Frank Welz is teaching sociology at the Innsbruck School of Political Science and Sociology since 2006. He has been coordinating the Social Theory Research Network (RN29) of the European Sociological Association (ESA) from 2007 to 2011 and currently serves as Vice-President of ESA as well as of the Austrian Sociological Association.

Recently he has been publishing on sociological theory, sociology of law and history of sociology. His main interest is, first, exploring the theoretical underpinnings of the significant questions of macro-historical change, and related to that, second, incorporating historical epistemology into sociology.

Before his appointment to the research and teaching unit "Social and Political Theory" at Innsbruck University, Department of Sociology, he has worked out the idea and put into practice the "Global Studies" Master's Freiburg-Durban-N.Delhi at Freiburg/Germany directing the programme since its take-off in 2002.

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. He has been an invited speaker e.g. to the World congress of Sociology in Durban (2006) and other meetings.

His initiatives at Freiburg have been awarded with a series of prizes, among others e.g. the State's "Excellence in Teaching Award" 1999, the Heilmann Prize for the virtual seminar series "LEC" Freiburg-JNU (2000) 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 - Contemporary Society (Innsbruck)
• 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)
2011 Innsbruck: Three-Nation Conference, "The New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere"
2008 Innsbruck - 2009 - 2010 - 2011: 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

• Niklas Luhmann’s Sociology of Law: A Critical Appraisal, Understanding Law in Society. Developments in Socio-legal Studies, ed. K. Papendorf/S. Machura/K. Andenæs, Münster et al.: LIT, 2011, pp. 51-72.

• Bastler - Sammler - Spurensucher. Zum Verhältnis von Geschichte und Systematik der soziologischen Theorie nach Robert K. Merton. In Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2010 (ISSN: 1011-0070), pp. 19-37.
For discussion:
Conference on "What is history of sociology and why does one study it?", Graz, 07.05.2011; and articles in Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2011 (ISSN: 1011-0070).

• 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.

• "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".

• "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; International Sociology; 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).