Vivien Sommer

Vivien Sommer is a sociologist and Head of the Junior Research Group 'The Socio-Spatial Memory of European Borders: Devices of Remembering and Forgetting' at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS). She is also an associated member of the Collaborative Research Center 1265 'Re-Figuration of Spaces' at the Technical University of Berlin. Her work bridges sociology, spatial research, and memory studies with a focus on European border regions and socio-spatial transformations.

Dr. Sommer's educational background includes:

• Sociology, philosophy, journalism, and communication studies at the Free University of Berlin (2002-2008)
• Doctorate from Chemnitz University of Technology with a media sociological study on 'Memory Practices in Online Discourses' (2016)

Vivien Sommer's research centers on the powerful interplay of knowledge, space, memory, and communication. She specializes in developing and adapting qualitative approaches for spatial research, with a focus on theory-generating procedures, discourse analysis, visual and multimodal methods, and innovative mapping approaches. Her work examines how disruptive historical events shape contemporary border regions in Europe, particularly focusing on memory practices and spatial transformations. She investigates the socio-spatial memory of European borders, exploring how remembering and forgetting processes influence current border configurations and European integration, with particular attention to how communities experience and narrate border changes.

Analysis of Dr. Sommer's recent publications reveals a strong methodological innovation trajectory, with increasing focus on hybrid mapping techniques to analyze complex socio-spatial phenomena. Her work demonstrates a clear evolution from studying online memory practices (particularly regarding the Demjanjuk case) toward broader investigations of spatial refiguration in European border regions. Current research increasingly integrates multimodal approaches to examine urban spaces, club culture, and digital transformations of memory practices, with growing attention to the relationship between spatial conflicts and social transformations in border regions.

Dr. Sommer leads an Emmy Noether Research Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), a prestigious program supporting early-career researchers in establishing independent research groups as a pathway to professorship. Her current project (2023-2026) investigates 'The Socio-Spatial Memory of European Borders,' examining how past disruptive events have shaped current border configurations across four European border regions.

As Head of the Emmy Noether Research Group, Dr. Sommer leads a dedicated interdisciplinary team exploring memory practices in European border regions through innovative qualitative methodologies. Her research methodology emphasizes the development of new approaches including diffractive mapping and multimodal analysis to examine how communities remember and forget historical border changes. The group maintains strong collaborative relationships with multiple institutions across Europe, particularly through the Collaborative Research Center 1265 at TU Berlin, and conducts fieldwork in four European border regions to understand the complex interplay between spatial transformations and collective memory.