Klaus Behnam Shad is a Social and Cultural Anthropologist and Intercultural Mediator with a distinguished academic background. He completed his studies in Musicology and Anthropology at the University of Cologne and earned his PhD from the Department of Political and Social Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin in 2020. His doctoral dissertation offered an in-depth analysis of the complex interplay of emotions within the asylum process.
Until 2023, Klaus was a Research Associate at the Chair of Psychological Anthropology within the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin. His research and teaching focused intensely on political and psychological anthropology, specifically exploring themes such as racism, emotions, migration, and intersectional studies.
Klaus’s recent research initiatives delve into the impact of artificial intelligence on liberal democracies, employing a blend of advanced digital and ethnographic methods to conduct extensive data collection. His work aims to unravel the complexities of identity and cultural dynamics.
His interdisciplinary work takes a deep dive into the processes of social categorization and identity formation, striving to develop a nuanced understanding of the intricate social dynamics that shape human behavior. His forthcoming book, “The Sorting of Humanity,” merges systems theory with insights from political, psychological, and biological anthropology, providing a comprehensive perspective on human differentiation practices and is scheduled for publication by Transcript in 2025.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Klaus Behnam Shad is responsible for establishing a comprehensive digital data infrastructure at the C²DH. This infrastructure aims to develop a robust digital pipeline for the preservation, management, and analysis of digital data derived from oral history interviews conducted in Luxembourg. Moreover, he conducts research on the secondary use and analysis of a curated selection of these existing interviews, with the objective of uncovering new insights and methodologies within the fields of historical scholarship and digital humanities.
