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Dr. Mrinal Pande is an Adjunct lecturer in Comparative Cultural Studies at the Innovation HUB campus of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. For more information, click here.
Dr. Mrinal Pande
Field of Expertise: Comparative Cultural Studies; Media Production Management; Management Basics
Campus: Innovation Hub
Office Hours: By Appointment
- Dr. Mrinal Pande is a Berlin-based social and cultural anthropologist, researcher and lecturer whose work bridges cultures, media, management and the study of human decision-making. Her interdisciplinary approach explores how people create meaning, negotiate identities, respond to change and work within social and organizational structures. At the University of Europe for Applied Sciences, she teaches Comparative Cultural Studies, Media Production Management and Management Basics. Across these subjects, she draws on anthropology, media studies and organizational perspectives to examine how culture influences communication, leadership, cooperation and decision-making.
- She holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Münster. As a doctoral researcher at the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” and later a postdoctoral researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1150 “Cultures of Decision-Making”, she investigated religious practices, mediated narratives and the cultural dimensions of individual and collective decisions. Her research has engaged particularly with India, transnational communities, and the circulation of cultural practices across media and social settings.
- Her research interests extend to cultural heritage, museum collections, heritage tourism, memory, gender, diaspora and the politics of representation. Her publications examine how religious and cultural traditions are communicated, transformed, contested and reinterpreted in changing historical and contemporary contexts.
- Dr. Pande is the author of Popular Hinduism: Stories and Mobile Performances: The Voice of Morari Bapu in Multiple Media (Routledge, 2022) and a co-editor of Practices of Transformation: Transformations of Practice (2022). Her scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters addressing media, religious practice, ethnonationalism, heritage and representation. She has presented research at international conferences and academic forums in Amsterdam, Zurich, New Delhi, Berlin, Mumbai, Münster, Marburg, Cottbus and Erfurt.
- Beyond academia, Dr. Pande has contributed to cultural and media communication through international podcasts, interviews with writers, cultural figures and professionals, public talks and moderated discussions at venues including the Embassy of India in Berlin, art studios and cultural spaces. She has also presented live programmes for All India Radio, Mumbai, and has experience in modelling and television acting. These engagements complement her academic interests in culture, media, performance and public communication. She speaks Marathi, English, Hindi, Gujarati and German.
• Management Basics — organisational structures, management processes, decision-making, leadership, project management and business models
• Comparative Cultural Studies — cultural context, identities, narratives, intercultural management, corporate, visual, material and media culture, representation and comparative analysis
• Media Production Management — media organisations, production contexts and the cultural and organisational dimensions of media work
• Comparative Cultural Studies — cultural context, identities, narratives, intercultural management, corporate, visual, material and media culture, representation and comparative analysis
• Media Production Management — media organisations, production contexts and the cultural and organisational dimensions of media work
Social and Cultural Anthropology · Cultures of Decision-Making · Media and Society · Organisational Cultures · Cultural Heritage and Heritage Tourism · Museums and Representation · Religion and Politics · Gender and Identity · Diaspora and Migration
- • Since October 2024 — Adjunct Lecturer, University of Europe for Applied Sciences; teaching and thesis supervision.
- • 2023–2024 — Guest Faculty, Rheinisches Studienkolleg, Berlin.
- • 2015–2019 — Postdoctoral Researcher, Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1150 “Cultures of Decision-Making”, University of Münster.
- • 2017 — PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Münster.
- • 2012–2015 — Doctoral Researcher, Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”, University of Münster.
- • 1998–2001 — Teaching appointments at institutions affiliated with the University of Mumbai.
- • 1998 — MA in History, University of Mumbai.
- • 1996 — BA in History, University of Mumbai.
- Monographs
- Pande, Mrinal (2022). Popular Hinduism: Stories and Mobile Performances: The Voice of Morari Bapu in Multiple Media. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Popular-Hinduism-Stories-and-Mobile-Performances-The-Voice-of-Morari-Bapu-in-Multiple-Media/Pande/p/book/9781032204352
- Edited volume
- Pande, Mrinal, Julia Koch, Helmar Kurz and Annika Strauss (eds.) (2022). Practices of Transformation: Transformations of Practice. University of Münster Academic Publications. https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ebooks/index.php/series/catalog/book/299
- Journal articles
- Pande, Mrinal and S. Bhatawadekar (2024). “Decolonizing Narratives: Rethinking Indian Collections in Ethnographic Museums in Germany.” Urban People / Lidé města, 26(2). https://ojs.cuni.cz/lidemesta/article/view/4717
- Pande, Mrinal (2022). “Generational Practices in Diaspora: Shared Memories in Morari Bapu’s Ramkatha.” Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies, 7(2), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.36886/nidan.2022.7.2.2
- Pande, Mrinal (2022). “Gendered Analysis of Hindutva Imaginaries: Manipulation of Symbols for Ethnonationalist Projects.” Journal of Modern European History, 20(3), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/16118944221110725
- Book chapters
- Pande, Mrinal (2026). “Saints, Devotional Empires and Neo-Heritage Destinations.” In Religious Heritage and Tourism in South Asia, edited by Dallen J. Timothy and Kiran A. Shinde. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Religious-Heritage-and-Tourism-in-South-Asia/Timothy-Shinde/p/book/9781032545899
- Bhatawadekar, S. and Mrinal Pande (2022). “Rethinking Urban Heritage Tourism Practices in India: Critical Perspectives From Europe.” In Indian Tourism, edited by N. Chowdhary, S. Billa and P. Tiwari, 111–124. Bingley: Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-937-820221008
- Basu, Helen and Mrinal Pande (2021). “Enacting Meanings of Decision-Making in Situations of Talk in India.” In Semantiken und Narrative des Entscheidens vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, edited by Philip Hoffmann-Rehnitz, Matthias Pohlig, Tim Rojek and Susanne Spreckelmeier, 482–497. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/…/52639/semantiken-und-narrative-des-entscheidens-vom-mittelalter-bis-zur-gegenwart
- Pande, Mrinal (2020). “Contextualizing Religiosity Within the Ramkatha.” In Religiosity in East and West: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges in Global and Local Perspectives, edited by Sarah Demmrich and Ulrich Riegel, 233–248. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-31035-6_13
- Heinemann, Isabel, Sarah Nienhaus, Mrinal Pande and Katherin Wagenknecht (2018). “Heirat, Hausbau, Kinder – Narrationen von Familienentscheidungen.” In Kulturen des Entscheidens: Narrative – Praktiken – Ressourcen, edited by Ulrich Pfister, 90–115. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/44035
- Pande, Mrinal (2017). “Ramkatha Soundscape: Listening to Voices.” In Stimmen aus dem Jenseits / Voices from Beyond, edited by Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, 217–235. Würzburg: Ergon. https://www.nomos-shop.de/de/p/stimmen-aus-dem-jenseits-voices-from-beyond-978-3-95650-262-0
- Pande, Mrinal (2017). “The Voice of Ethnography.” In Stimmen aus dem Jenseits / Voices from Beyond, edited by Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, 148–153. Würzburg: Ergon.
- Pande, Mrinal (2017). “Voice Hearing in Gujarat.” In Stimmen aus dem Jenseits / Voices from Beyond, edited by Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, 266–269. Würzburg: Ergon.
- Book review
- Pande, Mrinal (2023). Review of Ehud Halperin’s The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess: Hadimba, Her Devotees, and Religion in Rapid Change. Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies, 8(1), 160–167. https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/nidan/article/view/22229
- Academic identifier
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4773-8443