Interview with Junior Fellow Joh Sarre
When Joh Sarre came to Bayreuth for a doctorate in April 2014, it was not only a new beginning, but also a reunion. The university had already won Joh over ten years earlier. Shortly after graduating from high school, Joh came to the university in 2004 to begin the – then relatively new – bachelor’s degree in Culture and Society of Africa. A six-month volunteer service in Tanzania – where Joh (admirably, quite incidentally) also learned Swahili – had awakened a deep interest in and attachment to East Africa that Joh maintains to this day. Subsequent stays finally also created the idea for Joh’s bachelor thesis on religious choral music in Tanzania.
“Get away and do something different”
After graduating from university and working as a ski instructor and at the GIZ, the wanderlust bit Joh that eventually led Joh to the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. There, Joh completed a master’s degree in cultural anthropology and development sociology. In Nepal, Joh researched perceptions of democracy for the master’s thesis: “But I then realized a lot what it was like to be limited to the people I could speak English with – knowing how naturally and immediately I could connect with people in Tanzania because of my language skills.”
“Somehow East Africa again”
Joh then spent three years working on a political science project in Berlin, including case studies of water and sanitation in Kibera, a neighborhood of Nairobi. Despite the more fruitful exchanges between disciplines, Joh missed guidance for the own doctoral work: “I frequently had to defend my understanding of anthropological work against the political science way of working.” However, fate was to hold Joh’s hand.
“Back in the lap of ethnology and African studies”
While still in the bachelor’s programme, Joh worked as a student assistant for Erdmute Alber, who was then a junior professor of ethnosociology and now holds the chair of social anthropology in Bayreuth. She contacted Joh at just the right moment with the possibility of doing a PhD in Bayreuth. In 2014 Joh’s return to the alma mater and the intensive work on the dissertation project to place. Through Joh’s previous research in Kibera, an interesting research question about belonging, (ethnic) difference and home developed.
“What does it mean to be Nubi in Kenya?”
Kibera is often pejoratively referred to as ‘Africa’s largest slum’. About 250,000 people live there. Even though Kibera is often perceived by outsiders as nothing more than problematic, Joh observed that many people call it, against all odds, home. Joh was particularly interested in the Nubi people here, who call themselves the ‘indigenous people’ of the slum: “I wondered what it means to call a place like Kibera home. What is home? Who belongs where? And wanted to formulate a critique of the idea that you can and must always belong to only one category.”
“I like to have one leg to stand on and one leg to play with”.
Because in the same way, Joh also does not want to fit into a single category. Joh’s diverse interests, skills and experience clearly reflect this. That is exactly what colleagues and friends appreciate about Joh, as ‘doctoral mother’ Erdmute Alber made clear in a short speech after Joh’s defence: “She always felt I had one foot in and one foot out and always on the go, always had many feet in many doors. I think that illustrates it very nicely."
“I want to leave everything open”
In the same way, Joh approaches questions about future plans and does not want to be tied down to one direction. Through Katja Günther’s and Ingrid Scherübl’s writing ashrams, however, Joh discovered an interest in consulting and coaching writing projects: “I kind of feel like I’ve always learned writing through trial and error. I try it one way and then another. I want to look more closely at scientific writing, which is really our main activity as scientists: What are we even doing?” Even though many of the courses have been canceled due to the pandemic, Joh plans to teach writing classes and supervise various writing projects in the near future. In primary position, however, stands the publication of the own dissertation.
BIGSAS Time – Not in the quiet chamber
Already during the writing of the dissertation, Joh realized how important the exchange with colleagues was. In a BIGSAS peer-reading circle and in Erdmute Alber’s writing workshop, Joh repeatedly received feedback on the own project: “It was important for me not to write the dissertation alone in a quiet room and only get feedback when it’s already finished.” BIGSAS will miss Joh’s enthusiasm and energy. In 2015, Joh was a Junior Fellow Representative along with Sarah Böllinger and brought forward many valuable ideas and suggestions, such as participating in the Maisel Fun Run. Joh appreciated the opportunities and freedom to get involved: “It was great fun and I’m really grateful to BIGSAS that there was always an open ear, no matter what crazy idea popped into my head.”
Defence in lockdown
Despite this positive experience, the end of Joh’s time at BIGSAS was not initially under a good star: “I was at a lot of defences, where we always supported other Junior Fellows, and then I got the news: You’re going to have to defend in a total lockdown now.” However, even though that was a low blow for Joh, everything went smoothly at the defence and the evening held another surprise: Junior Fellows friends organised a digital party, inviting relatives, friends and companions from Germany, Kenya and all over: “It was nice that this made it possible for many to participate who otherwise would never have been able to be in Bayreuth on a Wednesday evening.” On behalf of BIGSAS, I wish Joh all the best for the future (and hopefully another 1000 legs in 1000 doors). We all hope that this was not the last Bayreuth saw of Joh.