Manja Stephan-Emmrich

Manja Stephan-Emmrich is a Professor for Transregional Central Asian Studies with a focus on Islam and Migration at Humboldt University of Berlin's Institute of Asian and African Studies since 2020. Previously served as Junior Professor (2010-2020) and Visiting Professor (2014). As Principal Investigator at the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, she supervises PhD projects like

• Anton Nikolotov's "Geographies of Afterlife"
• Dilshat Amrayev's Turkish Mamluk Rule study
• Tang Man's BRI research

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Her research explores transregional Islam, Muslim mobilities, and post-socialist transformations across Tajikistan, UAE, and Kyrgyzstan. Key themes include

• Material religion and economic networks
• Gender in Islamic professionalization
• Urban religious geographies
• Transnational knowledge circuits

Current projects funded by DFG and BMBF examine women's professional pathways and China-Central Asia disentanglements.

Publications include the 2024 monograph Muslim Mobilities and co-edited volumes on Muslim women's professionalization (2023) and translocal theory (2018). Peer-reviewed articles analyze Dubai business materiality, Tajik migration, and virtual Islamic education.