Team

Barbara Schmitz holds the Chair of Old Testament and conducts research on messianic concepts and power structures in the history of Judaism, from antiquity to the present.

Christian Wehr, Chair of Spanish and French Literature, previously led a Volkswagen Foundation Opus Magnum project on messianism in Latin America from the colonial period to today.

Miriam Noris is the Managing Director at CEMES. She studied Slavic Studies at the University of Würzburg, with a particular focus on Ukraine from a postcolonial perspective, with special emphasis on nation-building narratives and literature. Her master’s thesis explored the meaning and symbolism of Shakespeare’s Hamlet from a Ukrainian cultural perspective through an analysis of the film The Hamlet Syndrome. Before joining CEMES, Miriam worked as a lecturer at the Chair of Slavic Studies at the University of Würzburg and at the Schelling-Forum of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Lea Müller is responsible for the fellowship management at CEMES. Previously, she worked as a student assistant at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, where she gained experiences in the organization of international events and publishing support. She holds a State Examination degree in English and Spanish and completed study-abroad programs in Umeå and Cádiz. Furthermore, she served as an intern at the Federal Foreign Office, which provided her with valuable preparation for working in an international environment.

Sofina Dembruk is a literary scholar specializing in Romance Philology. She holds a joint doctoral degree from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and Sorbonne Université. Her research foci include aesthetic discourses of the body in Early Modern Europe, the techno-anthropology of theatre around 1900 (with a particular emphasis on Spain, France, and Italy), and contemporary French literature. At CEMES, she serves as scientific coordinator and publication manager of the Living Handbook on Messianism, developed in collaboration with the Zentrum für Philologie und Digitalität at the University of Würzburg.

Nadine Negri is a literary and media scholar specializing in contemporary cinema, media theory, and cultural studies. She holds a PhD from the University of Würzburg with a dissertation on liquid modernity in contemporary Argentine film. Her research interests include urban imaginaries in cinema, contemporary theories of media and society, and the intersections of art, technology, and digital culture. Alongside her academic background, she has experience in editorial work and digital communication, including marketing and partnership management at FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE. At CEMES, she serves as Scientific Coordinator and Publication Manager, coordinating research activities and overseeing publication and communication processes.

Corinna Keupp works at the Zentrum für Philologie und Digitalität (ZPD) at the University of Würzburg. At CEMES, she is responsible for the jointly developed digital and interactive data platform Living Handbook on Messianism, which aims to collect CEMES’s key research findings. Corinna is responsible for setting up, designing, and maintaining the platform. Together with her colleagues at the ZPD, she makes a significant contribution to CEMES’s sustainability and international connectivity.

Käte Hamburger Center for Messianic Studies (CEMES)

Sanderring 2
D-97070 Würzburg