Andreas Rothe M.A.

Year of graduation: 2020

Current position: Project manager / public relations in a training center in the field of deafness and sign language. 

"The Department of African Studies at the University of Vienna is a great place for anyone who wants to be inspired about the history, societies, languages or literatures of Africa in order to find out about the own scientific areas of interest - and then pursue them further, for example, as part of the master's thesis. The department is very open to interdisciplinary approaches. A semester abroad in Dar es Salaam and my following research in Tanzania allowed me to combine African studies with my private-professional field of interest around deaf people and sign language."

Publication:
Deaf People in Arusha (Tanzania): Experiences with a Multilingual Education System, Mainstream Society’s Expectations, Deaf Spaces and Identity. In: Sign Language Studies Journal. To be published in summer 2022.
https://gupress.gallaudet.edu/SLS/SLS22-4.html 

Mag. Dr. Eric Burton

Year of graduation: 2014 (Diploma studies in Development Studies with electives in African History and Kiswahili)

Current position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Exeter

"My exchange semester in Dar es Salaam was the highlight of my studies - it was an incredibly rewarding experience. Thanks to the fantastic Kiswahili and African History courses at the Department of African Studies in Vienna, I was well prepared and could fully benefit from my stay abroad."

Johanna Hahn M.A.

Year of graduation: 2015

Current position: Customer consultant and trainer at the training center abc Bildungszentrum

"The Highlight of my studies was the participation in the project 'The vowels of Eastern and Western Mandekan' by the Acoustics Research Institute. I am very grateful to Dr. Erwin Ebermann who made that possible."

Dr. Sarah Hanisch

Year of graduation: 2018

Current position: Post-doc Assistant at the University of Cologne, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

"From the first day I felt very well at the department. This was partly due to the great colleagues, but also to the open atmosphere, which left room for critical debates. My highlights were certainly the weekends together with Kirsten Rüther and the doctoral students in Znojmo and in the Waldviertel, where we worked intensively on our texts."

Dr. Mischa Hendel

Year of graduation: 2011

Current position: Youth coach (Volkshilfe Wien), freelance radio trainer, head of the culture club Birdlike, which is responsible for the organisation of the annual literary festival Literaturwoche Äquatorialguinea.

"The Highlight of my studies: turning my hobby, literature, into the special field of my studies and therefore get to know African literature. I wrote my diploma thesis and my doctoral disseration in Literary Studies and focused in both works on a relatively under-researched topic: the literature of Equatorial Guinea, the only African state with Spanish as ist official language. The documentary 'Literarische Stimmen Äquatorialguineas' was part of my doctoral disseration and led to the creation of the literary festival 'Literaturwoche Äquatorialguinea', which I have organised since 2012.

LINK to the trailer

Mag. Gabriele Pessl

Year of graduation: 2013

Current position: Social scientist

"I cannot name a specific highlight, but I truely estimated the Department of African Studies of Vienna for the inspiring atmosphere. It was a place where discussions and critical thinking were taken for granted, where I had many ideas and gained valuable insights."

Mag. Dr. Arno Sonderegger, Privatdoz.

Year of graduation: 2000 (Magister), 2005 (Doctorate)

Current position: Senior Lecturer for African History and Societies at the Department of African Studies

„From my point of view, the highlight of my studies was not a specific event, but rather a place of communication: the kitchen at the old deparmental building at Doblhoffgasse. Until the department's change of site to the university campus in 1998, the kitchen was a meeting point, where intense, sometimes heated discussions were held. Regarding the classes, I valued the enthusiasm of various lecturers with striking personalities. One of them still holds the title of the best lecturer, I have ever met: Ingeborg Grau."

Mag. Thomas Rihl

Year of graduation: 1993

Current position: CEO of Job-TransFair Ltd

"The work on my diploma thesis in Sansibar was the highlight of my studies, including extremely interesting interviews and conversations. I also keep in good memory the lectures that sometimes took place at the Café Eiles in case of low attendance."