Merle Schatz

Merle Schatz is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cologne’s Ostasiatisches Seminar (East Asian Seminar) within the Kultur Chinas / Chinastudien (Chinese Culture/China Studies) school. She holds a PhD in Mongolian Studies from the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Her research focuses on Mongol languages and identity in China, contact linguistics, and socio-political dynamics in Inner Mongolia. Current projects analyze established-outsider figurations across social, economic, and institutional levels. She has held roles including Project Member at SUB Göttingen and former lecturer at Leipzig University.

Education:

• M.A. in Chinese Studies, Mongolian Studies, and Japanese Studies (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 2004)
• PhD in Mongolian Studies (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, 2010–2014)

Research Interests: Explores language identity, structural characteristics of socio-political figurations, and concepts of time/environment in Inner Mongolia. Recent work emphasizes figurational sociology to analyze complex Sino-Mongolian coexistence.

Publications: Over 15 books/chapters, including co-edited volumes on Silk Road languages and Mongolian identities. Recent works address cultural neighborhood theories and food’s role in identity formation.

Grants/Advising: Active in academic publishing and pedagogy, co-authoring methodological textbooks for China Studies. Current projects involve interdisciplinary analysis of contact zones in China.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the Max Planck Institute and SUB Göttingen on East Asian cultural and linguistic projects.