The Institute for Social Anthropology (ISA) is oriented towards the programmatic theme “Consensus and Conflict in Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean Region”. Our research comprises the regional foci Islamic Middle East and North Africa; Tibet, Mongolia, Central Asia and the Tibetanspeaking Himalaya region; Southeast Asia and the islands of the Indian Ocean.

Projects focused on the Middle East include, but are not limited to, societal transformations and conflicts in Southwest Arabia’s past and present, and the remembrance of crimes against humanity in Kurdish societies. In Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia and the Himalaya region, research is conducted, for example, on imperial and early Buddhist Tibet, Tibetan medicine and nomadic artifacts in Mongolia. On-going projects in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean island world include research on health-related mobility and tourism in the Republic of the Maldives, and social media and Islamic practices in Indonesia.

Our international team includes senior and junior researchers, doctoral candidates, guest researchers, and interns.