Frank Welz is teaching sociology at the Innsbruck School of Political Science and Sociology since 2006. Currently he is further coordinating the Social Theory Research Network (RN29) of the European Sociological Association and serves as Vice-President of the Austrian Sociological Association and as director of studies at Innsbruck University.

Before he was directing the Global Studies Programme Freiburg-Durban-N.Delhi since its take-off in 2002 and before from 1998-2001 when his collaborative virtual seminar series and project on Cultural Globalization with Prof. Anand Kumar, JNU, constituted the idea and factually became the precursor of the GSP. After many years of institutional work for Freiburg University in 2006 he left the GSP for continuing his personal academic research and writing taking up a post at Innsbruck University where the 'Innsbruck School of Political Science and Sociology' offered him an appointment in its new "Social and Political Theory" unit for research and teaching (Sowi, Innsbruck, Austria).

Frank studied sociology, modern history, philosophy and psychology at the Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg where he had been teaching since 1988. He further was research fellow at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain, at the Centre for Interdisciplinary research (ZiF) at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and at the Department of Sociology of the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2006 he was an invited speaker at the World congress of Sociology in Durban.

His ideas and initiatives brought many prizes to Freiburg, among others e.g. the State's "Excellence in Teaching Award" 1999, the Heilmann Prize for the virtual seminar series "LEC" Freiburg-JNU he initiated in 1998 and the BMW Group Award (Munich 2005) and Stifterverband/DAAD's quality label "Top 10 International Master's degree courses made in Germany" (2006) for the GSP.

about 70 courses, recently among others:

• Contemporary Sociological Theory (Innsbruck School of Political Science & Sociology)
• Introduction to Sociology (Innsbruck)
• Modern European Thought (Global Studies Programme Freiburg-Durban-N. Delhi)
• Cultural Globalization (LEC seminar Series Freiburg-JNU New Delhi)
• Sociology of Law

Education:
MA (with distinction), Freiburg 1988, Albert-Ludwigs University (Sociology; Philosophy, Psychology, History) PhD (summa cum laude), Freiburg 1994, Albert-Ludwigs University (Sociology; Philosophy, Psychology).

Employment:
Innsbruck School of Political Science & Sociology, Innsbruck University, Austria (since Oct. 2006).
2001 to 2006 Programme director, Global Studies Master's Programme, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg; Assistant and Associate Professor of Sociology (C1/C2), Freiburg (since 1988/1994); 1997-98 Fellow, Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld; Visiting Scholar, International Institute for the Sociology of Law: Onati, Spain.

Fellowships, Grants, Awards:
1988 Kurt Hahn Memorial Fellowship (DAAD), Cambridge University, UK (Declined in favour of an Ass. Prof.
position at the Univ. Freiburg)
1997 Fellow, Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Bielefeld University
1998 Department of Science of the State of Baden-Württemberg/German Telekom, International
LEC-teaching project "European Social Structure" & "Cultural Globalization" (DM 300 000)
1999 Distinguished Teaching Award, State government Baden-Württemberg, Minister of Science
(DM 15 000)
2000 MeDiDa-Prix 2000/honors award (Media Didactic University Prize of GMW), Finalist, Innsbruck, Austria.
2000 Dr. Wolfgang Heilmann-Prize for human use of information technology (DM 10 000), 1st Prize,
Stuttgart, Germany
2001 BMBF DAAD Institutional grant for the International Study Programme "Global Studies Programme"
(DM 1 000 000).
2004 BMW Group Award for Intercultural Learning (€ 5000), 1st Prize, Munich, Germany
2006 Quality Label "Top 10 International Master's Degree courses made in Germany" (€ 20000),
Berlin, Germany

Membership:
International Sociological Association (ISA); European Sociological Association (ESA); American Sociological Association (ASA); Austrian Sociological Association (ÖGS), German Sociological Association (DGS).

Conferences (organizer)
2008 Innsbruck: ESA Social Theory Conference
2003 Freiburg: ISA Executive Committee Conference, "The Quality of Social Existence in a Globalising World”

• Eleni Arzoglou, M.A., “A Critique of Globalisation Theories: The Complexity Approach” (Heinrich-Popitz Prize for the Best Graduate in Social Sciences 2006); PhD fellow in Sociology, Harvard University.
• Scott Braun, M.A., “Capital Seeking and the Internationalization of Higher Education: A Case Study of the Global Studies Programme”; Population Services International, Washington, D.C.: Program Specialist.
• Ali Mehdi, M.A., “Meine Heimat ist Deutschland? The Process of Identity Formation among Youth of Turkish Descent born in Germany”; Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi.
• Ilka Sommer, M.A., “Social Capital, Chain Migration and the Ethnicization of Migrant Populations: The Turkish-German Example”; Prognos AG, Basel.

Books

Selected Articles

• 100 Years of Indian Sociology: From Social Anthropology to Decentring Global Sociology. In International Sociology, Vol. 24, No. 5, 2009 (ISSN 0268-5809), pp. 635-655.

• Soziologische Forschung und Lehre nach der digitalen Revolution. In Soziologie, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2008 (ISSN 0340-918X), pp. 7-26.

• Rethinking Identity: Concepts of Identity and 'the Other' in Sociological Perspective. In The Society. An International Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 1, July 2005, 1-25.

• El mundo de la vida y la historia. In Daimon. Revista de Filosofía. Numéro 32, Mayo-Agosto 2004, Fenomenología y Ciencias humanas, 39-54.

• "Niklas Luhmann" (Entry) Encyclopedia of Law and Society. American and Global Perspectives, 3 Vols., published by D. S. Clark, Thousand Oaks/London/New Delhi: Sage, 2003 (Forthcoming).

• "Sociology of Law." (with P. Hiller) Sociology 2000. Special issue of Soziologische Revue, ed. C. Jauß/R. Münch/C. Stark, München/Wien: Oldenbourg, 2000, 231-243.
In German: "Rechtssoziologie".

• "The Understanding of Law in Niklas Luhmann’s Systems Theory." Morality and Law in Discourse of Modernity, ed. G. Dux/F. Welz, Opladen: Leske + Budrich 2001, 381-397.
In German: "Das Rechtsverständnis in der Systemtheorie Niklas Luhmanns".


• "Identity and Alterity from a sociological point of view." wir/ihr/sie. Identität und Alterität in Theorie und Methode, ed. W. Eßbach, Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2000, 89-101.
In German: "Identität und Alterität in soziologischer Perspektive".

• "A Historicization of the System Theory?" (Contribution to the discussion of: Helmut Willke, Die Gesellschaft der Systemtheorie) Ethik und Sozialwissenschaften, vol. 11, No. 2, 2000, 279-281.
In German: "Historisierung der Systemtheorie?".

• "Introduction: Sociological Theory and History." in: Soziologische Theorie und Geschichte, Opladen/Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1998, 9-32.
In German: "Einleitung: Soziologische Theorie und Geschichte"

• "History as a Problem for Phenomenological Theory." in: Soziologische Theorie und Geschichte, Opladen/Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1998, 134-154.
In German: "Die phänomenologische Theorie vor der Geschichte".


• "New Media and old Sciences." Forschung & Lehre, No. 12, 2000, 646.
In German: "Neue Medien und alte Wissenschaften".

• "University Online. The LEC-Teaching Network 'European Social Structure' & 'Cultural Globalization': Virtual Campus '99. Today’s Experiment 'Tomorrow’s Everyday'" ed. H. Krahn/J. Wedekind, Münster/Berlin: Waxmann, 2000, 275-280.
In German: "Uni Online. Der LEC-Lehrverbund 'European Social Structure' & 'Cultural Globalization'.

• "Mind or Bit? New Instructional Technologies In Teaching of Social Sciences and Humanities." Soziologie, No. 4, 1999, 18-31.
In German:  "Geist oder Bit? Neue Bildungsmedien in der sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Lehre".

• "New music - Old Barriers." in: Grenzenlose Gesellschaft? Gemeinsamer Kongress der Deutschen, der Österreichischen und der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Soziologie, Tagungsband II/1, ed. H. Schwengel, Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus 1999, 183-186.
In German: "Neue Musik - alte Barrieren".

• "The Sociologist as Actor in the Labour-Market?"(with U. Maier; D. Wetzel) in: Soziologie, No. 1, 1992, 13-41.
In German: "Der Soziologe als Akteur auf dem Arbeitsmarkt?".

Reviews

• Among others in Berliner Journal für Soziologie; Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie; Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie; Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie; Politische Vierteljahresschrift; Soziologische Revue; Wissenschaftlicher Literatur Anzeiger.

Other

• "Approaching Cultural Change in the Era of Globalization. An Interview with T.K. Oommen" (in cooperation with A. Kumar), in: Social Identities. Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 9(1), 2003, 1-26 ( Online video version).

• "Culture in the World-System. An Interview with Immanuel Wallerstein." (in cooperation with A. Kumar). Social Identities. Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 7(2), 2001, 221-231 ( Online video version).

• An Interview with T.K. Oommen on the Educational System in India, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30/05/2000, V2/16.