Center for Migration and Development

Martin Baumann is Professor of the Study of Religions at the Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences and vice-chancellor for the improvement of research at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. He obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on Buddhists and Buddhist communities in Germany in 1993 at the University of Hannover (Germany) and received his habilitation graduation with a post-doctoral thesis on Hindu traditions in diasporic contexts in 1999 at the University of Leipzig (Germany). Since 2001, he is professor for the Study of Religions at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland). His teaching and research interests focus on immigration and religion, diaspora communities and religious pluralism, new religions, and Hindu and Buddhist traditions in the West. He is author of "German Buddhists" (1993, 2nd edition 1995) and "Migration, Religion, Integration" (2000) and co-editor of "Westward Dharma. Buddhism Beyond Asia" (2002), "Eine Schweiz – viele Religionen" (2007) and "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" (2002, 2nd edition 2010). He also serves as general editor of the online Journal of Global Buddhism, established in 2000. His project at the Center for Migration and Development focuses on immigrant minorities, public representation through religion and processes of social incorporation in a plural society.

Pablo Gimenez Muñoz is currently in residence at the CMD as a Visiting Student Research Collaborator from the University of the Basque Country, Spain.  His current research focus is on the political transnationalism in Argentina and will involve a comparative analysis of the transnational practices of Argentinean migrants residing in Spain and New York.