Eva Spies

Prof. Dr. Eva Spies is a Professor for the Study of Religion with Focus on Africa at the University of Bayreuth within the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Mainz and leads the Research Section Moralities in the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence (EXC 2052).

• Key Roles:
  • Principal Investigator, Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS)
  • Vice Dean of Research
  • Co-founder, German Association for the Study of Religion's Africa working group

Research Interests span religious plurality, development cooperation, and transformative practices. She coined the concept of religious engineering to analyze how religious resources shape social/political worlds. Regional expertise in Niger/West Africa and Madagascar/Indian Ocean, with focus on:

• South-South mission
• Religion and pandemic response
• Intercultural hermeneutics
• Epistemological conflicts
• Material culture in development

Projects:

• Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence (2025): "Religious engineering. The making of moralities, development and religion in Niger"
• Humboldt Research Hub (2021): "Fighting pandemics with religion?" (with Moi University and University of Zimbabwe)

Education:

• PhD in Cultural Anthropology, University of Mainz