Christina Sue Augsburger

Anthropologist

Christina’s Links - Jump to:

Information about Summer 2007:

I have finished conducting research for my dissertation and am currently on campus writing. My research focuses on the Muslim community, particularly women, in Vienna, Austria.

This Summer I am teaching ANLD 1: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at UCSD.

My students can access the presentations complementing class discussion by following the links below:

Mama Lola Group Assignment Guidelines

Please remember that these are only notes. Your discussion input is needed in class, and attendance is required.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2002-2004 PhD Field Research, Vienna, Austria. Ethnographic research on gender, nationality and religion among women of Turkish descent active in the Muslim community in Vienna. Dissertation Committee: Suzanne Brenner (chair), Michael Meeker, Steve Parish, Hasan Kayalı, David Luft.

2002 University of California San Diego. CPhil in Anthropology.

2001 University of California San Diego. M.A. in Anthropology. Thesis title: “The Turkish Stranger: Negotiating National and Religious Identity in Germany.”

1997-1998 Universität Wien in Vienna, Austria. Studies in Ethnology.

1992-1997 Ball State University, Muncie Indiana. B. A. summa cum laude in Anthropology and German.

1995-1996 Universität Graz in Graz, Austria. International Student Exchange Program. Studies in European Ethnology and German.

1991-1992 Congress-Bundestag Student Exchange Participant, Hollenstedt, Germany

Fellowships and Honors (a selection)

2003 Friends Scholarship, UCSD Friends of the International Center

2002 F.G. Bailey Fellowship, UCSD Anthropology (grant for field research)

2001 Grant from Institute of Turkish Studies for Turkish Language and Culture Program, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey.

1999-2001 Teaching Assistantship Fellowship and Tuition Fellowship, University of California San Diego Department of Anthropology.

1997-1998 Fulbright Fellowship, Vienna, Austria. Research on multicultural identity among second-generation youth.

1997 Named Outstanding Senior of the Year in both the Anthropology and Modern Languages and Classics Departments.

1996-1997 Undergraduate Research Assistant Fellowship. Assisted Prof. Don Merten with analysis of interviews for research on secrets among high school girls.

1991-92 Congress-Bundestag Student Exchange Scholarship Recipient, Hollenstedt, Germany.

Pedagogical Experience

2007 Summer Session II: Instructor ANLD 1: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

2005-2007 Teaching Assistant Positions held at UCSD:

Spring 2007 MMW 3: “The Midieval Heritage” with Prof. Edmund Chang

Winter 2007 MMW 2: “The Great Traditions” with Prof. Edmund Chang

Spring 2005 MMW 3: “The Medieval Heritage” with Prof. Janet Smarr

November 2003-January 2004 English Trainer at ABZ Wien, Diversity Management Lehrgang. Vienna Austria

1999-2002 Teaching Assistant Positions held at UCSD: [Teaching Assistant duties include: preparing and teaching section lessons, creating and grading homework assignments, assisting students' research and grading papers; preparing, administering and grading exams]

Spring 2002 MMW 3: "The Medieval Heritage" with Prof. Tim McDaniel

Winter 2002 MMW 2: "The Great Traditions" with Prof. Tracy Strong

Spring 2001 ANPR 107: "Psychological Anthropology" with Prof. Steve Parish

Winter 2001 ANGN 117: "Anthropology of Education" with Prof. Kit Woolard

Fall 2000 ANPR 1: "Intro to Cultural Anthropology" with Prof. Marc Swartz

Spring 2000 ANPR 107: "Psychological Anthropology" with Prof. Steve Parish

Winter 2000 ANGN 187: "The Anthropology of Sex" with Dr. Marc Markowitz

Fall 1999 "Rituals and Celebrations" with Prof. Steve Parish

1997-1999 English Teaching Assistant at HLTW 13, High School with Emphasis on Careers in Tourism and Economic Fields. Vienna, Austria.

Professional Experience

“Between Islam in Europe and Euro-Islam: Muslim Women’s Social Engagement in Vienna.” Paper presented at SAR Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, April 2007.

“Viennese Islam? Negotiating Political and Personal Identity of Muslims of Turkish Heritage in Austria.” Paper presented at AAA Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA. November 2006.

“Exemplar Austria? Public Forums and Islam in Austria.” Paper presented at German Studies Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Sept. 29, 2006.

“'Authentic but Independent': Articulating Islam in Austria” Paper presented at SAR Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada. April 2005.

“Beyond the Immigrant Vote: Challenges for Viennese Politics and ‘Citizens with a Migration Background.’” Paper presented at Graduate Student Workshop, Incorporating Minorities in Europe: Nineteenth Century to the Present, at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University. April 16-17, 2004.

Podium Speaker for FeMigra Wien (Feminist Migrants in Vienna) at the Konferenz des Frauen- Radio- Netzwerkes InterKonneXiones in Vienna. Topic: What it means to be a “Migrant”. February 20, 2003.

Organizing Committee, Critical Citizenship: Conference on NGOs, Civil Society and Citizenship hosted by UCSD Anthropology on May 20, 2000.

Participation in ethnological field research project in Burgenland (Austria) under the direction of Professor Andre Gingrich, University of Vienna, Austria. Completed interviews in the region of Burgauberg-Neudauburg as well as interviews with short-term commuters currently working in Vienna. Presented results with the four research teams to the community in the form of an interactive museum. Spring 1998.

Language Skills

German: Fluent (near native skills) in all areas. Language acquired through immersion (4 years total) and studies (Senior Thesis in German at Ball State University “Multikulturelles Österreich”).

Turkish: Beginner to Intermediate skills in reading, writing and speaking. Studied at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul (Summer 2001) with a grant from the Institute of Turkish Studies. Further study at the Orient-Gesellschaft in Vienna (2002-2003) and participation in language exchange through Peregrina, Vienna (2002-2004).

Publications

With Dekrout, Bettina. 2006. "Pendeln Zwischen zwei Welten- Leben in zwei Welten, Burgenlaendische PendlerInnen und Ihre Rauemliche und Soziale Teilung der (Kalender-)Woche." In: Frieser, Astrid; Kolm, Eva; Seiser, Gertraud; Six-Hohenbalken, Maria Anna, eds. Ethnologische Feldforschung im Suedburgenland: Ein hochschuldidaktisches Experiment. Vienna. Special Edition of Austrian Studies in Social Anthropology, Online-Journal des Vereins der AbsolventInnen des Instituts für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie.

Memberships/Affiliations

American Anthropological Association

National Association of Student Anthropologists

Society for the Anthropology of Europe

Society for Psychological Anthropology

Kukule: “Kulturen Kennen Lernen” (Getting to Know Other Cultures), Organization of Ethnologists in Vienna. 2002-2004 co-creator of children’s workshop on the topic of life in Afghanistan to coordinate with the exhibit “Afghanistan” at the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna.

FeMigra: Feminist Migrants in Vienna

Research Interests

I have completed a 24 month research stay in Vienna, Austria, studying the lives of women of Turkish descent, the role Islam plays in their lives and the manner in which religious ideas are employed and formulated through participation in social-political organizations or leadership positions in the community. I am interested in the decisions these women make in relation to their experience as part of one of Austria's minority groups. It is the interesting paradox of Austrian liberalism (for example, their pride in the 1912 "Islam Law") and conservatism (previously the Freedom Party's coalition and currently the conservative results of the special elections) that make Austria a unique setting for such a study. My research examines the manner in which the legal situation of Islam in Austria, which allows Islamic groups certain rights that they are denied in other countries in Europe, for example, in Germany, has an impact on the emergence of a possible “European Islam” (a la Bassam Tibi) – or, as I would argue, seems more accurate, an “Islam in Europe.” My work also looks at the role women play in shaping notions of Islam for the non-Muslim and the Muslim population and includes ideas about Islamic feminism and a transnational Islam with specific Austrian aspects.

My broader research interests include issues pertaining to Islam, religion and secularism, racism and xenophobia, nationalisms, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, as well as feminism and gender studies.

I also continue to be intrigued by certain issues: (im)migration, citizenship, the nation-state and nationalisms; the notion of a “multicultural society” and representation of minorities; assimilation, cultural identity, politics of identity and ethnicity; and particularly the multiple discourses of feminism and religion (as revealed in the so-called “headscarf debate in Europe”) and Islamic movements within Europe.

Although I originally came to UCSD to specialize in psychological anthropology, I find my work correlates more with American cultural anthropology. I suppose it depends on how one wishes to define either of these. The intersection of these two is a place where I could imagine myself discovering they ways people relate belief, culture, state, gender and religion.

Academic links

University of California San Diego
Ball State University
The Congress-Bundestag Scholarship for High School Exchange Students to Germany
Hofstetter’s Bibliography of current international literature on women immigrants. (Semi-useful.)

Funding organizations

· The Fulbright Program

· The Institute of Turkish Studies

Do good stuff links

The San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice
The Hunger Site - where you can donate free food with a mouseclick.
San Diego Campus Antiwar Network
no border network “The no border network is a tool for all groups and grass root organizations who work on the questions of migrants and asylum seekers in order to struggle alongside with them for freedom of movement, for the freedom for all to stay in the place which they have chosen, against repression and the many controls which multiply the borders everywhere in all countries.”

Israel/Palestine peace projects links

· Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

· Women In Black (An international peace network, the website writes that “Women in Black is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action…”)

· Coalition of Women for Peace. Israeli groups working for a Just Peace. A different vision for Israel.

General Union of Palestinian Women