Cornelia Kühn

Dr. Cornelia Kühn is a Research Associate and Coordinator of Subproject 3 (Knowledge Transfer) at the Institute for Applied Research at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, affiliated with the InNoWest research network. Previously, she served as Managing Director of the Sustainability Laboratory at Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg (2022-2023) and led DFG-funded projects at Humboldt University Berlin where she was Acting Professor at the Institute for European Ethnology (2015-2018). Her research focuses on socio-ecological transformation, common good economies, and urban cultural anthropology.

Kühn holds a Magister degree in European Ethnology, French, and Modern German Literature from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Université Paris 8, with additional certifications in German as a Foreign Language and French Civilization from Sorbonne. Her doctoral research examined folk art in the early GDR.

Her scholarly work explores cultural dimensions of economic systems, urban festival transformations, and socio-political negotiations in divided Germany. Recent publications analyze alternative economies through anthropological lenses, particularly the tension between ethical ideals and structural constraints in sustainable business models. Earlier research investigated Cold War cultural politics, festival culture evolution, and ideological instrumentalization of folk traditions.

Major Awards:

• Research Fellowship at German Historical Institute London (2014)
• Doctoral Scholarship from Evangelisches Studienwerk e.V. Villigst (2006-2009)
• Study Scholarship from German National Academic Foundation (1997-2000)

She has led significant DFG projects including Sustainable Development from Below? (2019-2022) examining common good economies, and coordinated transdisciplinary initiatives like the Sustainability Lab at Würzburg focusing on socio-ecological transition frameworks.