Maria Nesemann

Maria Nesemann is a research assistant at the Institute for Cultural Policy. From 2020 to April 2024, she was a member of the DFG research project "Equal Opportunities in Publicly Funded Theater." This work led to her dissertation, "Democratic Theater: Participation in Theater in Germany, England, and France." Since the summer semester of 2024, she has been working in the field of cultural management. Since May 2025, she has also been conducting research in the EU project "Moving Europe: Negotiating Legacies of Migration at the Museum" on youth participation in museums in the context of migration and diversity.

She studied theater studies and German language and literature at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and completed a German-French double master's degree in cultural mediation/Médiation culturelle de l'art at the Universities of Aix-Marseille and Hildesheim. She is a member of PENGO Germany e.V., a network of young cultural professionals from Germany, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Nesemann, Maria: "How to: Evaluate cultural projects. In cooperation with the youth participation format "Mitmischen!" at the Theater für Niedersachsen." Master's seminar, winter semester 2025/2026, University of Hildesheim.

Nesemann, Maria/Heinicke, Julius: "Theater in the field of tension between artistic freedom and political influence." Seminar in Bachelor's Degree in Directing/Master's Degree in Dramaturgy, winter semester 2025/2026, Hamburg University of Music and Theater.

Nesemann, Maria: "And now everyone?! Cultural participation and democracy – a critical examination of the Hildesheim cultural region." Bachelor's seminar, summer semester 2025, University of Hildesheim.

Nesemann, Maria: "What does mediation actually mean here? Mediation discourses under the microscope." Master's seminar, winter semester 2024/2025, University of Hildesheim.

Nesemann, Maria: "Researching participation in theater. Testing social science and humanities methods in the context of participation in theater." Bachelor's seminar, summer semester 2024, University of Hildesheim.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria: "Out of the ivory towers! Science communication in the context of preparing an international symposium on cultural policy and participation strategies at publicly funded theaters in Germany, England, and France." Master's seminar, summer semester 2023, University of Hildesheim.

Nesemann, Maria: Input and workshop leader with Rike-Kristin Baca Duque and Sebastian Stauss, working group "Governance, Legitimation, and Political Relevance," interdisciplinary summer school of the research group "Crisis Research—Methods, Field, and Aesthetics. The Performing Arts in Transition (During and After Corona)." Munich, July 14–17, 2022.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria (forthcoming): "Relationship status: complicated. Art, mediation, and audiences in publicly funded theater in Germany, England, and France." In: Allmanritter, Vera/Gross, Helen (eds.): Cultural Participation – Status Quo and Future Perspectives. Bielefeld: transcript.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria (forthcoming): "The main thing is art or the main thing is audience? Governance and audience development strategies for participation in public theater in Germany, France, and England." In: Haunschild, Axel et al. (eds.): Theater between crises: Institutional transformation dynamics in the present. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Nesemann, Maria (2024): "On trench warfare and bridge building. Participation in theater from the perspective of critical art education and audience development." In: Eder, Thomas et al. (eds.): Structure and Aesthetics. Forum Modern Theater. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 223–250.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria (2024): "Participation in Theater: Explicit Mission or Implicit Pressure to Perform? Cultural Policy Control of Audience Orientation in Publicly Funded Theater in Germany, England, and France." In: Kulturmanagement Network Magazine 176, 46–53.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria (2023): "Post-pandemic audience decline as a trigger for audience and transformation strategies in publicly funded theaters." In: Kulturmanagement Network Magazine 170, 22–30.

Mandel, Birgit/Burghardt, Charlotte/Nesemann, Maria (2021): The (indispensable) theater. Structural change in cultural demand as a trigger for adaptation and innovation processes at publicly funded theaters in Germany. Hildesheim: University of Hildesheim Press.

Nesemann, Maria: "The route is being recalculated? Status quo and perspectives of participation-oriented work in public theater." Closed-door meeting on "Participation" at the National Theater Mannheim, Mannheim, May 16, 2024.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria: "BECOMING PUBLIC! Governance and audience development strategies for participation in public theater in Germany, France, and England. Key findings of the research project 'Equal opportunities for participation in publicly funded theaters.'" Final conference of the 2024 research group "Theater: Between Crises," Munich, April 25, 2024.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria: "Introduction to the conference topic and key results of the research project 'Cultural democratization in publicly funded theater in international comparison.'" International Symposium "Becoming Public! Governance and Audience Development for Cultural Democratization in Public Theater in England, France, and Germany," Berlin, November 2, 2023.

Nesemann, Maria: "On trench warfare and bridge building. Reflections on cultural participation from the perspective of audience development and critical art education." Annual conference of the Professional Association for Cultural Management 2023: "Cultural Participation – Status Quo and Future Perspectives," Berlin, September 22, 2023.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria: "Recalculating the Route. A comparison of audience-oriented theater governance in Germany and England." Annual Conference of the Research Group 2023 "Theater/Turning Points: Scenarios for the Future," Munich, May 5, 2023.

Mandel, Birgit/Nesemann, Maria: "Dreaming of a Diverse Audience. Theater, Governance, and Cultural Participation in Germany, France, and England." International Conference of Cultural Policy Research 2022, Antwerp, September 22, 2022.