since 06/2025

• Visiting Researcher at DIGTCOM Centre, Centre for Digital and Green Transformation in Cities and Communities, Aarhus University, Denmark

 10/2022-01/2026 & 03/2014-03/2018         

• PhD (Dr. phil.) in Cultural Anthropology (summa cum laude), Institute for Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg, Germany
• Thesis: “Towards living sustainabilities in culture: Heritage as a global assemblage in digital pluralistic Europe”

 2023-2024

• ILSS Research Fellow, Isa Lohman-Siems Stiftung (ILSS), Hamburg

 since 03/2014

• PhD Candidate at the Institute of European Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, Germany

since 04/2015 -03/2017 (4 semesters)

• Master of Higher Education at the University of Hamburg, Germany

 2018-2022

• Project Manager at the H2020 MSCA-ETN “Participatory Memory Practices”
• Website: POEM (European Training Network – Participatory Memory Practices) Twitter: @POEM_H2020 

 2014-2018

• Research Associate at the Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History

 2011 – 2013

• Master in Communication and Cultural Management (Master of Arts), Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany

 2007- 2011                

• Bachelor European Studies (Bachelor of Arts), University of Passau, Germany, with semesters abroad at Masaryk University (Brno) and University of West Bohemia (Pilsen) in the Czech Republic

• Open knowledge and open data
• Social inclusion and cultural diversity in open societies
• Digital heritage and intangible heritage, public memory
• Living sustainabilities, sustainability and sustainable development
• Discourse ethnography
• Collaborative research and intergenerational learning in cultural anthropology
• Urban diversity and politics

ORCHiD: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8615-3923 

You can find all of Samantha Lutz’ publications in her list (PDF). The most recent publications are:

2026

• Lutz, S. / Oechslen, A. / Tran, Q.-T./ Koch, G. (Eds.) (forthcoming). Digital Futures in the Making: Ethnographies of Anticipation, Infrastructures, and the Politics of Everyday Life. Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities. Routledge.

2025

• Crasemann, L. / Lutz, S. / Müller, T. (Eds.). (2025). Paradoxien des Schützens: Schutzkonzepte und ihre Widersprüche. Schriftenreihe der Isa Lohmann-Siems Stiftung: Vol. 18. Reimer.
• Crasemann, L. / Lutz, S. / Müller, T. (2025). Paradoxien des Schützens – zur Einführung. In Leena Crasemann / Samantha Lutz, & Theresa Müller (Eds.), Schriftenreihe der Isa Lohmann-Siems Stiftung: Vol. 18. Paradoxien des Schützens: Schutzkonzepte und ihre Widersprüche (1. Auflage, pp. 7–19). Reimer.
• Lutz, S. (2025). Towards living sustainabilities in culture. Heritage as a global assemblage in digital pluralistic Europe [Dissertation, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg]. RIS. [Open Access]
• Lutz, S. / Geib, N. / Schubert, P. / Koch, G. (2025). Towards a relational approach to social impact measurement of Participatory Memory Work: New concepts for future memory work. In G. Koch and R. C. Smith (Eds.), Participatory Memory Practices: Digital Media, Design, Futures: Vol. 1. Future memory practices: Across institutions, communities, and modalities (pp. 159–179). Routledge. [Open Access]
• Lutz, S. (2025). »If it’s not online and available, it doesn’t exist!« Über diachrone Unzugänglichkeit und digitale Nachhaltigkeit im Kulturbereich. In Leena Crasemann, Samantha Lutz, & Theresa Müller (Eds.), Schriftenreihe der Isa Lohmann-Siems Stiftung: Vol. 18. Paradoxien des Schützens: Schutzkonzepte und ihre Widersprüche (pp. 89–112). Reimer.

New book series

• Koch, G. / Economou, M. / Huvila, I. / Lutz, S. / Tietmeyer, E. / Smith, R. C. (eds., book series). Participatory Memory Practices: Digital Media, Design, Futures. Routledge.

Science Communication

• Lutz, S. (2017). Gelebte Traditionen. Über die nachhaltige Entwicklung von immateriellem Kulturerbe in Schleswig-Holstein und Deutschland [Living Heritage. On the Sustainable Development of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein and Germany], Schleswig-Holstein: Die Kulturzeitschrift für den Norden, 2 (2017), pp. 1–5.
• Koch, G. / Schmidt, A. / Lutz, S. (2017): Sharing is Caring - Hamburg Extension Closing Statement.

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Empirische Kulturwissenschaft (DGEKW)
• DGEKW-Kommission Digitale Anthropologie
• SIEF International Society for Ethnology (sief)
• Graduate School – Humanities Doctoral Program
• Digilab – Knowledge hub/Network for Digital Anthropology at the Institute of European Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg
• Non-profit association “3rund e.V.” for bridging scientific research and social fields of practice, University of Hamburg
•  Deutscher Hochschulverband

 You can find all of Samantha Lutz’ presentations in her list (PDF). The most recent presentations are:

Invited talks

• Lutz, S. (2025). Invited member to the roundtable “Research on Sudanese Heritage” at the German UNESCO Commission’s Conference “Focus on Sudan Prospects for Culture and Education between destruction and reconstruction” to present my Living Sustainabilities research and the POEM research on heritage futures, Haus für Poesie, Kulturbrauerei, Berlin, Germany (01.12.2025).
• Koch, G. / Lutz, S. (2025). “Beyond Participation“, invited talk at the Henrik-Steffens Norwegian-German Network Seminar organised by Prof Dagny Stuedahl, Humboldt University Berlin (14.03.2025).
• Lutz, S. (2020). “Nachhaltigkeit in Kultur? Über unterschiedliche Nachhaltigkeitsvorstellungen im Kontext der Erhaltung und Digitalisierung von Kulturerbe”, invited guest lecture at the online Lecture Series “Sustainability in the Humanities”, University of Hamburg (05.2020).
• Lutz, S. (2019). “Follow me – Social Media in the Context of Scientific Careers”, invited ignite talk about the POEM Social Media Strategy at the lecture series Pro Exzellenzia meets UHH: Sustainability of Careers in Science, University of Hamburg, Germany (13.11.2019).
• Koch, G. / Lutz, S. (2019). “Verbinden. Erforschen. Sichtbar machen. Junge Menschen & kulturelles Erbe”, invited guest lecture at the Public Lecture Series “Sharing Heritage!”, University of Hamburg (23.01.2019).
• Lutz, S. (2017). “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Germany”, invited keynote at the Information Workshop on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Germany organised by the association Schleswig-Holsteinischer Heimatbund, the Ministry of Justice, Culture, and Europe of the Federal State Schleswig-Holstein, and the German UNESCO Commission, Kiel, Germany (19.03.2017).

Conference presentations

• Lutz, S. (2025). Towards Living Sustainabilities in Culture. Reassembling Heritage in Digital Pluralistic Europe, Poster Presentation at PhD Course Participatory Design: Contemporary Agendas, Aarhus University, Denmark (04.-06.06.2025).
• Lutz, S. (2024). »If it’s not online and available, it doesn’t exist!« Über diachrone Unzugänglichkeit und digitale Nachhaltigkeit im Kulturbereich, 18th ILSS Conference Paradoxien des Schützens, Hamburg (09.-10.02.2024).
• Lutz, S. (2021). Sustainability as New Memory Modality? Exploring the Role of Sustainability and Digital Media in Culture, co-organised Panel “Opening Up Memory Making. Inquiries into Memory Modalities in Digital Media Ecologies”, 15th SIEF Congress 2021 Breaking the rules? Power, Participation, Transgression, online (18.-24.06.2021).
• Economou, M. / Galani, A. / Koch, G. / Lutz, S. (2020). Digital Heritage-Making Processes for Envisioning Inclusive Futures, in collaboration with the H2020 EU projects CoHERE and EMOTIVE at the 5th Biennial Conference ACHS 2020 FUTURES of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies, online (26.-30.08.2020).
• Lutz, S. (2020). Sustainable Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage for Future Generations in Europe? Diverging Ideas of Sustainability in the Context of Reuse, 5th Biennial Conference ACHS 2020 FUTURES of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies, online (26.-30.08.2020).

• SoSe 2021                   
  Co-Teaching “MA Community Based Research: Social Impact Evaluation in the Cultural Sector” with Prof. Gertraud Koch and Nils Geib in collaboration with the Department of Socio-Economics, University of Hamburg

• SoSe 2020                   
  Invited guest lecture at the online Lecture Series “Nachhaltigkeit in den Geisteswissenschaften”, University of Hamburg

• WiSe 2017/18              
  Undergraduate Seminar “Sustainability in Culture? On the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage in Europe”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History

• WiSe 2016/17              
  Undergraduate Seminar “Introduction to scientific methods and learning through research”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg

• SoSe 2016                   
  Undergraduate Seminar “Digital Heritage”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg

• WiSe 2015/16             
  Lecture Series “D1G1TAL HER1TAGE”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg

• SoSe 2015                   
  Research Practice “Discourse Analysis”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg

• WiSe 2014/15              
  Research Practice “Grounded Theory and Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis with MAXQDA”, Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg

• WiSe 2012/13              
  Co-Teaching “Discourse Analysis” with Prof. Gertraud Koch at Zeppelin University

“Towards living sustainabilities in culture: Heritage as a global assemblage in digital pluralistic Europe”
(defended 15.01.2026, summa cum laude)

https://ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de/handle/ediss/12157 

Abstract

This study uses the empirical perspective of living sustainabilities to analyse how the understanding of cultural heritage and its preservation for future generations is evolving as a result of changes in media technology. The central question is how new sustainability concepts in the cultural sector are negotiated and implemented in practice in the digital age. The focus lies on researching the social and cultural dimensions of sustainable development as independent fields, which are viewed as global guiding principles of social change in the 21st century, separate of the ecologically-oriented concept of sustainability. Alongside this, the transformative power of civil society is emphasised. The work is positioned at the intersection between digital anthropology and international Critical Heritage Studies.
In order to navigate the ethical negotiations around the ‘good life’ in connection with the digitalisation of cultural heritage in a global assemblage, the perspective of living sustainabilities offers important practical guidance for the development of sustainability approaches in the areas of cultural heritage, cultural policy, cultural economies, and civic engagement. Moreover, the typology is relevant for further research on cultural sustainability and encourages situated application and further development in other knowledge domains.

Supervisors

Prof. Dr. Gertraud Koch (University of Hamburg)
Associate Prof. Dr. Rachel Charlotte Smith (Aarhus University)
Prof. Dr. Heike Zinsmeister (University of Hamburg)

• Co-organiser of the 8th DGEKW Conference “Digital Futures in the Making: Imaginaries, Politics and Materialities” of the Commission “Digital Anthropology” (14.-16.09.2022), Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, Hamburg, Germany.
• Young heritage studio – cross-generational knowledge hub for the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018, Institute of European Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, Hamburg, Germany.
• Conference Sharing is Caring – Hamburg Extension 2018 Opening Up! Building Connectivity through Cultural Heritage, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg & the Institute of European Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, Hamburg, Germany (20.-21.04.2017).
• 10th dgv-Doctoral Student Conference #inprogress for the German Society of Folklore (dgv), HafenCity University Hamburg and Institute of European Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, Hamburg, Germany (17.-19.09.2015).