Team > Prof. Dr. Eva Spies
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Study of Religion
Academic
Eva Spies is professor for the Study of Religion with focus on Africa at the University of Bayreuth. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Mainz. She works on questions of religious plurality, social transformation and ethics and is particularly interested in contemporary forms of Christianity and South-South mission in Niger and Madagascar. In her current research, she engages with the interfaces of religion and projects of transformation and studies practices of religious engineering. With this term, she refers to attempts to shape and improve social and political worlds in which the transformative practices refer to religious resources. Together with Paula Schrode (UBT) and colleagues from Niger, Eva is pursuing the research project “Religious engineering. The making of moralities, development and religion in Niger” within the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth.
Eva and Prof Eunice Kamaara from Moi University (Kenya) collaborate with Prof Ezra Chitando in the Humboldt Research Hub “Fighting pandemics with religion? How female religious actors in Africa (can) contribute to ensuring healthy lives”. The Hub is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and was established at the University of Zimbabwe in 2021.
Eva is co-founder of the working group “Africa” within the German Association for the Study of Religion and currently director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Bayreuth.
At the University of Bayreuth Eva Spies is a.o.
- Spokesperson 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
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
2021
Religion und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit : Positionen aus Politik, Praxis und Afrikaforschung
publ: Müller, Sebastian; Spies, Eva; Wagner, Heike
Baden-Baden : Nomos, 2021. - 180 page . - (Bayreuther Studien zu Politik und Gesellschaft in Afrika; 9)
Spies, Eva; Schrode, Paula
Religious engineering : exploring projects of transformation from a relational perspective
in Religion volume 51 (2021) issue 1. - page 1-18
doi:10.1080/0048721X.2020.1792053 ...
2019
Spies, Eva
Being in Relation : A Critical Appraisal of Religious Diversity and Mission Encounter in Madaga ...
in Journal of Africana Religions volume 7 (2019) issue 1. - page 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 volume 28 (2018) issue 2. - page 7-21
2018
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 M ...
in Comparativ : Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung volume 28 (2018) issue 2. - page 86-101
2017
Spies, Eva
Schrift und Charisma : Zur Rolle von Lehrbüchern in der pfingstlich-charismatischen Mission in ...
in Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft volume 25 (2017) issue 2. - page 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 volume 66 (2016) issue 2. - page 177
doi:10.7788/saeculum-2016-0202 ...
Spies, Eva
Dilemmas of Participation : Developers and the Problem of Doing the Right Thing
Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid in the Twentieth Century
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016. - page 417-435
Spies, Eva; Seesemann, Rüdiger
Pluralicity and Relationality : New Directions in African Studies
in Africa Today volume 63 (2016) issue 2. - page 132-139
doi:10.2979/africatoday.63.2.19 ...
2013
Spies, Eva
Coping with Religious Diversity : Incommensurability and other Perspectives
A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion
Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. - page 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 page . - (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. - page 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. T ...
in EthnoScripts volume 14 (2012) issue 1
Spies, Eva; Dorsch, Hauke
Wa(h)re „Kultur“? Kulturelles Erbe, Revitalisierung und die Renaissance der Idee von Kultur. Ta ...
in Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde volume 43 (2012) . - page 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. - page 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. - page 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 volume 45 (2010) issue 3. - page 3-10
http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/artic ...
Spies, Eva
Exportgut partizipative Entwicklung : Eine global anwendbare Form des Fremdverstehens?
in Journal für Entwicklungspolitik volume 26 (2010) issue 3. - page 50-72
doi:10.20446/JEP-2414-3197-26-3-50 ...
Spies, Eva; Bierschenk, Thomas
Introduction: Continuities, Dislocations and Transformations : 50 Years of Independence in Afri ...
in Africa Spectrum volume 45 (2010) issue 3. - page 3-10
http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/artic ...
2009
Spies, Eva
Das Dogma der Partizipation : interkulturelle Kontakte im Kontext der Entwicklungszusammenarbei ...
Köln : Köppe, 2009. - 337 page . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung; 20)
Spies, Eva
reviewed by: Einführung in die Religionsethnologie - Ideen und Konzepte by Bettina E. Schmidt
in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie volume 134 (2009) issue 2. - page 292-294
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 u ...
in Afrika Spectrum volume 38 (2003) issue 3. - page 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