Johanna M. Wetzel

Dr. Johanna M. Wetzel is a researcher in modern and contemporary history at the University of Bremen's Department of Social Sciences. She completed her DPhil in International Development at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, under Prof. Dr. Jocelyn Alexander, defending her dissertation on 'Revolutionary Youth in Mozambique: Socialist Discourses, Organizations, and Experiences among the Independence Generation (1964-1985)' in February 2025. Her current project 'Transnational Youth Solidarities' examines Cold War-era youth solidarity cultures between the Free German Youth and newly decolonized nations.

• DPhil in International Development (University of Oxford, 2025)
• MPhil in Development Studies (University of Oxford, 2019)
• Dual BA in International Relations and Philosophy (University of Groningen/Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2017)

Her research bridges Southern Africa's decolonization with Cold War global history, focusing on youth movements, African socialism, and GDR's solidarity policies. She employs oral history methods for intergenerational analysis in post-colonial contexts.

Key article trends include:

• Mozambican youth organization dynamics during socialist transition
• DDR's transnational youth solidarity networks
• Oral history's role in documenting marginalized narratives
• Decolonizing educational methodologies

Scientific recognitions include

• University of Bremen PostDoc Funding (2025-2028)
• Gerda-Henkel Doctoral Scholarship (2022-2024)
• DAAD Master's Scholarship (2018-2019)
• Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes Master's Scholarship (2017-2019)

Wetzel teaches courses on German colonialism and coordinates research teams using oral history approaches. She serves as a consultant on youth solidarity movements and Cold War transnationalism.