Dr. Stephanie Weismann

Stephanie Weismann is a cultural historian with a research focus on sensory studies, urban history, the history of experience and emotions, as well as popular culture in (post-)socialism. More broadly her work engages with the (cultural) history of East-Central and Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. She studied Comparative Literature, German and Russian Philology at the Universities of Vienna and St. Petersburg/Russia and completed her PhD within the framework of the interdisciplinary doctoral programme Austrian Galicia and its Multicultural Heritage at the University of Vienna. Stephanie Weismann was PI of the research projects »The Smellscapes of Lublin. An Olfactory History of Poland in the 20th Century« as well as the Citizen-Science-project »Vienna Nosewise. Olfactory and Emotional Neighbourhood Explorations« and continuously secured third-party funding and received fellowships (FWF, NCN, NAWA, DHI, DAAD). She has taught at the Universities of Vienna, Warsaw, Halle, Lublin and Sarajevo. 

Since September 2025, she has been conducting research on the project »Underfoot: Urban Pavements and their HiStories« in the department »Culture and Imagination«.

• Sensory Studies/Sensory History
• History of experience and emotions/affective geographies
• Urban history (19th century until today)
• History of everyday life and popular culture in (post)socialism
• Material history
• Citizen Science

• Research Platform »Transformations and Eastern Europe«/University of Vienna
• Research Group »Disability Studies«/University of Vienna
• Past Scent/Odeuropa (European research network bundling expertise in sensory mining and olfactory heritage)
• Forum Geruch (Austrian Network for Olfactory Research)

Stephanie Weismann has taught courses at the University of Vienna, at the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg and at Warsaw University. She also regularly lectures at the Polish Academy of Sciences Doctoral School »Anthropos«. Besides, she has led workshops at the annual Children’s University at the University of Vienna and engaged as »Science-Ambassador« in schools (Vienna)