Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack

Karoline Noack focuses on the categories of social dependency of the Inca Empire: resettled persons (mitimaes), specialists (camayoc), dependent employees (yanaconas) and “selected women” (aqllakuna). These categories do not designate social groups and there are no clear dividing lines between them. However, the groups can be distinguished by their specific forms of dependency from the Inca elite, as well as by their specialized or non-specialized services. They are also characterized by the manner of their community involvement. The Inca activated cultural/religious differential criteria by the relations of the members of these social categories with the regions of origin and their representation in state rituals. Very little is known about the mitimaes and the other categories. Karoline Noack tries to develop methods for an interlinkage of archaeological, ethno-historical and ethnological sources and approaches.

1 book, 35 book contributions, 15 (selected) journal contributions and reviews; numerous lectures, 5 completed (first reviewer 3 times, second reviewer twice at other universities), 27 ongoing doctorates, 45 Magister, 12 M.A. and 54 B.A. theses as supervisor/first reviewer.

2010
Habilitation and Venia legendi for Cultural Anthropology and Anthropology of the Americas

1991–1996
Ph.D. at the Free University of Berlin, Germany

1988–1991
Ph.D. in Anthropology of the Americas, Academy of Sciences of the GDR (Doctoral Fellowship)

1983–1988
Diploma Studies in Anthropology and History, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

since 2019
Co-Speaker of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies

since 2009
Professor for Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2005–2009
Research Associate at the Institute for Latin American Studies (Anthropology of the Americas), Free University of Berlin, Germany

1997–2005
Lecturer at the Institute for European Ethnology at Humboldt University and at the Institute for Latin American Studies of the Free University of Berlin, Germany

1996–1997
Research Fellowship of the Berlin Senate Department for Labor, Project Application for Historical Gender Research in Latin America

1991–1995
Doctoral Fellowship DAAD, Friedrich Ebert Foundation

2022–2025
Heritage and territoriality: Past, present and future perceptions among the Tacana, T'simane and Waiwai. Dr. Carla Jaimes Betancourt and Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack, Universität Bonn, Germany, Dr. Lilian Painter, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bolivia, Prof. Dr. Carlos Dias Junior, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Brazil (VolkswagenStiftung)

2022–2025
Head of research project "Das Zentrum und das Lokale im Gleichgewicht: Mobilisierung und Produktionsstrategien des Inka- und frühen Kolonialstaats in Cochabamba, Bolivien" [Balancing the center and the local: Mobilization and production strategies of the Inca and colonial state in Cochabamba, Bolivia]  (DFG)

2021–2024
Verbundprojekt der Europäischen Union 2021-2025: Wissenschaftliche Sammlungen auf dem Vormarsch: Provinzmuseen, Archive und Sammlungspraktiken (1800-1950). Das BASA-Museum (Bonner Amerikas Sammlung) – unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack und Dr. Daniel Grana-Behrens als Kurator – als Teil der Abteilung für Anthropologie der Amerikas der Universität Bonn arbeitet mit Museen und Sammlungen aus Argentinien, Frankreich, Mexiko, Spanien und der Schweiz zusammen und koordiniert die digitale Ausstellung.

2018–2022
Head of subproject "chaquiras in Südamerika" [chaquiras in South America] in the interdisciplinary project "Sinnüberschuss und Sinnreduktion von, durch und mit Objekten. Materialität von Kulturtechniken zur Bewältigung des Außergewöhnlichen" [Excess of meaning and reduction of meaning of, through and with objects. Materiality of cultural techniques for coping with the extraordinary] (BMBF)

2017–2019
Cooperation in collaborative project "Kooperationsprojekt Akteurinnen – Praxen – Theorien. Zur Wissensgeschichte der Ethnologie in der DDR" [Cooperation Project Actors - Practices - Theories. On the history of knowledge of ethnology in the GDR] (Volkswagenstiftung)

2016–2019
Head of collaborative project "Die Sammlungen – ein Kosmos. Von der Vernetzungswissenschaft Alexander von Humboldts zu objektbasierten Wissensanordnungen im Netzzeitalter" [The Collections – One Cosmos. From the Networking Science of Alexander von Humboldt to Object-Based Knowledge Arrangements in the Network Age] (BMBF)

2015–2022
Head of collaborative project "Transkulturalität und wirtschaftliche Austauschbeziehungen im Formativum im Hochtal von Cochabamba, Bolivien" [Transculturality and Economic Exchange Relations in the Formativum in the High Valley of Cochabamba, Bolivia] (DFG)

since 2015
Full member of the German Archaeological Institute

2015–2018
Head of the collaborative project "Mensch-Ding-Verflechtungen in indigenen Gesellschaften" [Man-Object Entanglements in Indigenous Societies] (BMBF)

since 2019
Deputy Spokesperson of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS)

since 2019
Spokesperson of the Transdisciplinary Research Area 5 (together with Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher)

since 2019
Deputy Spokesperson of the working group "Museum" of the DGSKA

since 2015
Member of the editorial board of the series "Early Americas: History and Culture"

since 2014
Member of the directors’ board of the Interdisziplinäres Lateinamerika-Zentrum [Interdisciplinary Latin America Centre] at the University of Bonn

since 2012
Member of the editorial board of the journal "Indiana" and the series "Estudios Indiana"

since 2008
President of the association Gesellschaft für Ethnographie e.V.

• German Research Foundation (DFG) (individual project, 2015–2019; joint project 2022–2024)
• BMBF (3 joint projects 2015–2018, 2016–2019, 2018–2021)
• VW Foundation (individual project 2017–2018); collaborative project (2022–2025)
• Landesverband Rheinland (Regional Rhineland Association)
• several minor fundings

Total sum more than € 2,200.000 million.