Magdalena Freischlad, M.A.

Universität Konstanz
Department of History, Sociology, Empirical Educational Research and Sport Science
Universitätsstraße 10, Box 11
78464 Konstanz, Germany

Email: magdalena.freischlad@uni-konstanz.de
Phone: +49 (0)7531 88-4954

Funding:

Scientific Researcher (since 2024)
PhD Scholarship from Gerda Henkel Stiftung (2020-2024)
One Year PhD Scholarship from DAAD (2019/2020)

About

Magdalena Freischlad is a PhD candidate at the Chair of the History of Knowledge at the University of Konstanz.

She studied History and Politics in Berlin and Paris, specializing in decolonization processes in Africa, with a particular focus on the Algerian war of independence, as well as Peace and Conflict Studies. During her academic journey, she completed a research internship at the Department of History at SciencesPo Paris (2008-2009) and served as a student assistant at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut at FU Berlin (2010-2013).

Magdalena Freischlad has worked as a Political Advisor at the German Bundestag (2014-2015), focusing on Public Finance/Budget and Development Aid, as the Director and Head of Communication at the NGO Mission East Germany, engaged in Humanitarian Aid projects in regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan (2015-2016), and as Head of Project and Coordinator of International Religious Dialogue at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (2016-2017), with a specific emphasis on issues related to religious dialogue and peacebuilding. Since March 2018, she has been a board member of Opportunity International Germany, a microfinance NGO supporting female entrepreneurs through microcredits and capacity building.

In 2018 she started her dissertation titled “Knowledge of reconciliation. Religious practices as local forms of transitional justice in Mozambique (1992-2019)”. As part of her field of interest, she spent a research semester in Portugal (University of Lisbon) in 2018. Between 2019 and 2021, she conducted 15 months of field research in Mozambique (Maputo, Nampula), fully funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Since 2020 she is a visiting researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) of the University of Lisbon. From 2020-2023, her dissertation was fully funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Since 2024 she has been receiving a research grant from University of Konstanz.

Research Interests:

  • African Studies
  • Anthropology of Religion
  • History of Knowledge
  • Postcolonial Studies
  • Transitional Justice Studies
  • Oral History

Regional Focus:

  • Southeast Africa, especially Mozambique

Affiliations:

  • Centro de Estudos Africanos, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo/Mozambique
  • Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Lúrio, Ilha de Moçambique/Mozambique
  • Instituto Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon/Portugal

Publications:

  • "No Peace Without Religious Freedom,"; event report on the 2nd International Parliamentary Conference on the topic: "A Contested Right. Protecting and Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief," Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Berlin, September 12, 2016.

Interviews and Lectures (Selection):

  • Wahlen: Belastungsprobe für den Frieden in Mosambik; as an expert in the report on the elections in Mozambique 2019 by the German public broadcast channel ZDF, 15.10.2019.
  • "Politics from Above, Memory from Below: Local Narratives of peace and (ir-)reconciliation in Nampula," presentation at II Conference on Comparative Politics of the University of Aveiro (UA) and University of Beira Interior (UBI) in collaboration with the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) at the University of Aveiro, 04.02.2023, Aveiro/Portugal.
  • "Processes of (ir-)reconciliations: Reconciliation between ‘instructed’ forgetting and unofficial remembering in Nampula,” presentation at the research colloquium RI POL (Regimes and Political Institutions), Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon, 10.03.2023, Lisbon/Portugal.
  • "Local religious knowledge of peace and reconciliation in Mozambique," Project Workshop at the research colloquium "History of Knowledge" at Konstanz University, 19.11.2020, Konstanz/Germany.
  • "The contribution of religions to the peace and reconciliation process in Mozambique," presentation at the research colloquium 'Transitional Justice' at the Institute of Social Sciences (Instituto Ciências Sociais) of the University of Lisbon, 19.05.2020, Lisbon/Portugal.
  • "A contribuição da religião na pacificação em Moçambique," lecture at the University of Lúrio, 02.10.2020, Ilha de Moçambique/Mozambique.
  • "Religion and Development: The Situation in Africa and Latin America compared," presentation at the conference "Religion and Development," Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Cadenabbia/Italy, 14.07.2016.

Honors and Awards:

  • Research Grant from University of Konstanz (since 2024)
  • MEiN Programme (since 2024)
  • Full PhD scholarship from Gerda Henkel Stiftung (since 2020)
  • Full PhD scholarship from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (declined)
  • One Year PhD scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD (2019/2020)
  • PRIO-Institute conference scholarship (2018)
  • Erasmus scholarship for exchange programs (2008/2009)
  • Scholarship from German-French Youth Office DFJW (2005)
  • Study Grant, Private Kant Academy (2004-2006)

Memberships and Honorary Office:

  • Member of the African Studies Association (ASA)
  • Member of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA)
  • Board Member of Opportunity International Germany (OID)
  • Ambassador for International Justice Mission Deutschland e.V.

Universität Konstanz

Fachbereich Geschichte, Soziologie, Sportwissenschaft und empirische Bildungsforschung
Universitätsstraße 10, Fach 11
78464 Konstanz, Deutschland

E-Mail: magdalena.freischlad@uni-konstanz.de
Tel.: +49 (0)7531 88-4954

Förderung:
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin (seit 2024)
Promotionsstipendium der Gerda Henkel Stiftung (2020-2023)
Jahrespromotionsstipendium des DAAD (2019/2020)