Prof. Dr. Simon Goebel
Institution
Faculty of Liberal Arts and SciencesPhone
+4982155863686Office Hours
by appointment
- 2021: Appointed to the Chair of Social Work and Diversity at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences
- 2019–2021: Research Associate at the Center for Refugees and Migration (ZFM) at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
- 2018: Fellow at the Tutzing Academy for Political Education in the “Paths to Integration” discourse project
- 2016: Ph.D. (Dr. phil.) in European Ethnology/Folklore from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
- 2015–2016: Research Assistant and Research Associate in the initiative group “Refugee Migration and Social Transformation Processes” at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
- 2014–2020: Specialist and consultant on the legal framework governing refugees’ participation in the labor market at Tür an Tür – Integrationsprojekte gGmbH in Augsburg
- 2012–2021: Lecturer at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences, the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, the Alps-Adriatic University of Klagenfurt, and the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Villingen-Schwenningen.
- 2005–2010: Studied European Ethnology/Folklore, Political Science, and Philosophy at the University of Augsburg
- Migration, Asylum, and Refugees
- Media, Representation, Participation, and Digitalization
- Culture, Cultural Studies, and Postcolonial Theory
- Diversity, Racism/Culturalism
- Asylum and Residency Law, Human Rights, Legal Anthropology
- Control Regimes (Camps, Participation in the Labor Market)
- Science Communication in Migration Research
Diversity and Intersectionality in Social Work as a Response to Authoritarian Shifts: Theory, Research, Practice (with Ulrike Brizay)
DGSA Annual Conference 2026 at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Mönchengladbach, April 24, 2026
Political Engagement as a Scholar: Affirming One’s Identity in Authoritarian Times (co-authored with Janine Linßer)
2026 Annual Conference of the DGSA at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Mönchengladbach, April 24, 2026
Contradictions Between Identity Politics and Intersectionality? Or: What Social Work Can
Learn from Social Movements. 2026 Annual Conference of the Network for Reconstructive Social Work at the University of Oldenburg, March 16, 2026
Critique of Classism as a Tool for Solidarity-Based Practice in Social Work
: 6th Virtual Symposium on Social Work, “Erosion of Democracy and Social Work—Between Threat and Mission to Shape the Future,” at IU International University (online), November 28, 2025
Critique of Classism as an Essential Component of Emancipatory Identity Politics: A Perspective for Social Work
—Conference “KLASSE THEMAtisieren” at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, June 23, 2025
Urban Gardening with Refugees (together with Juliane Forßmann)
2nd Conference “Interdisciplinary Education for Sustainable Development (I-BNE)” at the Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg, June 14, 2024
Daily Life and Resistance in Reception Centers: Perspectives of Refugees
—Colloquium on Art and Cultural History at the University of Augsburg (online), April 29, 2021
The Discursive Legitimation of Changes
to Immigration Law: 6th Annual Conference of the Society for Cultural Studies “B/ORDERING CULTURES: Everyday Life, Politics, Aesthetics, Oct. 8–10, 2020, at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder, Oct. 9, 2020
Legal Restrictions and Refugee Struggles Concerning Mass Accommodation
EASA Conference 2020 “New Anthropological Horizons in and Beyond Europe,” July 21–24, 2020 (online), July 24, 2020
Framing Migration: Between Dramatization, Manipulation, and Rationality? (Keynote)
Thematic Evening of the CORE Project—“Integration in Focus”—at the University of Vienna, September 18, 2019
Migration. Digitalization. Opinion-Forming Processes in Digital Public Spheres
: Opening of the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, July 17, 2019
Migration-Related Communication Processes of Political Actors in Digital Media
: Conference “Digitized Global Mobilities: The Role of New Media and Digitization in Security Approaches to the Refugee Crisis” at Utrecht University, June 3, 2019
Who Talks About Whom? Media Representations of Migration
: 3rd Conference in the “Migration, Media, and Participation” series at the University of Leipzig, organized by the Center for European and Oriental Culture e.V. and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies, December 7, 2018
Media Representations of Difference in a Post-Migrant Society (Keynote)
18th International Migration Conference “Migration – Media – The Public” at the Technical University of Cologne, June 23, 2018
Narratives (Re)Produced by the Media and Changes to Asylum Law: On the Negotiation of New Asylum Dispositives
. Institute Colloquium at the Ludwig Uhland Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies: “On the Run, After the Flight: Perspectives from the Cultural and Social Sciences, Ethnographic Approaches” at the University of Tübingen, May 3, 2018
“Culture of Welcome,” “Leitkultur,” and “Our Country”? On the Normalization of National Self-Representations in Political Talk Shows
Workshop “A Culture of Welcome in a Society of Migration: Flight, Asylum, and Regulatory Practices” hosted by the Institute of Ethnology at LMU Munich, February 2, 2018
Everyday Life Between Aspiration and Reality? A Self-Critical, Migration-Pedagogical Perspective on a Social Service Provider of “Integration Projects” (together with Perrine Dilling, Corinna Höckesfeld, Hannah Ott, Düzgün Polat)
Annual Conference “Migration Education Practice in Collaboration with Young Refugees” hosted by the SchlaU Workshop for Migration Education in Munich, November 25, 2017
“Every Second Counts!” Comedy Between Subversive Action and National Conformity (with Arthur Depner)
Conference “New Nationalisms: Sources, Agendas, Languages” at the Wrocław Knowledge Hub of Academia Europaea, September 25, 2017
Selection Mechanisms in German Immigration Law: Opportunities and Obstacles for Young Refugees in Accessing School, Vocational Training, and Work
Lecture Series “On the Legal Framework for Upbringing and Education” at the University of Augsburg, January 26, 2017
Selection During Prime Time: The Representation of Refugees in German Political Talk Shows
Lecture series “Refuge – Power – Perspectives” at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, November 29, 2016
Talking about Refugees. Structures of Representation in German Political Talk Shows on Refugees
International Conference “Migration and Media” at the Technical University of Dresden, October 21, 2016
Prime-Time Selection: The Representation of Refugees in German Political Talk Shows
. First Conference of the Refugee Research Network “65 Years of the Geneva Convention on Refugees” at the University of Osnabrück, October 6, 2016
Political Talk Shows on Refugees
. 2nd International Migration Conference at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt: “Refugee Migration and Social Transformation Processes,” April 30, 2016
Lampedusa, Frontex, and Critical Migration Research: Contextualizing Migration Discourses in Political Talk Shows
. 14th International Conference “Migration and Mobility” at Cologne University of Applied Sciences, July 5, 2014
Identity and Economy—Dominant Discursive Merges and Their Counter-Strategies in Political Talk Shows About the Arab Spring
. Conference “W(h)ither Identity—Positioning the Self and Transforming the Social” at the International Graduate Center for the Study of Culture (GCSC) in Gießen, January 23, 2014
“But: Nobody wants them.” The constructed reality regarding refugees coming to Europe as a result of the Arab Spring, as presented by political talk shows
. Conference “Crossroads: Europe, Migration, and Culture” at the University of Copenhagen, October 25, 2013
“German Colonies.” Serious documentary or colonial kitsch? A documentary film analysis from a postcolonial perspective
. Conference “Postcolonial Social Sciences: A Midterm Assessment” at Humboldt University in Berlin, June 18, 2011
Who Is German? On Urban Landscapes, Everyday Racism, and Diversity as the Foundation of Our Democracy
—A Panel Discussion Organized by frau-kunst-politik in Munich, March 20, 2026
Crises, Fears, Threats? Discourses on Migration in Times of Great Uncertainty
Lecture at the “Gemeinsam Kommune” network meeting organized by VIA Bayern, Munich, February 3, 2026
Conflicts Over Migration: Discourses, Policies, and Post-Migrant Perspectives
Lecture and panel discussion hosted by the Alliance for Democracy Burghausen, Burghausen, October 29, 2025
Who Owns the District!? Grassroots Neighborhood Development in “Rechts der Wertach”—Democratic and Diverse
Panel discussion organized by ID² – Think Tank for Diversity-Sensitive Democratization, Augsburg, October 2, 2025
Fear, Radicalization, and Media Responsibility
Panel discussion hosted by the Munich Bildungswerk, online, February 20, 2025
Identity and Discrimination. Conflicts over Participation in a Diverse Society
Lecture hosted by KEB Augsburg, Augsburg, January 28, 2025
The Phantasm of the Threatening Other: The Development of Discourses on Migration and Migration Policy in the Federal Republic
of Germany. Lecture in the series “The Future of the Immigrant Society: Germany in Search of Identity,” organized by the Domberg Academy, Dachauer Forum e.V., and KEB Munich and Freising, online, January 27, 2025
Migration Research Meets Politics
: Panel Discussion as part of the “Discourses on Diversity” series at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Osnabrück, January 22, 2025
On Grand Utopias and Small Steps: Critical Social Work as a Necessary Guiding Principle
—Lecture at the DBSH Bavaria symposium on “Critical Social Work & Social Justice,” Augsburg, December 7, 2024
When Hate Speech Follows Criticism of Racism. Strategies for Political Education Against the Far Right (together with Janine Linßer and Miriam Rosenlehner)
Workshop at the symposium “Socio-Political Conflicts and Digital Dynamics in Extracurricular Youth Work” organized by the Swabian Network for Political Education, Augsburg, November 27, 2024
Migration, Diversity, and Solidarity Against the Backdrop of Political Realities and Media Discourses
Lecture at the regional conference of IN VIA Bayern e.V., Nuremberg, October 11, 2024
Reversing Inequality: Combating Classism
Through Solidarity. Lecture as part of the series “Earth for All: A Just World for Everyone!”, Augsburg, May 8, 2024
Conflicts of Mandate in Social Work in the Context of Migration Policy Realities
: Lecture at the Annual Conference of Catholic-Run Youth Migration Services, Würzburg, April 22, 2024
Discourse. Power. Politics. On the Consequences of Problem-Oriented Migration Debates
. Lecture at the “Asylum Policy Morning Get-Together” hosted by Tür an Tür e.V., Augsburg, March 24, 2024
Asylum, Vegetables, and Sustainability: Urban Gardening with Refugees (with Juliane Forßmann)
. Presentation at the Plant and Seed Exchange organized by the Schmuttertal Environmental Center, Diedorf, March 16, 2024
Migration Policy, Migration Research, and the Situation of People with Temporary Residence Status
: Academic Comments at the Symposium “Participation Despite Temporary Residence Status? Shaping the City, Opening Access, Securing Residence,” Düsseldorf, January 18–19, 2024
The Crisis in Migration Policy in Germany’s Migration
Society: Lecture for staff of the Augsburg Vocational Training Center (bbz), November 16, 2023
Critique of Racism and Children’s Books
: Lecture for staff at the Augsburg Public Library, November 14, 2023
Counseling Between Aspirations and the Reality
of Migration Policy: Lecture at the symposium of the Youth Migration Services (JMD) titled “Social-Pedagogical Counseling in the JMD,” Hanover, June 21, 2023
Migration – Diversity – Participation: The Arduous Path to Equality
Lecture at the semester opening of the vh Ulm, March 2, 2023
Diversity in Social Work
: Workshop for Practicing Social Workers, Augsburg, November 11, 2022
How Is Participation Made Possible? Migration Policy from a Social Work Perspective
– Lecture as part of the HSA_transfer lecture series “What Moves Us All – Innovative Answers to Questions About the Future,” Augsburg, November 3, 2022
Migration and Migration
Policy: Workshop for the Movement for Radical Empathy, Stuttgart, October 14, 2022
Moderator of the panel discussion “What Stories Do We Know and Why? How Do We Deal with Augsburg’s Colonial Legacy?” as part of the event series “Respect! Augsburg Embraces Diversity,” Augsburg, September 22, 2022
Participation in the panel discussion “The Sustainable Future of Augsburg’s Downtown,” organized by HSA_transfer and the City of Augsburg’s Office for Sustainability, Augsburg, May 11, 2022
Participation and Integration: Actively Shaping Coexistence in the Augsburg District—keynote presentation as part of the Augsburg District’s “Integration” Grand Dialogue Forum, Neusäß, April 8, 2022
Media and Diversity
: Lecture for the Independent Media Council of Augsburg, Augsburg, October 16, 2021
Migration in Digital Public Spheres. Social Media Between Polarization and Diversity
—Panel discussion as part of the “transfer.talk” series within the “Mensch in Bewegung” project by KU and THI, Ingolstadt/online, June 16, 2021
“They Just Try to Frustrate the People.” Camps—from a Legal, Media, and Refugee
Perspective: Lecture organized by the Augsburg Housing Project, online, April 13, 2021
Research on Flight and Refugees in the Media and Public
Sphere Panel discussion as part of the FFVT 2020 Policy and Practice Dialogue “Research on Flight and Refugees in Conversation” of the collaborative project “Research on Flight and Refugees: Networking and Transfer” (FFVT), online, December 10, 2020
Daily Life and Resilience in Reception Centers from the Perspective of Refugees
: Presentation at the roundtable during the 2nd NeMiF Day 2020 of the Bavarian Network for Migration and Refugee Research, online, October 29, 2020
Between Strain and New Beginnings: Everyday Life and Living Conditions of Refugees in Bavaria
—Workshop at the “Language Creates Opportunities” symposium organized by lagfa Bavaria, online, October 22, 2020
Organization and moderation of the panel “Bavarian Anchor Centers in Discourse—Perceptions, Attitudes, Evaluations” at the 3rd Conference of the Refugee Research Network, September 17–19, 2020, online, September 19, 2020
Moderation of the panel “Perspectives on Migrant Participation and Agency—Intersectional Questions” at the 3rd Conference of the Refugee Research Network, September 17–19, 2020, online, September 18, 2020
“The Refugees?” Discourses on Integration, Religion, and Culture
: Professional development workshop for the Diocese of Aachen, February 13, 2020
Refugees and Migration in the Media
: Seminar for the Augsburg City Academy, February 6, 2020
What Does “Integration” Mean Here? The Uses of a Contested Term in Politics, the Media, and Social Work
. Workshop at the 2019 Youth Migration Services Symposium “Developments, Theories, Positions” in Wittenberg, June 25, 2019
Participation in the panel discussion “Migration Research and the Public: Making One’s Voice Heard—Being (Not) Heard” at the Center for Global Migration Studies (CeMig) in Göttingen, January 26, 2019
Organization and moderation of the panel “Working Group on Refugee Migration and the Media: The Media’s Involvement: Representations, Narratives, and Social Practice” (together with Patrice G. Poutrus) at the 2nd Conference of the Refugee Research Network in Eichstätt, October 5, 2018
Organized and moderated the panel “Human Rights and Asylum Laws: Discrepancies and Contradictions” (together with Armaghan Naghipour) at the 2nd Conference of the Refugee Research Network in Eichstätt, October 4, 2018
Moderated the panel discussion “No Camps! Nowhere!” at the “1st Augsburg Security Conference: A Festival of Solidarity” in Augsburg, June 30, 2018
“Refugee Migration in Political
Talk Shows” workshop as part of the event “Refugee Migration: Global and Complex! Reporting on Migration Society Through Scholarship” organized by the collaborative project “Refugee Migration: Research and Transfer” in Munich, January 26, 2018
Asylum Law and the Selection of Refugees
: Workshop at the conference of the Youth Migration Services “We Are Youth – Migration – Service: Uncovering Treasures Together, Giving Young People Opportunities!” in Berlin, November 30, 2017
Language Shapes Asylum Policy: A Guide to Misunderstanding (with Arthur Depner)
—Workshop as part of the 25th anniversary of Tür an Tür e.V. in Augsburg, May 28, 2017
Ready to Provide Counseling on the Integration of People with Refugee Experience (together with Denzil Manoharan)
Seminar for the DIHK Society for Vocational Training in Munich, May 23–24, 2017
Refugee Status, Asylum, Education, and Employment: Immigration Law Provisions Governing the Labor Market Integration of Refugees
—Seminar for the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Utting am Ammersee, May 7, 2017
“Primarily Young People—Refugee Status and Migration.”
Panel discussion at the BMFSFJ’s 2017 Youth Policy Days in Berlin, May 6, 2017
Toward the Development of a Reference Framework for the Integration of Refugees into Vocational Training
: Workshop with experts from the Society for Innovation Research and Consulting GmbH (IFGE) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Bonn, February 16, 2017
“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” The Role of Language in the (Self-)Perception of Our (Immigrant) Society (together with Arthur Depner)
. Roundtable at the 2016 iQ Congress “Migration Moves: People, Society, Politics” in Berlin, December 7, 2016
One Thing After Another – A Workshop Discussion on Current Developments in Asylum and Refugee
Law Panel discussion as part of the “Asylum Policy Morning Beer” series organized by Tür an Tür e.V. in Augsburg, October 30, 2016
How Do Refugees Find Work?
Panel discussion at the 2016 DEMOGRAPHY CONGRESS in Berlin, September 2, 2016
On the Refugee Situation in Europe, Germany, and Local Communities
: Expert Exchange, organized by Europe Direct Dortmund (North Rhine-Westphalia International Relations Association) in Dortmund, June 21, 2016
Refugeeism & Asylum in Europe and Germany – Enhancing Active Citizenship!
Lectures in the “Media” working group, organized by students of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes in Frankfurt am Main, June 23–26, 2016
Consulting for Companies on the Integration of Refugees (together with Denzil Manoharan)
. Seminar for DIHK-Bildungs-GmbH in Hamburg, June 6, 2016
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From the “Culture of Welcome” Back to the Continuity of Deficit-Oriented Discourses on Migration, in: Refugee Research Blog, July 23, 2025.
German Diversity Day 2025: Is the Focus on Diversity Just for Show, or Is It Genuine? (with Ulrike Brizay, Çinur Ghaderi, Hannah von Grönheim, Anna Kasten, Agostino Mazziotta, Monique Ritter, Sabrina Schramme), in: DGSA Blog, May 27, 2025.
Why Migration Overshadows All Other Issues in the Election Campaign, in: Bayern 2, February 6, 2025.
Fears and Diversity: How Migration and Diversity Shape Our Society, in: Hochschulkiste. The Podcast, Season 6, No. 8, Episode 49.
Diversity in Children’s Books, in: lieslotte Family Magazine, Issue 90, Oct./Nov. 2024, p. 20.
Asylum and Vegetables. Urban Gardening with Refugees, in: Augsburger Agendazeitung, Issue 60, 2/2024, p. 10.
Ricarda Breyton: Asylum Seekers: Do Anchor Centers Help with Housing?, in: Welt, Sept. 26, 2023.
Normality exists... of course not. Or does it? In: Good to know X (website of the artist collective “Movement for Radical Empathy”), May 2023.
Agnes Popp: Immigration Authorities Outwit Refugees, in: Quer (BR), October 13, 2022.
Zoe Geissler: How the Media Reports on Refugees, in: SRF (7:29–16:48), November 22, 2021.
Annika Schneider: How the Media Portrays Refugees, on Deutschlandfunk, From the Humanities and Social Sciences, November 11, 2021.
Christoph Sterz: Migration and the Media: Who Is Driving the New Wave?, in: Deutschlandfunk, @mediasres, November 9, 2021.
Katharina Müller: Camp Life Exacerbates Aggression Among Refugees: “We’d Escalate Too,” interview, in: Focus-Online, September 14, 2020.
LORA Magazine, interview, in: Radio LORA, September 10, 2020.
“Sleep, wake up, eat—that’s all”: Refugees in anchor centers
, in: Mediendienst Integration, August 19, 2020.
Educational Participation for Young Refugees: Compensating for Disadvantages, Enabling Participation (together with Maren Gag and Christiane Götze), in: ueberaus.de (specialized portal of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training), September 4, 2020.
Valentine Auer: “A Person Is Never Just a Migrant,” in: Tutzinger Diskurs, May 22, 2018.
A Plea for Critical Research on Refugees (with Jannes Jacobsen and Dennis Mehmet Yücel), in: Tutzinger Diskurs, February 9, 2018.
Weighing the Opportunities and Limitations of Target Media. Project-Based Media Work, in: clavis, Migration and Media. The Courage to Embrace Diversity, Jan. 2017, p. 14ff.
Jürgen Grosche: The Most Controversial Media Formats. Analysis: Refugees and Migration in Talk Shows, Interview, in: clavis, Migration and Media. The Courage to Embrace Diversity, 01/2017, pp. 12ff.
“From a Completely Different Cultural Background.” How Refugees Are Discussed in Political Talk Shows, in: iz3w – Journal Between North and South, 361, July/Aug 2017, pp. 40–42.
Felix Stadler: “Reality is always constructed and dependent on discourse.” Interview, in: L.I.S.A. The Gerda Henkel Foundation’s Science Portal, April 11, 2017.
Julia Poweleit: “How Much Integration Does the Integration Act Bring?” Interview, in: Politische Bildung Schwaben, January 30, 2017.
- Rottländer, Samuel (2025): A Theoretical Reflection on Street Newspapers as a Social Phenomenon in Neoliberalism (Link to the bachelor’s thesis)
- Bosch, Lea (2025): Sexual Self-Determination of People with Disabilities—A Qualitative Analysis of the Role of Professionals in the Support Process (Link to the bachelor’s thesis)
- Frank, Anna (2025): The Effects of Microaggressions on the Daily Lives of Mothers Who Identify as Migrants*. A Qualitative Analysis of Narrative Interviews (Link to the bachelor’s thesis)
- Ahnefeld, Louisa (2025): Racism in Children’s Radio Plays: A Critical Analysis of the Radio Play Series *Die drei ???* (Link to bachelor’s thesis)
- Melnyk, Myroslava (2023): Families at the Intersection of Refugee Status and Disability. A Qualitative Analysis of Their Care and Inclusion Situation in the Augsburg District (Link to the bachelor’s thesis)
- Reichart, Lena (2023): Calls for Minimum Standards for the Housing of Refugees in the Augsburg District. Perspectives of Residents and Officials (Link to the bachelor’s thesis)