Hanna Göbel

Prof. Dr. Hanna Göbel is Professor and Head of the Methods of Urban Practice research area at HafenCity University Hamburg since 2025. Previously, she served as Substitute Professor for Urban Anthropology and Ethnographic Methods at HCU from 2022 to 2024. Her academic journey includes post-doctoral research at the University of Hamburg (2013-2021), doctoral studies at the University of Konstanz (2008-2012), and a visiting scholarship at the University of Edinburgh (2010-2011).

Prof. Göbel's research centers on urban studies, cultural sociology, the anthropology of the body, science and technology studies, and ethnographic methods. Her work develops methodological approaches for researching engaged urban practice in the context of ecological, social, and cultural crises. Current research projects explore physical limitations and digital technologies, aesthetic diversity in society and design, and the sociology of public space at the intersection of urban environments and digital platforms. She integrates digital methods into cultural studies-based urban research and investigates performative approaches to urban futures through collaborations with civil society actors.

Prof. Göbel's publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple formats, with recent work focusing on urban atmospheres, sensory urbanism, and the material politics of urban design. Her research shows a clear trajectory from early work on urban ruins and atmospheric composition to contemporary investigations of digital publics and performative urban practices. She has published extensively in both German and English, with contributions to edited volumes, handbook chapters, and peer-reviewed journals in urban studies, sociology, and cultural theory.

• Academy Schloss Solitude Scholarship (2011)
• Summa Cum Laude for doctoral dissertation (2012)

As an educator, Prof. Göbel teaches courses in the Culture-Digitalization-Metropolis bachelor program and Urban Design master program, including Urban Laboratory: Future Practices of the Urban, Methods of Urban Analysis, and History and Theory of Digitalization. Her teaching emphasizes qualitative methods and future-oriented approaches to urban practice. The Methods of Urban Practice research area provides students with opportunities to engage in research on urban atmospheres, digital methods, and performative urban approaches through coursework, research projects, and potential collaborations with civil society organizations.