Research assistant | Postdoctoral researcher

I am an academic staff member in the Human Geography Research Group. After completing my master’s degree in geography, Sociology, and Communication Studies, I obtained a doctorate from JGU Mainz in 2019.

In my current research, I combine perspectives from social and media geography into a research program that examines processes of social transformation from various angles. At the heart of my work is the question of how social power relations, affiliations, and visions of a livable future are produced, mediated, and negotiated in space and through the media.

Within the Human Geography Work Group, my research thus focuses in particular on the thematic areas of “Sustainability Utopias” and “Media Geography,” as well as on issues of socio-spatial inequality and social participation.

My academic profile addresses three closely related fields of research that together form the conceptual framework of my research program.

1) Geographies of Encounter and Media-Mediated Spatial Productions
Building on my doctoral dissertation (2021) on cinematic representations of urban encounters, I examine how belonging, difference, and social coexistence are spatially negotiated. In this context, I understand media not merely as representations of spaces, but as components of spatial negotiation processes. My work focuses, among other things, on urban encounters, media-shaped conceptions of place, and forms of placemaking in urban, touristified, and postcolonial contexts.

2) Visions of the Future and Socio-Ecological Transformations
A current focus of my research is on postcolonial landscape and urban transformations in the Indian Ocean. Using the examples of privately planned cities, smart cities, agrihoods, and real estate projects in Mauritius, I examine how societal visions of the future manifest spatially, intertwine with historically established land and property relations, and either enable or limit social participation. Particular attention is given to the transformations of former plantation landscapes, the socio-ecological orders that continue to operate within them, and the interweaving of different temporalities.

3) Audiovisual Methods and the Production of Geographical Knowledge
Another focus of my work is on audiovisual research methods and formats of knowledge production. I am interested in how audiovisual research practices make spaces (in)visible and tangible, structure modes of representation, and open up or limit opportunities for participation. I also explore these and other multimedia approaches to the production of geographical knowledge in collaborative projects and at the MediaLab at the Department of Geography.

ResearchGate Google Scholar

Current (Selection, since 2022)

  • Sommerlad, E. (2026): Film Geography. In: Thielmann, T. & M. Kanderske (eds.): Media Geography: A Handbook for Research and Program of Study. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 243–262.
  • Cummings, V. & E. Sommerlad (2026): Governing Urban Futures Through Entangled Temporalities of Smart Urbanism. In: The Geographical Journal 192 (2): e70099.
  • Hummel, P., E. Sommerlad & V. Cummings (2026): Doing Reel Geographies: Situating Responsibilities and the (In)Visibility of Migration through Short Vertical Films. In: Annals of the American Association of Geographers 116 (6): 1485–1494. (Special Issue: New Messages/New Items) https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2026.2623951
  • Sommerlad, E. (2026): Post/colonial paradise: Reflections on cross-media paradise myths using the example of Mauritius. In: IMAGE. Journal for interdisciplinary image science 43(1): 63-85.
  • Sommerlad, E. & R. Mauer (2025): Panoramas of the future: film cartographic views of cities in science fiction film and Gulf futurism. In: Ullmaier, J., R. Mauer & C. Wörsdörfer (eds.): Phenomena of the Panoramic. Wiesbaden. Springer: 491-535.
  • Hartal, G., E. Sommerlad, A. Moreno & Y. David (forthcoming): Pride as Space of Encounter in Ordinary Cities: Observations from Pride Parades in Mainz (Germany) and Ashdod (Israel). In: Meier, L. (ed.): International Handbook of Urban Sociology. London. Routledge.
  • Sommerlad, E. & H. Rapp (2025): Introduction I “Reception Context, Space” & Introduction II “On the Cusp between Sound and Silence”. In: Freitag, F., L M. Mücke & P. Niedermüller (eds.): Silence, Sounds, Music: Acoustic Dimensions of Immersion. London: Routledge.
  • Sommerlad, E. & T. Reeh (2024): Media tourism in the Hunsrück. Geographical Review 11: 44-49.
  • Sommerlad, E. (2024): Agritourism in Mauritius. Geographical Review (7-8): 42-43.
  • Plien, M. & E. Sommerlad (2024): (Self-)reflections with Film: Transformative education on screen. In: Plien, M. (ed.): Designing sustainability education trans-formatively. Scientific, subject didactics and practical teaching approaches from geography. Mainz: 88-113.
  • Hummel P., Sommerlad, E. & J. Zschocke (2024): Video Documentary. In: IfL Leipzig (ed.): Visqual Methodbox. Online: https://visqual.leibniz-ifl-projekte.de/methodbox/2024/03/21/video-documentary/.
  • Lukinbeal, C. and E. Sommerlad (2022): Doing Film Geography. In: GeoJournal Special Issue “Film Geography”. online

Editorial Work

Functions

  • Program Director and Academic Advisor of the MA degree program Human Geography: Globalization, Media, and Culture, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
  • Co-spokesperson for the “Visual Geographies” Working Group
  • Member of the scientific advisory council of the book series “Landschaften in Deutschland” (ed.: Institut für Länderkunde Leipzig, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften)
  • Member of the extended board of the Tourism Research Working Group (AKTF)
  • Assistant to the management of the Institute of Geography

Memberships

  • Research-AG Indian Ocean Confluences, Georg Forster Forum, JGU
  • Association of Geographers at German Higher Education Institutions (VGDH)
  • American Association of Geographers (AAG) | Specialty Groups: Media & Communication Geography; Recreation, Tourism & Sports; Film & Screening
  • AK Tourism Research
  • AK Visual Geography
  • Network FilmGeographies

coming

  • Between Cartographic Order and Cinematic Encounter: New York City and the Visibility and Invisibility of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Urban Space. Presentation at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Visual Geographies Working Group. (November 2026, with Roman Mauer).
  • Landscape as an Imaginative Heritage: Media-Geographical Explorations in the Footsteps of Edgar Reitz’s “HEIMAT” in the Hunsrück. Keynote lecture at the annual conference of the Academy for Regional Geography (September 2026, Frankfurt am Main, by invitation).
  • Fictional Storytelling as a Pathway to Ethical Judgment in Geography. Presentation on the panel “The Potential of Fictional Literature to Promote Ethical Judgment in Geography Education” at the symposium “Shaping Futures Together” organized by the HGD and the VGD/ADG (September 2026, Zurich, Switzerland; by invitation).
  • Imaginaries of Sustainability: Staging Smart City Futures in Mauritius. Presentation at the RGS-IGB (September 2026, London, UK).

    recently held (selection)

    • Rethinking Plantation Afterlives: Contesting Touristified Futures in Mauritius. Presentation at the POLLEN Conference, Barcelona (June 2026).
    • Postcolonial Paradise? Governing the Future of Islands in Mauritius. Lecture at the Islands & Small States Institute, University of Malta (June 2026, by invitation).
    • Reimagining the Plantation: Spatial Afterlives of Colonial Landscapes in Mauritius. Presentation at the conference “Colonial and Postcolonial Landscapes – Architecture, Colonialism, Labor,” Lisbon, Portugal (February 2026, with Pedro Pombo).
    • Doing Research with Film: Perspectives on Applied Film Geography. Presentation at the “Visual Methodologies” seminar at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) (December 2025, by invitation).
    • Doing Film Geography: Ethical Perspectives on Film as a Research Practice. Lecture and panel discussion as part of the “Democracy Remapped” event / Bolzano Art Week at Unibz (October 2025, by invitation, with Paul Hummel)
    • Connected to the World: Media Narratives of Hope and Solidarity in the Face of Climate Change. Presentation at the “New Cultural Geography” conference, Augsburg (October 2025, with Marion Plien).
    • In the Footsteps of “HEIMAT”: Film-Geographical Explorations and Media Tourism in the Hunsrück. Lecture at the Geographical Society of Leipzig (Oct. 2025).
    • From Sugar Cane to a “Vibrant Urban Symphony”: Transforming Urban Futures in Mauritius. Presentation at the Geomedia Conference, Karlstad, Sweden (September 2025, with Veronika Cummings).
    • Enduring Ambivalences? Enzensberger’s “Theory of Tourism.” Presentation at the Tourism Research Working Group conference “Dealing with Ambivalence in Tourism,” Freiburg (May 2025, with Michael Mießner & Kerstin Heuwinkel).
    • Future Trends in Media Geography. Organization of a panel at the AAG 2025, Detroit, USA (March 2025, with André Jansson).

    Critical and differentiated thinking is at the core of my understanding of teaching. In the sense of a creative-research teaching approach, I combine theoretical-conceptual debates with practical examples in order to understand geographical issues and processes. I am delighted when participants take an active part in shaping the seminar. In my courses, I use creative and multimedia learning, teaching and communication methods (e.g. audiovisual essays, zines, podcasts). The equipment for this can be found in our media lab. I also like to incorporate places of learning outside the seminar room.

    Winter 2026–27

    • M1 MA seminar: Geography of Globalization
    • M2 Lecture: Urban Research in Social Geography
    • M2 Practice class: Human Geography I (Social Geographical Urban Research – Focus: The City as a Meeting Space)

    Summer 2026

    • M3 MA: Project Seminar: Media Geography

    If you would like to write your human geography final thesis (bachelor’s and master’s degree) with me, please contact me with a first idea sketch (title proposal and short abstract, ~200 words).

    Current Final Theses (First-Time Advising, Working Titles)

    • The Social Semiotics of Urban Transformation Projects.
    • Uncovering Layers of Meaning at the Monument to the Discoveries in Lisbon
    • Queer Performance as a Form of Activism: Social Geographies of Drag, Art, and Political Performances in the Rhine-Main Region. (Film Project)
    • Aging in the City. Place Making of Elderly Female Residents in Frankfurt am Main.
    • Decolonial Storytelling in Graphic Novels as a Means of Fostering Ethical Judgment in Geography Classes
    • The Depiction of Tokyo in Wim Wenders’ Films: Love of Place and Perfect Days.
    • Nation Branding in Audiovisual Items—The Case of Dubai.
    • Media Tourism and the Production of Imaginative Heritage: The Case of Harry Potter Tourism in Edinburgh.

    MA Human Geography: Globalization, Media, and Culture