Board

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Oevermann (Chair) has developed the methodology of Objective Hermeneutics since 1969 as part of his research on socialization theory and on the sociology of the family. Following his appointment to a chair for Social Psychology (1970) at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt he has tested the methodology and procedures deduced from it in various fields by analyzing heterogeneous sets of material taken from various fields in the humanities and the social sciences. This process of testing the methodology was completed in the early 1990s. Since then, Ulrich Oevermann has worked on an implementation of the methodology in areas outside of research such as clinical sociology and socioanalysis. He now focuses on the sociology of the family, on the analysis and identification of interpretive patterns (Deutungsmuster) and habitus, on the sociology of language and knowledge, and on the sociology of religion.

Dr. habil. Andreas Franzmann (Vice Chair) studied Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychoanalysis in Frankfurt. In his dissertation, he tested a model of the public role of the intellectual by focusing on the Dreyfus affair in France (1894-1906). Since 1999 Andreas Franzmann has been part of the DFG-funded research project on "The structure and emergence of professional action as vicarious crisis management." Within this research project, he has focused on science as a profession and reproductive medicine in particular. In his new book project (Habilitation), he is working on a theoretical model of a habitus peculiar to scientists. He is a member of the board of the Association for Objective Hermeneutics.

Prof. Dr. Roland Becker-Lenz, holds degrees (Dipl.) in Social Work and Sociology, and for several years has been engaged as a social worker. He has also been a consultant in this area. He is now Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Social Work. His current focus in research and teaching are socialization theory, theories of professionalization, and methods and theories of Social Work.

PD Dr. Axel Jansen completed an M.A. in History at the University of Oregon (Eugene) in 1995 and a Doctorate in American Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt in 2001. In his dissertation he analyzes the motivation of Americans who volunteered to serve as ambulance drivers nurses, soldiers, fighter pilots, etc. along the front in Europe before the U.S. had entered the war (1914 to 1917). He has recently finished a book project on Alexander Dallas Bache and the role of science and education in the emerging nineteenth-century American nation-state. Axel Jansen was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a DFG Research Fellow at UCLA and in Frankfurt. He currently teaches in the Department of History, Universität Heidelberg and he is a private docent in American Studies at Universität Frankfurt.

PD Dr. Matthias Jung studied Linguistics, Philosophy, Sociology, and Early History in Frankfurt and Mainz. In his dissertation, which he completed in 2004, he tested objective hermeneutics as a methodological approach in an analysis of material culture ("Zur Logic archäologischen Handelns"). He has recently completed a second book manuscript in which he analyzes and contrasts motives of hobby archeologists with those of professional archeologists and those of grave robbers. His research foci are the sociology of religion, social structures of archaic societies, and the hermeneutics of material culture.

Professional Staff

Martina Leber studied Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Sociology in Frankfurt, and completed her degree in Psychology with a thesis on supervision. She was initially employed by a hospital and then, working with Ulrich Oevermann, gained experience using Objective Hermeneutics in a research setting, especially with respect to Psychotherapy. Martina Leber has completed training in cluster analysis as well as psychoanalysis. She works in private practice in Frankfurt.

Dr. Sascha Liebermann studied Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychoanalysis in Frankfurt. Upon completion of his M.A. in Philosophy, he wrote a dissertation on the perception of a crisis of work-society by top-level managers of German and international companies. He has for many years used the methodology of Objective Hermeneutics in research projects. Sascha Liebermann is Assistant Professor (wissenschaftlicher Assistent) in the Department of Economics and Sociology, Universität Dortmund.

Silke Müller completed her M.A. degree in Sociology at Frankfurt University in 2003. In her thesis, she explored "Traces of the problem of individual 'probation' (Bewährung) in archaic myths." She is now a research assistant (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Social Work.

Depending on the research or consulting problem at hand, a number of colleages from a range of disciplines will provide additional support.

Last updated 11/03/2010 9:05