Frederik Schmitz studied Regional Studies China and economics at the University of Cologne and afterwards completed a Master’s degree in Sinology at the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen. During his studies, he spent two years at universities in China (Tianjin University and Jilin University). Since June 2021 he has been employed as a research fellow at the University of Bonn and supervises the subproject “Infrastructures of Memory” in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer. He was a visiting scholar at Academica Sinica in Taipei until the end of January 2024.

Memory politics | culture politics | power legitimation of autocratic regimes | Chinese foreign and global politics | discourse politics | narratives und storytelling as a political strategy | peripheral politics | ideology | Chinese philosophy

Frederik Schmitz's doctoral project "'Feel' the Party - Impacts of emotions on the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy" examines the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to establish political legitimacy through the bodily experience of party history in "red" memorials, e.g. museums, cinemas and restaurants. In his argumentation, he aims to describe the incorporation of political legitimacy generated from ideological identity and individualised and performative experienced memory.

• Infrastructures of Memory¹ (Infrastructures of China’s Modernity and Their Global Constitutive Effects)
• Instrumentalization of cultural narratives with the aim to legitimise political power
• Digitalization of Memory in China and in international comparison² (funded by TRA 5 of the University of Bonn)

• European Association for Chinese Studies
• German Society for Asian Studies
• Polis180 e.V 

• Schmitz, F. (2024, October 21). Tianxia Under the Sea: China’s Quest for Maritime History. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. Link³
• Schmitz, F. (2023). Historical Narratives Shaping China's Foreign Policy, in: Schmitz et al. (Eds.): Bonn Vision Lab - Envisioning Zeitenwende, Polis180 - Regiogruppe Rheinland.
• Schmitz, F. (2023). Contesting narratives: Public memorialization during COVID-19 in China. Response to: Hinden, A., You, Z., & Guo, Z. (2023). Online activism and grassroots memorialization in the age of COVID-19: Dr. Li Wenliang's virtual wailing wall. Cultural Analysis, 21(1). Link⁴
• Hochscheidt, Hopgood, Nock, Schmitz, F., & Schranner (2022). Where are we heading? Eine junge Perspektive. 49security. Link⁵
• Höra, E., & Schmitz, F. (2022). Chinas Geschichte “richtig” erzählen: Historische Narrative als Herausforderung für die europäische Sicherheit. In Summer of Security. Polis180. Link⁶
• Bisping, S., Nitschke, J., & Schmitz, F. (2021). Die Partei und ihre Ideologie: Kultur als Legitimationsstrategie. In Höra, E., & Schmitz, F. (Eds.), Zwischen Revolution, Reform und Realpolitik: Die Kommunistische Partei Chinas zu ihrem 100. Jubiläum (Polis Paper No. 14). Link⁷
• Graupner, F., & Schmitz, F. (2021). Umweltpolitik: Zwischen Kalkül und Notwendigkeit. In Höra, E., & Schmitz, F. (Eds.), Zwischen Revolution, Reform und Realpolitik: Die Kommunistische Partei Chinas zu ihrem 100. Jubiläum (Polis Paper No. 14). Link⁷
• Höra, E., & Schmitz, F. (Eds.). (2021). Zwischen Revolution, Reform und Realpolitik: Die Kommunistische Partei Chinas zu ihrem 100. Jubiläum (Polis Paper No. 14). Link⁷

• Schmitz, F. (2023, Juli 13). Wie politisch ist Unterwasserarchäologie? [Podcast]. In Zurück zum Thema. Detektor.fm. Link⁸

• Lecture Series: Digitalization of Memory Practices and Heritage in Global Perspectives (Summer Semester 2023)⁹
• Historical Narratives in International Relations (Summer Semester 2023)¹⁰
• Political legitimacy in Asia (Winter Semester 2022/23)¹¹
• Archaelogy and International Relations: Cultural-political perspectives on China's rise (Summer Semester 2022)¹²

Last updated: January, 2025