Arnd-Michael Nohl

Arnd-Michael Nohl is Professor of Education Science at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg, Germany. He teaches systematic issues of education, methodology of qualitative research, and intercultural education.

Arnd-Michael Nohl studied at Heidelberg University, Ankara and Hacettepe University as well as Freie Universität Berlin where he graduated with a Master’s degree in Education Science, Psychology and Islamic Science. He received his Dr. phil. (PhD) with a thesis on second generation migrants from Turkey at the Free University, and finished his second thesis (Habilitation) at Magdeburg University. After a junior (assistant) professorship for Intercultural Education at Freie Universität Berlin (2004-2006), he was appointed professor at Helmut Schmidt University in 2006.

Arnd has conducted research on a wide range of issues concerned with education: On the practical value of their cultural capital in labour markets (published as “Work in Transition. Cultural Capital and highly skilled migrants’ passages into the labour market,” Toronto, co-authored 2014 with Schittenhelm, Schmidtke & Weiß), on transformative learning (English summary published as “Typical Phases of Transformative Learning – A Practice-Based Model” in Adult Education Quarterly 65(1)), on systematic approaches to intercultural education (“Konzepte interkultureller Pädagogik”, Heilbronn, 2014), on the practices of curriculum change in secondary schools in Turkey (“Education and Social Dynamics: A Multilevel Analysis of Curriculum Change in Turkey,” London & New York, co-authored 2019 with Somel), and on qualitative methodology ( “Interview und Dokumentarische Methode,” Wiesbaden, 2017). In his research, Arnd usually combines theoretical reflection with qualitative inquiry.

At the Centre for Global Studies, Arnd pursues the (neglected) question why populism is so attractive for some social groups. From a global perspective, his project, therefore, inquires into the political socialisation of those attracted to populism in three countries: the U.S., Germany, and Turkey. In contrast to opinion surveys, the focus lies on long-term patterns of socialization and their intertwining with the experience of current political constellations. Not least, it analyses how globalisation plays into populist political socialization (as cause and catalysator).