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Prof. Susanne Brandtstädter as your PhD Supervisor

I studied social anthropology, sociology and Chinese studies. In 2000, I obtained a doctorate (Dr. Phil.) in social anthropology from the Freie Universität Berlin. In 2002, I started working as Lecturer in Chinese Anthropology at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Manchester, UK. In 2006, I moved to the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway, where I first held a position as associate professor and later as full professor. In 2015, I returned to Germany to become Chair in the Anthropology of Globalization at the University of Cologne.

Research Interests and Regional Expertise

Most generally, I am interested in questions of globalization, modernity, value and social change. My research and teaching focusses on global investments, the anthropology of justice, as well as on ethics, kinship and social life. I have also written on work, property and moral economies, rural protests and new publics, popular politics and senses of justice, kinship and gender, as well as on postsocialism.

My regional expertise is the Chinese World. I have done fieldwork in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, and have research interests in a new global China.

PhD Supervision

PhD candidates should be qualified above average, and able to work independently. They should be willing to do long-term anthropological fieldwork, apply ethnographic research methods, and obtain a good grip of the local language. They are expected to submit an outline of their research project in written form.

I supervise PhD students with good project outlines in related areas, and with a strong interest in anthropological theory.  I particularly invite applications from students seeking to write a PhD on questions of globalization, the transformation of social orders, justice, kinship and value, or the Chinese world.