Senior Professor of Sociology of the Art Field and Creative Industries

Profile

The Senior Professorship is dedicated to empirical research on art and creative work as well as to sociological and social-theoretical analyses of cultural practices. Preference is given to qualitative methods of field research, such as qualitative interviews and participant observation.


Furthermore, the chair investigates various phenomena of social precarity and exclusion, ranging from long-term unemployment to the interrelation between creative work and precarity. Within the framework of the current DFG-funded project, the possibilities and limits of visual sociology are being examined, in particular through the analysis of Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Science Journal "Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales" (ARSS), which is closely linked to the Senior Professorship and is being uniquely curated and studied there.


In addition to its own empirical research, the chair is also involved in the publication of Pierre Bourdieu’s Collected Writings with Suhrkamp, as well as the series Raisons d’agir and Questions sociologiques(Paris), among others.

Schultheis, Franz
Schultheis, Franz Prof Dr
Curriculum Vitae

Teaching

The courses offered by Franz Schultheis at Zeppelin University primarily focus on questions in the sociology of art and creative work, the sociology of work and education, and praxeological social theory.


In recent years, the teaching portfolio has included the following courses:


2026: Social Inequality, Work, Credit, and Distinction
2025: Capitalism, Idea, Development, and Future
2025: Art and Capital: Origins, Structures, and Paradoxes of a Market of Symbolic Goods

Main areas of research

  • Sociology of art and creative work
  • Visual sociology
  • Praxeological sociology
  • Sociology of the world of work
  • Phenomena of social exclusion

The chair holder

Since 2019, Franz Schultheis has been Senior Professor of Sociology at Zeppelin University. Previously, he taught and conducted research at the University of Konstanz, Université Paris Descartes (Paris V), Université de Montréal, University of Neuchâtel, University of Geneva, and University of St. Gallen. After completing his doctorate at the University of Konstanz, he completed his habilitation at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales under Pierre Bourdieu.


From 2010 to 2020, Schultheis served as Vice President of the Swiss Science Council. He is also a reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation and, since 2005, President of the Pierre Bourdieu Foundation (Fondation Bourdieu). His research and teaching focus particularly on social structure analysis, inequality and precarity, sociology of work, and the sociology of art and culture.


Further Information (German only)

Recent publications (selection)

  • Bourdieu, P. (2025). »Übrigens ...«. Schultheis, Franz (Hrsg.), Wien: Turia + Kant. Zur Publikation
  • Lo Bello, R., Schultheis, F., Tertelmann, F., & Hälbich, J. (2025). Arbeit lohnt sich immer?! Zwischen Sollen, Wollen und Können. Warum Langzeitarbeitslose trotz Fach- und Arbeitskräftemangel selten in den Arbeitsmarkt eintreten. Eine qualitative, explorative Studie. EFAS – Evangelischer Fachverband für Arbeit und soziale Integration e.V.; NEUE ARBEIT gGmbH. PDF der Studie
  • Schultheis, F. (2024). Soziologische Erzählkunst – Ein Werkstattbesuch bei Pierre Bourdieus „Das Elend der Welt“. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. (2024). Der Preis von Dingen unschätzbaren Wertes Soziologische Streifzüge durch einen Markt singulärer Güter. In Gartmann, Thomas et al. (Hrsg.), Studies in the Arts II,. Künste, Design und Wissenschaft im Austausch, Bielefeld: transcript, S.221-234. Bielefeld: transcript. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. & Hüser, C. (Hrsg., 2023). Habitat und Habitus - Pierre Bourdieus visuelle Soziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, Fragt (13.06.2023). Forscher über Umgang mit Armut - „Wir müssen die Heuchelei beenden“. TAZ. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. & Hüser, C. (Hrsg., 2022). Geschlechterverhältnisse - Pierre Bourdieus visuelle Soziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. (2022). Kunst-Entrepreneure und ihre Dienstleister. Ethnografische Beobachtungen auf der Hinterbühne der Kunst. In Fayet, R. & Krähenbühl, R. (Hrsg.), Kunst und Material. Konzepte, Prozesse, Arbeitsteilungen, Bd. 2, S. 351-366. Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net.Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. & Egger, S. (2022). Pierre Bourdieu und die Fotografie. Visuelle Formen soziologischer Erkenntnis. Eine Rekonstruktion. Bielefeld: transcript. Zur Publikation
  • Bourdieu, P. (2020). Habitus und Praxis. Schultheis, F. & Egger, S. (Hrsg.), Schriften zur kollektiven Anthropologie 2, Bd. 3. Berlin: Suhrkamp. Zur Publikation
  • Bourdieu, P. (2020). Tradition und Reproduktion. Schultheis, F. & Egger, S. (Hrsg.), Schriften zur kollektiven Anthropologie 1, Bd. 2. Berlin: Suhrkamp. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. (2020). The Sociology of Arts and Markets - New Developments and Persistent Patterns. Berlin: Springer. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. et al. (2019). Kreativität als Beruf. Soziologisch-philosophische, Bielefeld: transcript. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F., Henning, C., & Thomä, D. (2019). Kreativität als Beruf: Soziologisch-philosophische Erkundungen in der Welt der Künste. Bielefeld: transcript.Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. (2018). Kunst als Passion – Lebenswege in eine Welt für sich. München: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König. Zur Publikation
  • Schultheis, F. et al. (2016). Art Unlimited? Dynamics and paradoxes of a globalizing Art World. Bielefeld: transcript. Zur Publikation

Senior Professor

Schultheis, Franz 


Schultheis, Franz Prof Dr 

 

Phone: + 49 7541 6009-1321 

Room: FAB 3 | 1.48 

Team

Hüser, Charlotte 


Hüser, Charlotte 

Academic staff member

 

Tel: +49 7541 6009 1322 

Room: FAB | 1.48 

charlotte.hueser@zu.de

Schreiber, Lilli Kim

Academic staff member

DFG Project “Visualization of Sociological Practice: Montage Techniques and Text-Image Compositions in Pierre Bourdieu’s Research Workshop”

remote

lilli.schreiber@zu.de

Fringant, Matthias Dr

Academic staff member

DFG Project “Visualization of Sociological Practice: Montage Techniques and Text-Image Compositions in Pierre Bourdieu’s Research Workshop”

remote

matthias.fringant@zu.de

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