Rupert Moser

Rupert Moser (born June 2, 1944 in Horn , Canton Thurgau ) is an emeritus associate professor for social anthropology and African studies at the University of Bern . He conducted research on the paternal ngoni and the maternal mwera (see Ngindo ) in southern Tanzania . Further work dealt with the Swahili genesis, migrations and religious movements.

Life

Moser began studying ethnology , social anthropology and African studies in 1963 . In 1971 he received his doctorate as Dr. phil. and was elected assistant at the Institute for Social Anthropology at the University of Bern. At this time he also took up courses. In 1975 he was elected senior assistant and was temporarily entrusted with the management of the Institute for Ethnology for the 1975 summer semester and 1975/1976 winter semester . In 1976 and 1977, Moser was a guest lecturer at the Faculté des Lettres at the University of Friborg . From 1978 Moser co-edited the magazine “Genève - Afrique, magazine of the Swiss African Society” (vol. 16 to vol. 21).

In January 1981 his habilitation process began at the philosophical-historical faculty of the University of Bern. On December 21, 1981, Rupert Moser received the license to teach ethnology, social anthropology and African studies from the Education Department of the Canton of Bern . In 1983 he stayed again for field studies in Tanzania and Kenya , before he accepted a C4 professorship at the Institute for Ethnology and African Studies at the University of Mainz in the winter semester 1983/1984 and in the summer semester 1984 . He then stayed in Tanzania again from the summer of 1984 to the summer of 1986 as part of a research project he led. From the winter semester 1986/1987 to the winter semester 1991/1992 he held teaching positions at the Universities of Bern and Zurich and led various research projects.

In the summer semester of 1992 he was a substitute professor at the Institute for Ethnology at the University of Tübingen . In the following winter semester, Moser coordinated the project “Migrations from the Third World: Causes, Effects, Options for Action” at the University of Bern. In 1993 Rupert Moser became Secretary General of the Collegium generale at the University of Bern. In October 1995 he was appointed associate professor , in February 2008 as associate professor and in June 2009 as associate professor emeritus at the University of Bern. In 2018 Rupert Moser was made an honorary member of the Swiss Academies of Arts, Société suisse d'etudes africaines section.

He still travels to East Africa for field visits and continues to run East African and Kiswahili language courses.

Works (selection)

as an author

• Aspects of the cultural history of the Ngoni in the Mkoa wa Ruvuma, Tanzania. Materials on culture and language change (publications of the Swiss African Society; Vol. 3/4), (contributions to African Studies; Vol. 17). Swiss African Society, Bern 1983 (also habilitation thesis, University of Bern 1981).
• Evaluation of humanities research in Switzerland. Basic report for African studies (research policy; vol. 31). Swiss Science Council, Bern 1996 (with the assistance of Beat Sottas).
• The promotion of the social sciences in international comparison. A survey with special consideration of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria and Sweden (research policy; Vol. 7). Swiss Science Council, Bern 1992.
• The historical and cultural development of the Swahili. A contribution to the ethno-history of the East African coastal areas . Dissertation, University of Vienna 1970.
• Guide to Kiswahili (Swahili grammar) . Institute for Social Anthropology at the University, Bern 2005.
• PhraseBook Kiswahili (Swahili Vocabulary) . Institute for Social Anthropology at the University, Bern 2007.

as editor

• Aspects of Tribal Life in South Asia. Strategy and Survival (Studia Ethnologica Bernensia; Vol. 1). University of Bern, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-260-04529-5 (together with Mohan Gautam).
• The importance of the ethnic in the age of globalization. Inclusions, exclusions, purges . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 2000, ISBN 3-258-06147-5 .
• Coping with and suppression of spiritual crises. Esotericism as a compensation for deficits in science and the churches . Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 1998, ISBN 3-906762-11-4 (together with Peter Rusterholz).
• Diachronica. On the relationship between ethnology, history and historical studies . Parallel title: Du rapport entre ethnologie, histoire et connaissance de l'histoire . (Ethnologica Helvetica; Vol. 8). Swiss Ethnological Society, Bern 1984, ISBN 3-260-05085-X (together with Peter H. Kamber)
• End times, turning times . Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 2004, ISBN 3-906767-27-2 (together with Sara M. Zwahlen).
• Evolution in the natural, social and human sciences . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 2003, ISBN 3-258-06462-8 (together with Andreas Diekmann ).
• Form and function of myth in modern and archaic societies . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 1999, ISBN 3-258-06015-0 (together with Peter Rusterholz).
• Inner security and fears of life . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 1997, ISBN 3-258-05636-6 (together with Karl-Ludwig Kunz ).
• Habitats. Scientific and socio-cultural analyzes . Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 1994, ISBN 3-906753-31-X (together with Maja Svilar).
• Migrations from the Third World. Causes and effects . 3rd edition. Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 1993, ISBN 3-258-04741-3 (together with Walter Kälin ).
• Lost paradises . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 2004, ISBN 3-258-06757-0 (together with Peter Rusterholz).
• How do we understand foreign things . Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 2005, ISBN 3-03910-472-1 (together with Peter Rusterholz).
• We are memory . Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 2003, ISBN 3-258-06560-8 (together with Peter Rusterholz).
• Time. Understanding of time in science and everyday life . Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 1997, ISBN 3-906759-07-5 (together with Peter Rusterholz).

Web links

• Rupert Moser on the website of the University of Bern (in the web archive)
• Moser's publications on his private homepage