Johannes Barth

Johannes Barth is a Research Assistant in Media Sociology at the Faculty of Sociology, Department 7 - Media Sociology, Universität Bielefeld, working under Prof. Greschke since 2024. He is simultaneously a doctoral researcher at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology and a member of BiSEd (Bielefeld School of Education).

Education:

• M.A. in Sociology (with distinction), Universität Hamburg, 2023
• B.A. in Sociology (minor: History), Universität Hamburg, 2018
• Hebrew intensive course, University of Haifa, 2022
• Erasmus semester at Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2015-2016

Research Focus: Barth specializes in the intersection of Media Sociology, digital cultures of remembrance, and Thanatosociology. His work critically examines how digital technologies reshape practices of mourning, commemoration, and historical testimony—particularly regarding Holocaust survivor accounts. He investigates the transformation of embodied witnessing into digital formats, analyzing how media technologies mediate our relationship with death, memory, and historical trauma in contemporary society. His research reveals how digital platforms create new forms of presence for the dead while simultaneously raising ethical questions about posthumous representation.

Scientific Recognition:

• Recipient of the Janpeter-Kob-Price for best Master's thesis in Sociology at Universität Hamburg (2023)
• Awarded scholarship from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Summer School at University of Haifa (2022)

Professional Engagement: Active member of the German Sociological Association (DGS) since 2025 and its Section for Media and Communication Sociology since 2024. Regularly presents at international conferences on digital death, Holocaust testimonies, and the mediation of memory. Currently developing teaching approaches on digitalization critiques in social sciences and the mediatisation of dying, death and mourning.