Axel Schmidt

Axel Schmidt is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Mannheim and a Researcher in the Pragmatics Department at the Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) in Mannheim. His roles include leading the 'Multimodal Interaction' project and co-editing the journal Conversation Research. He holds a PhD in Sociology (2004) and a Habilitation in Media Studies (2011) from the Universities of Koblenz-Landau and Basel, respectively. His research focuses on multimodal interaction analysis, theater rehearsals, creativity development, and ethnography.

Education:

• Bachelor's/Master's in Sociology and Educational Science (University of Frankfurt, 1991–1999)
• PhD in Sociology (University of Koblenz-Landau, 2004)
• Habilitation in Media Studies (University of Basel, 2011)

Research interests emphasize the interplay of verbal and embodied communication in creative settings, particularly in theater. Key contributions include studies on directorial instructions, interactional practices in rehearsals, and the development of the analytical tool trAVis for transcribing audiovisual media.

Publications span over 90 peer-reviewed works, including monographs like Game or no Game? (2014) and articles in Human Studies and Frontiers in Communication. His work bridges sociology, media studies, and linguistics, with a focus on interactional microanalysis.

He oversees research grants and supervises projects on media production, interaction analysis, and multimodal communication. Collaborations include international networks on conversation analysis and theater studies.