ : Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung
2018
Spies, Eva
"Winning the Place for Jesus" : A Relational Perspective on Pentecostal Mission Encounters in Madagascar
in Comparativ : Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung vol. 28 (2018) issue 2. - pp. 86-101
2017
Spies, Eva
Schrift und Charisma : Zur Rolle von Lehrbüchern in der pfingstlich-charismatischen Mission in Subsahara-Afrika
in Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft vol. 25 (2017) issue 2. - pp. 263-286
doi:10.1515/zfr-2016-0023 ...
2016
Spies, Eva; Holtz, Menja; Möller, Esther; Torma, Franziska
Begegnungen auf der Spur : Eine neue Perspektive auf Kulturkontakt und Materialität
in Saeculum vol. 66 (2016) issue 2. - pp. 177
doi:10.7788/saeculum-2016-0202 ...
Spies, Eva
Dilemmas of Participation : Developers and the Problem of Doing the Right Thing
In: Paulmann, Johannes(ed.): Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid in the Twentieth Century - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. - pp. 417-435
Spies, Eva; Seesemann, Rüdiger
Pluralicity and Relationality : New Directions in African Studies
in Africa Today vol. 63 (2016) issue 2. - pp. 132-139
doi:10.2979/africatoday.63.2.19 ...
2013
Spies, Eva
Coping with Religious Diversity : Incommensurability and other Perspectives
In: Boddy, Janice ; Lambek, Michael(ed.): A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion - Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. - pp. 118-136 . - (Blackwell Companions to Anthropology; 25)
2012
50 Jahre Unabhängigkeit in Afrika : Kontinuitäten Brüche, Perspektiven
publ: Spies, Eva; Bierschenk, Thomas
Köln : Köppe, 2012. - 572 pp. . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 29)
Spies, Eva; Bierschenk, Thomas
Afrika seit 1960 : Kontinuitäten, Brüche, Perspektiven
Spies, Eva ; Bierschenk, Thomas (Hrsg:): 50 Jahre Unabhängigkeit in Afrika : Kontinuitäten Brüche, Perspektiven - Köln: Köppe, 2012. - pp. 7-51 . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 29)
Spies, Eva; Dorsch, Hauke
Wa(h)re „Kultur“ : Kulturelles Erbe, Revitalisierung und die Renaissance der Idee von Kultur. Tagungsbericht zur 34. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde
in EthnoScripts vol. 14 (2012) issue 1
Spies, Eva; Dorsch, Hauke
Wa(h)re „Kultur“? Kulturelles Erbe, Revitalisierung und die Renaissance der Idee von Kultur. Tagungsbericht zur 34. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde 2011 in Wien
in Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde vol. 43 (2012) . - pp. 19-21
2011
Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen : Festschrift für Thomas Bierschenk
publ: Spies, Eva; Schareika, Nikolaus; Le Meur, Pierre-Yves
Köln : Köppe, 2011 . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 28)
Spies, Eva; Schareika, Nikolaus; Le Meur, Pierre-Yves
Einleitung: Ethnologie auf dem Boden der Tatsachen
Schareika, Nikolaus ; Spies, Eva ; Le Meur, Pierre-Yves (Hrsg.): Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen : Festschrift für Thomas Bierschenk - Köln: Köppe, 2011. - pp. 9-26 . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 28)
Spies, Eva
God at work auf Madagaskar : Zum Verhältnis von Religion und Politik
Schareika, Nikolaus ; Spies, Eva ; Le Meur, Pierre-Yves (Hrsg.): Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen : Festschrift für Thomas Bierschenk - Köln: Köppe, 2011. - pp. 447-463 . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 28)
2010
Spies, Eva; Bierschenk, Thomas
Continuities, Dislocations and Transformations : 50 Years of Independence in Africa
in Africa Spectrum vol. 45 (2010) issue 3. - pp. 3-10
http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/artic ...
Spies, Eva; Bierschenk, Thomas
Introduction: Continuities, Dislocations and Transformations : 50 Years of Independence in Africa
in Africa Spectrum vol. 45 (2010) issue 3. - pp. 3-10
http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/artic ...
Spies, Eva
Partizipative Entwicklung : eine global anwendbare Vorstellung von Zusammenarbeit?
in Journal für Entwicklungspolitik (2010) issue 4. - pp. 50-72
2009
Spies, Eva
Das Dogma der Partizipation : interkulturelle Kontakte im Kontext der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in Niger
Köln : Köppe, 2009. - 337 pp. . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 20)
Spies, Eva
Einführung in die Religionsethnologie - Ideen und Konzepte by Bettina E. Schmidt
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie
2009
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25843200?seq=1#page_sc ...
reviewed: Bettina E. Schmidt: Einführung in die Religionsethnologie : Ideen und Konzepte. 1. Aufl. Berlin, 2008
2003
Spies, Eva
Interkulturelle Kontakte im Rahmen der Entwicklungskooperation in Zinder (Niger) : Ein Zugang und ein Problem. (Intercultural Encounters within the Framework of Development Cooperation in Zinder)
in Afrika Spectrum vol. 38 (2003) issue 3. - pp. 347-373
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40174994
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Study of Religion
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies
Professor for the Study of Religion with Focus on Africa
Phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-4150 | Fax: +49 (0)921 / 55-844156
E-mail: Eva.Spies@uni-bayreuth.de
Office hours: by arrangement
Room: 1.11 (GW II)
Study of Religion with Focus on Africa
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
University of Bayreuth
95440 Bayreuth
Germany