{"id":10488,"date":"2025-01-26T14:09:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T13:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humangeographie.uni-mainz.de\/?page_id=10488"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:09:09","slug":"elisabeth-sommerlad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.humangeographie.uni-mainz.de\/en\/elisabeth-sommerlad\/","title":{"rendered":"Elisabeth Sommerlad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Research assistant<\/strong> | Postdoctoral researcher<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am an academic staff member in the Human Geography Research Group. After completing my master\u2019s degree in geography, Sociology, and Communication Studies, I obtained a doctorate from JGU Mainz in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the Human Geography Work Group<\/a>, my research thus focuses in particular on the thematic areas of \u201cSustainability Utopias\u201d and \u201cMedia Geography,\u201d as well as on issues of socio-spatial inequality and social participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-image>\n\n\n \n\n \n\n

My academic profile addresses three closely related fields of research that together form the conceptual framework of my research program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Geographies of Encounter and Media-Mediated Spatial Productions<\/strong>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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2) Visions of the Future and Socio-Ecological Transformations<\/strong>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<\/em>, 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3) Audiovisual Methods and the Production of Geographical Knowledge<\/strong>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 <\/a>the Department of Geography. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-buttonitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-button>\n\n\n

ResearchGate<\/a> Google Scholar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current (Selection, since 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n