Dr.
Katja Kaufmann
Associated Researcher
My main research interest lies in the inventive and unexpected practices of people using their mobile, digital devices to tackle the challenges of their everyday lives. My conceptual perspective is characterized by a pronounced interdisciplinary outlook seeking for inspiration beyond the boundaries of my own academic discipline, communications, in fields such as popular and cultural studies, refugee and migration studies, human geography, postcolonial studies, internet studies, or science and technology studies.
Contact
Research Foci
At a Glance
Regional
Central Europe (Austria, Germany)
Thematic
Mobile media & everyday life
digital & forced migration studies
digital geographies & spatial media
research ethics
Concepts & Theories
mobile media, digital media, locative media, media and cultural studies, media appropriation, science and technology studies, affordances, practice theory, mixed realities (particularly AR), connected migrant, transdisciplinarity
Methods
Qualitative methods, mixed methods, non-representational methods, mobile and digital methods, smartphone approaches, elicitation approaches, method development
Academic Career
::Positions:
Since 2022 → Associated Researcher, Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck
2022 Postdoctoral Researcher and Co-Author, third-party (FWF) funded project “beYOND – Young People Negotiating Difference in cON/FFlating Spaces”, Institute of Geography, Innsbruck University
Summer Term 2021 to Winter Term 2021/22 → Interim Professorship (Part-Time) at the Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck
2019 – 2022 → Postdoctoral Researcher and Principal Investigator, third-party (OEAW) funded project “The Digital, Affects and Space”, Institute of Geography, Innsbruck University
2019 → Doctoral Candidate, Institute of Geography, Innsbruck University
2015 – 2018 → Senior Scientist without Doctorate and Doctoral Candidate: Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC), Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Klagenfurt
2013 – 2015 → Junior Scientist and Doctoral Candidate: Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC), Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Klagenfurt
2013 → Research Assistant: Department of Journalism and Communication Research (IJK), University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover
2011 → Volunteer & Travel: Self-organized stay in Ireland and Britain
2008 – 2011 → Student Assistant and Tutor: Chair of Media and Music Management Prof. Dr. Carsten Winter, Department of Journalism and Communication Research (IJK), University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover
2007 → Internship Account Planning: Advertising agency Jung von Matt/basis, Hamburg, Germany
Special Academic Positions & Memberships:
2019 – 2022 → Editorial Board Member, Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press
2019 – 2022 → Guest Researcher, Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC), Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Klagenfurt
2016 – 2018 → Elected Employee Representative of the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies within the Austrian Academy of Sciences
2014 – 2018 → Organiser of the annual Young Scholar’s Workshop, Working Group Popular Culture and Media (AG Populärkultur und Medien) of the Association for Media Studies (Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft)
2013 – 2017 → Assistant Editor European Handbook of Media Accountability, Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Klagenfurt
2016 – present → Peer-review for international journals (Mobile Media & Communication, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Geoforum, International Communication Gazette, Media and Communication, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, Studies of Transition States and Societies, Digital Journalism, Policy & Internet, European Journal of Health Communication) as well as for international conferences (European Communication Conference, ECREA; Association of Internet Researchers Annual Conference; AoIR).
Memberships:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK)
European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
Association for Cultural Studies (ACS)
Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
AG Populärkultur und Medien der Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft
Kommunikationskultur e.V. (IJK Hanover‘s alumni association)
Degrees:
2019 → Dr. phil. (Communications) University of Klagenfurt, Austria, passed with distinction
Title of thesis (in German): “Smartphone methods and their research ethics as exemplified by the case of Digital Migration Studies”
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2012 → Master of Arts (Media and Music), University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover, passed with distinction (1,0)
Title of thesis (in German): “Shopping in a mobile networked everyday life. A qualitative study into mobile shopping and the role of the smartphone therein”
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2009 → Bachelor of Arts (Media Management), University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover
Title of thesis (in German): “Shaping one’s relationship to music with media”
Awards & Honors:
2017 → Best Student Paper Award 2017 of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) for the paper “Navigating a new life: Syrian refugees and their smartphones in Vienna”
2015 → Short-term research placement abroad (KWA-Stipendium), funded by the University of Klagenfurt for participation and paper presentation at the international conference “Users Across Media”, 6.-8. May 2015, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2010 – 2011 → Merit-based scholarship by the Schader-Stiftung
Journal Articles (peer-reviewed):
Kaufmann, K., Peil, C. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2021). Producing in situ Data from a Distance with Mobile Instant Messaging Interviews (MIMIs) – Examples from the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Online first [Open Access]: https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211029697
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T., Gudowsky-Blatakes, N., Rauhala, M., & Rutzinger, M. (2021): Ethical challenges of researching emergent socio-material-technological phenomena: Insights from an interdisciplinary mixed methods project using mobile eye-tracking. Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society. Online first [Open Access]: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-01-2021-0007
Bork-Hüffer, T., Kulcar, V., Brielmair, F., Markl, A., Immer, D.M., Juen, B., Walter, M.H., & Kaufmann, K. (2021). University Students’ Perception, Evaluation, and Spaces of Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: What Can We Learn for Post-Pandemic Educational Futures? Sustainability, 13, 7595 [Open Access]. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147595
Bork-Hüffer, T; Mahlknecht, M. & K. Kaufmann (2021). (Cyber)Bullying in Schools – Bullying Practices in cON/FFlating Spaces. In: Children’s Geographies, 19(2), 241-253 [Open Access]. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2020.1784850
Kaufmann, K., Straganz, C. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2020). City-life No More? Young Adults’ Disrupted Urban Experiences and their Digital Mediation under Covid-19. In: Urban Planning 5 (4), 324-334 [Open Access]. http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/up.v5i4.3479
Prinzing, M, Schlütz, D., Kaufmann, K., Kreissl, J. & T. Rakebrand (2020). Ethikkompetenz als Querschnittsaufgabe. Herausforderungen für die kommunikations- und medienwissenschaftliche Forschung und Lehre [Ethical competence as a cross-sectional task. Challenges for Research and Teaching in Communication and Media Studies]. In: Publizistik, 65, 341-360 [Open Access]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-020-00578-4
Kaufmann, K. & Peil, C. (2020). The Mobile Instant Messaging Interview (MIMI): Using WhatsApp to enhance self-reporting and explore media usage in-situ. In: Mobile Media & Communication 8 (2), 229-246 [Open Access]. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157919852392
Kaufmann, K. (2018): The smartphone as a snapshot of its use: Mobile media elicitation in qualitative interviews. In: Mobile Media & Communication 6 (2), 233-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157917743782
Kaufmann, K. (2018): Navigating a new life: Syrian refugees and their smartphones in Vienna. In: Information, Communication & Society 21 (6), 882-898, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1437205
Kaufmann, K. (2016): Wie nutzen Flüchtlinge ihre Smartphones auf der Reise nach Europa? Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Interview-Studie mit syrischen Schutzsuchenden in Österreich. In: SWS-Rundschau 56 (3), 319-342.
Kaufmann, K. (2015): Die Rolle des Smartphones im Einkaufsalltag: Erkenntnisse aus einer qualitativen Nutzerstudie. In: Kommunikation @ Gesellschaft (16), 26 Seiten. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-423023.
Contributions to Volumes (peer-reviewed):
Kaufmann, K. (2020): Mobile Methods: Doing migration research with the help of smartphones. In K. Smets, K. Leurs, M. Georgiou, S. Witteborn & R. Gajjala (Eds.): The SAGE Handbook of Media and Migration (pp. 167-179). Sage.
Kaufmann, K. (2018): Mobil, vernetzt, geräteübergreifend: Die Komplexität alltäglicher Smartphone-Nutzung als methodische Herausforderung [Mobile, connected, across devices: The complexity of everyday smartphone use as a methodical challenge]. In C. Katzenbach, C. Pentzold, S. Kannengießer, M. Adolf, & M. Taddicken (Hrsg.), Neue Komplexitäten für Kommunikationsforschung und Medienanalyse: Analytische Zugänge und empirische Studien (S. 139-158). https://10.17174/dcr.v4.6
Kaufmann, K. (2018): Mit Kriegsflüchtlingen über ihre Smartphone-Nutzung auf der Flucht sprechen: Eine forschungsethische (Selbst-)Reflexion [Talking with war refugees about their smartphone use on their journey: a (self-)reflection on research ethics]. In: Nina Köberer, Marlis Prinzig, Michael Schröder (Hrsg.): Migration, Integration, Inklusion (S. 133-150). Nomos.
Other Publications:
Kaufmann, K. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2021): Mobile Methoden. In: Bork-Hüffer, T., Füller, H. & T. Straube (Eds.): Digitale Geographien: Welt – Wissen – Werkzeuge (p. 316-329). UTB.
Kaufmann, K., Palmberger, M., Parreiras, C., Bussoletti, A., Belotti, F., Comunello, F., Donato, S., Wagenaar, W., Bermúdez, J., Schweiger, M., & Wimmer, J. (2021). THE IN(TER)DEPENDENCIES OF MOBILE ONLINE AND OFFLINE SPACES: REFLECTIONS ON METHODS, PRACTICES, ETHICS. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12119
Bork-Hueffer, T., Mahlknecht, B., & Kaufmann, K. (2020). Bullying in cON/FFlating spaces – why a ‘space’ perspective matters for understanding young people’s experiences and practices of bullying. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11176
Ess, C., franzke, a. s., Kaufmann, K., Rauhala, M., Gudowsky-Blatakes, N., Rutzinger, M., Bork-Hüffer, T., Hård af Segerstad, Y., & Vanacker, B. (2020). Theoretical and practical research ethics: Three cases. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11117
Kaufmann, K. (2020). Understanding why smartphones are so essential to refugees. In L. Schiocchet, C. Nölle-Karimi, & M. Mokre (Eds.), Agency and Tutelage in Forced Migration (p. 39-42). ROR-n Plattform 2(1). Vienna: ROR-n, Austrian Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1553/RoR-n_Plattform_Vol_02(1)
Bork-Hüffer, T., Straganz, C. & K. Kaufmann (2020): Spatial (Im-)Mobilities of Young Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Extended abstract of the paper presented at the Online Symposium on “Disrupted Geographies or the Disruption of Geography during COVID-19”, on 7 July 2020. https://wp.med-geo.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/COVID19-Zaesur_Beitrag_Bork-Hueffer_Straganz_Kaufmann.pdf
Bork-Hüffer, T. & Kaufmann, K. (2020, 21 April). Young adults weathering the COVID-19 pandemic: They are not a “lost generation”! Blog entry. Transient Spaces Blog. https://www.doi.org/10.34834/2019.0011
Kaufmann, K. (2019). Smartphone-Methoden und ihre Forschungsethik am Beispiel der Digital Migration Studies [Smartphone methods and their research ethics as exemplified by the example of digital migration studies]. Klagenfurt, 2019. Dissertationsschrift, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt. Online verfügbar in netlibrabry: https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubk:1-33982
Eberwein, T., Fengler, S., Kaufmann, K., Brinkmann, J., & Karmasin, M. (2018): Summary: Measuring media accountability in Europe – and beyond. In: Eberwein, T., Fengler, S. & M. Karmasin (Eds.): The European Handbook of Media Accountability (p. 135-150). Routledge.
Kaufmann, K. (2017). Navigating A New Life: Syrian Refugees And Their Smartphones In Vienna. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/10067
Kaufmann, K. (2016). The Empowered Refugee: The Smartphone as a Tool of Resistance on the Journey to Europe. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 6. https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/9034
Kaufmann, K. & Winter, C. (2014): Ordinary people: Gewöhnliche Leute als Unternehmer ihrer Popkultur [Ordinary people as entrepreurs of their popular culture]. In: Uwe Breitenborn, Thomas Düllo & Sören Birke (Hrsg.), Gravitationsfeld Pop (S. 339-352). Bielefeld: transcript.
Invited Lectures, selection:
Kaufmann, K. (2022, May). Using Mobile Messaging in Qualitative Research: The Mobile Instant Messaging Interview (MIMI). Invited lecture presented as part of the course “Digital Methods”, Department of Communication, Ghent University, 10 May 2022, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K. (2022, March). Forschungsethische Herausforderungen in der qualitativen Forschung mit vulnerablen Zielgruppen. [Research ethical challenges in qualitative research with vulnerable groups]. Invited half-day workshop as part of the workshop series “Ethik in der Kommunikationswissenschaft”, Department for Media, Knowledge and Communication, University of Augsburg, 4 March 2022, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K. (2022, March). Mobile Methods in Digital Spaces: Collecting Qualitative Data with Mobile Messaging Apps. Invited lecture presented as part of the LSE Department of Methodology Seminar Series, 3 March 2022, Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, virtual event. https://www.lse.ac.uk/methodology/events
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T., Gudowsky-Blatakes, N. & Rutzinger, M. (2020, September). The Digital, Affects and Space (DigitAS): How digital media and augmented reality change the perception of public spaces. dha go!es digital day, 25 September 2020, virtual event. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4059763
Kaufmann, K. (2020, February). Der Einsatz von mobilem Eye-Tracking in Mixed Methods-Designs am Beispiel des interdisziplinären Projekts ‘The Digital, Affects and Space (DigitAS)’. [The use of mobile eye-tracking in mixed methods designs using the example of the interdisciplinary project ‘The Digital, Affects and Space (DigitAS).] Invited all-day workshop as part of the IfL Forschungswerkstatt #6: Viele Methoden verderben den Brei? Mixed Methods in der raumbezogenen Forschung, Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde, 28 February 2020, Leipzig, Germany.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, November). Mit Flüchtlingen forschen: Methodisch-ethische Herausforderungen einer qualitativen Mediennutzungsstudie [Researching with refugees: Methodical and ethical challenges of a qualitative media usage study]. Gastvortrag im Rahmen des Seminars „Medien und Migration“, 18. November 2019, Universität Münster, Münster, Deutschland.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, March). Using smartphones as means of knowledge-co-production: Experiences from research with refugees. Invited lecture presented at the LSE Symposium “Migration and the Digital City“, 29 March 2019, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom. http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/events/2019/migration-and-the-digital-city
Kaufmann, K., Mallmann, F. & Alhassan, M. (2018, September). Mit Kriegsflüchtlingen über ihre Smartphone-Nutzung auf der Flucht sprechen: Ethische und methodische Herausforderungen [Talking with war refugees about their smartphone use on the journey: Methodical and ethical challenges]. Gastvortrag im Rahmen des Seminars „Flucht und Trauma“, 29. September 2018, VÖPP Akademie der Vereinigung Österreichischer Psychotherapeutinnen und Psychotherapeuten (VÖPP), Wien, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. (2018, March). When digital connectivity enables physical mobility: The case of Syrian refugees using smartphones on their journey to Austria. Invited lecture presented as part of the “LSE Research Dialogues” series, Keyword “Mobility”, 8 March 2018, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, April). Google Maps, WhatsApp & Facebook Groups: Das Smartphone auf der Reise syrischer Flüchtlinge nach Österreich [Google Maps, WhatsApp & Facebook Groups: The smartphone on the journey of Syrian refugees to Austria]. Gastvortrag im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung „Mehr als Flucht“, 28. April 2017, Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. & Alhassan, M. (2016, June). Refugees and their smartphones – a research project from a communication studies perspective. Invited lecture presented at the interdisciplinary workshop “(Forced) Migration & Media“, 13 June 2016, University of Klagenfurt, Austria.
Kaufmann, K. (2016, Juni). Die Rolle des Smartphones auf der und für die Flucht: Erste Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Interview-Studie mit syrischen Flüchtlingen [The role of the smartphone for and during the journey: First results from a qualitative interview study with Syrian refugees]. Vortrag auf Einladung des Instituts für Journalistik und Kommunikationsforschung, 1. Juni 2016, Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, Deutschland.
Other Lectures, selection:
Bork-Hüffer, T., Kaufmann, K., Badde, V., Bremer, M., Gudowsky-Blatakes, N., Kollert, A., Kowalski, J. Misera, J., Melchert, J. & Rutzinger, R. (2022, Februar). Understanding the effects of mobile social media and augmentation on the affective-emotional experience of parks in the (post-)digital city. Paper presented at the DIGISTA Final Conference: “The (Post-)Digital City: Media, Technology and Architecture”, 17-18 February 2022, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T. & Rutzinger, M. (2021, September). Researching the Entanglements of People, Materialities and Technologies: Insights from an Interdisciplinary Mixed Methods Project Using Mobile Eye-Tracking. Paper presented at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society RGS-IBG 2021, 31 August – 3 September 2021, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K. (2021, September). Mobile Methods: Doing migration research with the help of smartphones. Paper presented as part of the panel “Handbook of media and migration launch 1”, 8th European Communication Conference, 6-9 September 2021, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T., Rutzinger, M., & Gudowsky, N. (2021, September). Communication and trust in times of extended realities: Researching the implications of digital media on the perception of physical space with mixed methods. Paper presented at the 8th European Communication Conference, 6-9 September 2021, virtual event.
Kollert, A., Rutzinger, R., Bremer, M., Kaufmann, K., & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2021, July). Mapping of 3D Eye-Tracking in urban outdoor environments. XXIV ISPRS Congress, July 2021, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T., Kollert, A., Gudowsky, N. & Rutzinger, M. (2021, 6 May). Contested meanings in entangled spaces: The in-situ perception of public places by social media users. Paper presented at the 4th International Geomedia conference, 5-8 May, virtual event.
Straganz, C., Mahlknecht, B., Kaufmann, K. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2021, 6 May). “Switching Grids” – Young Adults’ Practices of Mediating Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Paper presented at the 4th International Geomedia conference, 5-8 May, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Rauhala, M., Gudowsky-Blatakes, N., Rutzinger, M. & T. Bork-Hüffer (2020, October). Integrating mobile eye-tracking in a mixed methods research design: Ethical standards and practical requirements. Paper presented as part of the panel “Theoretical and practical research ethics: Three cases” for the 21st Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), October 2020, virtual event.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Mahlknecht, B. & K. Kaufmann (2020, October). Bullying in cON/FFlating spaces – towards comprehensive spatial analyses of bullying in conflating online and offline spaces. Paper accepted for the 21st Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), October 2020, virtual event.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Straganz, C. & Kaufmann, K. (2020, Juli). Räumliche (Im-)Mobilitäten junger Erwachsener während der COVID-19-Pandemie [Spatial (im)mobilities of young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic]. Online-Symposium „COVID-19 als Zäsur? Geographische Perspektiven auf Räume, Gesellschaften und Technologien in der Pandemie”, 6.-8.7.2020, virtuelles Event.
Kaufmann, K., Straganz, C., Mahlknecht, B. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2020, July). Reaching young people during a pandemic with Mobile Instant Messaging Interviews: Methodological Potentials for the Analysis of Socio-Material-Technological Spatialities. Digital Geography Research Group 4th Annual Symposium “Using the Digital: Research Methods, Teaching, and Everyday Practice”, 1 July 2020, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Bork-Hüffer, T. & M. Rutzinger (2020, January). Die Mischung macht’s? Mixed Methods zur interdisziplinären Erforschung von Raumwahrnehmung im Zeitalter von Extended Realities. [It’s the mix that makes it? Mixed methods for interdisciplinary research on the perception of space in times of extended realities]. Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Workshop #espace: Diskursive Streifzüge durch die raumtheoretische Praxis, 31. January 2020, Vienna, Austria.
Bork-Hüffer, T, Kaufmann, K. & M. Rutzinger (2020, January). Mobiles Eye-Tracking mit Datenbrillen zur Unterstützung qualitativer Forschung – ganzheitliche Erforschung von Affekten oder ‘Metrifizierung des Menschen’? [Mobile eye-tracking with data glasses to enhance qualitative research – a comprehensive exploration of affects or a ‘metrification of humans‘?]. Paper presented at the conference “Neue Kulturgeographie”, 31. January 2020, Bonn, Germany.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Mahlknecht, B. & Kaufmann, K. (2020, January). (Cyber-)Mobbing in Schulen – Mobbingpraktiken und die Rolle intersektionaler Identitäten in ‘cON/FFlating spaces’? [(Cyber)Bullying in schools – practices of bullying and the role of intersectional identities in ‘cON/FFlating spaces’?]. Paper presented at the conference “Neue Kulturgeographie”, 31. January 2020, Bonn, Germany.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Rutzinger, M., Kaufmann, K. & N. Gudowsky-Blatakes (2019, November). The Digital, Affects and Space: Methodological Advances in Researching the Relation of Augmented Realities, Spatial Perception and Societal Impacts. Paper presented at the 4th European Technology Assessment Conference, 4-6 November 2019, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, October). Giving refugees a voice through method innovation? Experiences and inspirations from using smartphones in qualitative migration studies. Paper presented at the ECREA Diaspora, Media and Migration Conference “Digital Fortress Europe“, 30-31 October 2019, Brussels, Belgium.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, September). Geographien der Mobilität: Wie syrische Flüchtlinge mit Hilfe ihrer Smartphones auf der Flucht kommunikativ und räumlich mobil werden [Geographies of Mobility: How Syrian refugees become communicatively and spatially mobile on their escape with the help of their smartphones]. Vortrag im Rahmen des Deutschen Geographenkongresses, 25.-30. September 2019, Kiel, Deutschland.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Rutzinger, M., Kaufmann, K. & Gudowsky, N. (2019, August). Creative methodologies for researching the socio-spatial impact of augmented urban futures. Paper presented at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, 28-30 August 2019, London, United Kingdom.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, Mai). Smartphone-Methoden und ihre Forschungsethik am Beispiel der Digital Migration Studies [Smartphone methods and their research ethics as exemplified by the case of Digital Migration Studies]. Universitätsöffentliche Präsentation der Dissertation im Rahmen der Defensio, 31. Mai 2019, Universität Klagenfurt, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. (2019, Mai). Herausforderungen der Forschungsethik bei qualitativen Interviews [research ethics challenges in qualitative interviews]. Vortrag im Rahmen des Panels „Ethische Herausforderungen bei der Erforschung digitalisierter Öffentlichkeiten“ auf der 64. Jahreskonferenz der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 9.-11. Mai 2019, Münster, Deutschland.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Rutzinger, M., Kaufmann, K. & N. Gudowsky-Blatakes (2019, May). The Digital, Affects and Space (DigitAS). DFG-Netzwerktreffen Digitale Geographien, 23 May 2019, Frankfurt, Germany.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Rutzinger, M., Kaufmann, K. & N. Gudowsky-Blatakes (2019, May). The Digital, Affects and Space (DigitAS). Opening Lecture at the Symposium “Reflections on the Societal Consequences of a Future in Mixed Realities”, 17 May 2019, Innsbruck, Austria.
Bork-Hüffer, T., Kaufmann, K. & N. Gudowsky-Blatakes (2018, November). “DigitAS – Digitalisation, Affects and Space”, Presentation at the Hearing of the go!digital Next Generation Call of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 27 November 2018, Vienna, Austria.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, November). When the refugee’s tool becomes the researcher’s tool: Getting deep into refugees’ smartphone practices with WhatsApp. Paper presented at the International Conference of the ECREA Diaspora, Migration and the Media section together with ICC section “Migration and communication flows: rethinking borders, conflict and identity through the digital”, 2-3 November 2017, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, October). Navigating a new life: Syrian Refugees and their Smartphones in Vienna. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), 19-21 October 2017, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, September). Mobility through and with media: The locative media practices of Syrian refugees using smartphones. Paper presented at the International Workshop “Anthropologies of Media and Mobility: Theorizing movement and circulations across entangled fields”, 14-16 September 2017, University of Cologne, Germany.
Kaufmann, K. & Eberwein, T. (2017, Juni). Gesellschaftliche Teilhabe durch Smartphones? Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Medienbildung und Empowerment. [Social participation through smartphones? Thoughts on the relationship between media literacy and empowerment]. Vortrag im Rahmen des universitätsweiten Workshops „Der Mensch im digitalen Zeitalter“, 28.-29. Juni 2017, Universität Klagenfurt, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, Februar). Mit Kriegsflüchtlingen über ihre Smartphone-Nutzung auf der Flucht sprechen: Eine forschungsethische (Selbst-)Reflexion [Talking with war refugees about their smartphone use on the journey: A (self-)reflection from a research ethics’ perspective]. Vortrag im Rahmen der Jahrestagung 2017 der DGPuK-Fachgruppe Kommunikations- und Medienethik zusammen mit dem Netzwerk Medienethik und in Kooperation mit der Akademie für politische Bildung, Tutzing, 16.-17. Februar 2017, Hochschule für Philosophie München, Deutschland.
Kaufmann, K. & Peil, C. (2016, November). Carrying media diaries into the future: how WhatsApp enhances self-reporting methodologies. Paper presented at the 6th European Communication Conference (ECREA): Mediated (Dis)Continuities: Contesting Pasts, Presents and Futures, Charles University, November 9-12, 2016, Prague, Czech Republic.
Kaufmann, K. (2016, October). The Empowered Refugee: The Smartphone as a Tool of Resistance on the Journey to Europe. Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR): Internet Rules!, Humboldt University zu Berlin, October 5-8, 2016, Berlin, Germany.
Kaufmann, K. (2016, July). “The life I had is in my pocket“ – How Syrian refugees bridge past and future with the help of their smartphones. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR): Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward, University of Leicester, July 27-31, 2016, Leicester, UK.
Eberwein, T., Fengler, S., Kaufmann, K., Brinkmann, J. & Karmasin, M. (2016, June). Measuring media accountability in Europe: A comparative study of infrastructures of media self-regulation in 30 European states. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), June 9-13, 2016, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kaufmann, K. (2015, November). Mobil, vernetzt, geräteübergreifend: Die Komplexität alltäglicher Smartphone-Nutzung als methodische Herausforderung [Mobile, connected, across multiple devices: The complexity of everyday smartphone use as a methodical challenge]. Vortrag im Rahmen der gemeinsamen Jahrestagung der Fachgruppen Computervermittelte Kommunikation und Soziologie der Medienkommunikation der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), 5.-7. November 2015, Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin.
Kaufmann, K. (2015, Juni). Beyond Media Reception: Developing Material Artefacts as Part of Today’s Everyday Media Use. Paper presented at the ECREA Audience and Reception Studies Conference 2015: Audience Research in a ‚Post-Media’ Age?, University of Tartu, June 25-27, 2015, Tartu, Estonia.
Kaufmann, K. (2015, Juni). Die Aneignung und Nutzung mobiler app-basierter Endgeräte als ausdifferenzierende Entwicklung materieller Interfaces [The appropriation and use of mobile app-based devices as differentiating production of material interfaces]. Universitätsöffentliche Präsentation des Dissertationsvorhabens vor dem Doktoratsbeirat Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 23. Juni 2015, Universität Klagenfurt, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. (2015, Mai). Researching Cross-Media Practices: The Smartphone as a Snapshot of its Use. Paper presented at the International Conference on Users Across Media, University of Copenhagen, May 6-8, 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kaufmann, K. & Winter, C. (2014, April). Mobile Media Practices: The Transforming Role of the Smartphone in Everyday Shopping Contexts. Paper presented at the CECC International Conference on (New) Audience Practices, Catholic University of Portugal, April 3-4, 2014, Lisbon, Portugal.
Kaufmann, K. & Winter, C. (2010, Oktober). Wie digitale Netzwerkmedien aus gewöhnlichen Musiknutzern Gestalter und Entwickler von Beziehungen zu Musik und zu Menschen machen [How digital network media make ordinary music users into shapers and producers of musical and social relationships]. Vortrag im Rahmen der Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe Soziologie der Medienkommunikation der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK) „Medienentwicklung im Wandel“, 28.-30. Oktober 2010, Hannover, Deutschland.
Panel organisations & workshops, selection:
Kaufmann, K. & Bork-Hüffer, T. (2022, 3 June). The entanglements of people, materialities and and technologies. A joint DigitAS / beYOND workshop. Virtual workshop organised as a closing event of the third-party project “DigitAS” and a kick-off event of the third-party funded project “beYOND”, University of Innsbruck, virtual event. https://www.transient-spaces.org/the-entanglements-of-people-materialities-and-technologies-a-joint-digitas-beyond-workshop/
Kaufmann, K., Palmberger, M., Parreiras, C., Bussoletti, A., Belotti, F., Comunello, F., Donato, S., Wagenaar, W., Bermúdez, J., Schweiger, M., & Wimmer, J. (2021, October). The in(ter)dependencies of mobile online and offline spaces: Reflections on methods, practices, ethics. Panel accepted for the Annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers #AoIR 2021: Independence, 13-16 October 2021, virtual event.
Kaufmann, K., Gruber, E., Mahlknecht, B., Bork-Hüffer, T., Kärgel, K., Vobbe, F., Palmberger, M., Straganz, C., & Ghafoor-Zadeh, D. (2021, 29 March). Digital Media Practices of Young People in Crisis Situations. Panel presented at the international conference #YouthMediaLife 2021, 29 March -1 April 2021, University of Vienna, Vienna, virtual event.
Media & public appearances:
Seymat, T. (2020, 7 February). Pas de ‘journée mondiale sans téléphone portable” pour les migrants. News report on the French Euronews website featuring Kaufmann’s 2018 Information, Communication and Society paper “Navigating a new life: Syrian refugees and their smartphones”. Available at: https://fr.euronews.com/2020/02/06/pas-de-journee-sans-telephone-portable-pour-les-migrants?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1581018201. Reprinted as an English version under the title “It’s World Day Without Mobile Phones – unless you’re a migrant“. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/07/it-s-world-day-without-mobile-phones-unless-you-re-a-migrant
Bork-Hüffer, T. & Kaufmann, K. (2019, Dezember). Erweiterte neue Welt. Interview von Eva Fessler im wissenswert Magazin der Universität Innsbruck zum Forschungsprojekt „DigitAS – The Digital, Affects and Space“, Dezember-Ausgabe 2019, S. 4-5. Verfügbar unter: https://de.scribd.com/document/438937404/wissenswert-Dezember-2019-Magazin-der-Universitat-Innsbruck#download&from_embed
Kaufmann, K. (2017, 17. August). Akku wichtiger als Essen – Smartphone als „Freund auf der Flucht“. Interview mit APA Austria Presse Agentur, mit Nachdruck in Wiener Zeitung Online, Krone.at, Science.Orf.at, Der Standard Online.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, 07. Juli). Das Smartphone als Lebensretter. Interview mit Die Presse. Verfügbar unter: http://diepresse.com/home/science/5248615/Das-Smartphone-als-Lebensretter
Kaufmann, K. & Alhassan, M. (2017, 28. Juni). Das Smartphone als Fluchtbegleiter. Interview mit ÖAW-Presseabteilung, Nachdruck auf Lebensart.at. Verfügbar unter: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/oesterreichische-akademie-der-wissenschaften/die-oeaw/article/das-smartphone-als-fluchtbegleiter/
Kaufmann, K. (2017, 05. März). Podiumsteilnahme an der Diskussion “Kommunikationstechnologien und Migration“ im Rahmen des elevate Festivals, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Österreich.
Kaufmann, K. (2017, 14. Januar). Umgang mit Sozialen Netzen in der Not. Interview mit Der Standard Forschung Spezial [online]. Verfügbar unter: http://derstandard.at/2000050501986/Umgang-mit-Sozialen-Netzen-in-der-Not
Kaufmann, K. (2016, 07. Dezember). Podiumsteilnahme an der Diskussion “Wer (M)acht Medien? – Filmscreening & Diskussion My Escape“ im Rahmen des Fachtutoriumsprojektes Studieneingangsphase, Institut für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft, Universität Wien.
Kaufmann, K. (2016, 26. September). Understanding why smartphones are so essential to refugees. Refugee Outreach & Research Network Blog. Verfügbar unter: http://www.ror-n.org/-blog/understanding-why-smartphones-are-so-essential-to-refugees
Kaufmann, K. (2016, 27. August). Nicht ohne mein Handy. Interview mit Schweiz am Sonntag [Online]. Verfügbar unter: https://www.schweizamwochenende.ch/nachrichten/nicht-ohne-mein-handy-131067432
Kaufmann, K. (2016, 28. Juni). Wenn Menschen dank Smartphones am Leben bleiben. Blogbeitrag auf Der Standard [Online]. Verfügbar unter: http://derstandard.at/2000039965056/Wenn-Menschen-dank-Smartphones-am-Leben-bleiben
Kaufmann, K. (2016). Ein Selfie als Lebensbeweis. Interview mit ad astra – Magazin für Wissenschaft und Kultur der Universität Klagenfurt, Ausgabe Oktober 2016, S. 11. Verfügbar unter: https://www.aau.at/blog/ein-selfie-als-lebensbeweis/
About Me
My main research interest lies in the inventive and unexpected practices of people using their mobile, digital devices to tackle the challenges of their everyday lives. My conceptual perspective is characterized by a pronounced interdisciplinary outlook seeking for inspiration beyond the boundaries of my own academic discipline, communications, in fields such as popular and cultural studies, refugee and migration studies, human geography, postcolonial studies, internet studies, or science and technology studies.
Further, I am highly interested in mobile methods. Over the course of my research projects, I found a particular methodological potential of mobile media technologies for the development of qualitative and mixed mobile methods to come closer to the experiences of people in today’s volatile everyday lives. From my point of view, there is much to be gained from mixed methods in the form of elicitation approaches that combine the abundance and precision of data – may it be data produced by a smartphone, by a GPS device, or a bio-sensing device – with the subjectivity of the study participants’ insights to understand the increasing empirical complexity of a mobile, digitally connected life.
Yet, what often is left aside is the ethical dimension of method innovation. Particularly in the context of doing research with vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups, as I did in my recently completed PhD study with refugees on their smartphone use, researchers need to acknowledge the ways methods also contribute to the generation of categories and, thus, to the perceptions of what the transient spaces and societies we live in are composed of. All the more, I am convinced of the value that a self-reflexive, ethically informed approach has – not only confined to the application of research methods but anchored in the process of method development itself.
My research has been supported by grants from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the City of Vienna and the University of Klagenfurt. I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degree at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover (Germany) and obtained my doctoral degree from the University of Klagenfurt (Austria) while working as a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna.
© 2025
Research Group Transient Spaces & Societies
Department of Geography Heidelberg University Berliner Str. 48, 69120 Heidelberg
Department of Geography University of Innsbruck
Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck