Doctoral Candidate Gesche Tuchtfeld-Haug

Member, Heidelberg Graduate School for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HGGS)
Scholarship holder of the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst

Gesche Tuchtfeld-Haug is a PhD researcher (Dr. theol.) in Systematic Theology at Heidelberg University, supervised by Frederike van Oorschot. Her research explores the theological dimensions of work in the 21st century, focusing on the tensions between contemporary work societies and the anti-work movement. Her dissertation, “Zwischen Arbeitsgesellschaft und anti-work movement – Möglichkeit, Notwendigkeit und Grenzen einer Theologie der Arbeit im 21. Jahrhundert,” examines the possibilities, necessities, and limits of a contemporary theology of work.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Protestant Theology from the Theological Seminary in Ewersbach (2017), followed by a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Philipps-Universität Marburg (2019), with a focus on cultural and social anthropology. Her thesis, “Individualität und Mitmenschlichkeit bei Karl Löwith,” explored concepts of individuality and relationality in Löwith’s philosophy. She then completed a Master’s degree in Protestant Theology at the Theological Seminary in Ewersbach (2021). Her master’s thesis, “Theologisch-soziologische Spannungsfelder einer Reich-Gottes-Ethik in der Spätmoderne,” examined tensions within Kingdom-of-God ethics in late modernity.

Most recently, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Ethnology and African Studies from University of Cologne (2024). Her bachelor’s thesis, “Grenzen des Arbeitens. Eine Fallstudie zum Imkern in den Usambarabergen (Tansania),” examined the limits of work through an ethnographic case study.

Alongside her research, she teaches introductory courses in Cultural Anthropology and Systematic Theology. From 2021 to 2024, she served as a pastor at the Freie evangelische Gemeinde Köln-Lindenthal and continues to volunteer in pastoral ministry, combining academic work with engagement in and with communities.