Hello! I am a geographer specialised in political geography, (critical) geopolitics, and digital geography.
I recently obtained my PhD from the National University of Singapore.
I am particularly interested in perceptions and dissemination of geopolitical concepts and their underlying power relations.
These themes are covered in my doctoral thesis through looking at digital games and how players interact with them.
My regional interests are diverse, ranging from former socialist countries in Europe to East and Southeast Asia and towards digital space.
This website provides an overview of my academic activities as well as easy access to publications.
I am also curating a list of open access journals for geography and related disciplines at Geolist.
You can reach out to me at simon.wellisch@u.nus.edu for any questions, exchanges, or cooperation.
First name basis is just fine (he/him)!
PhD Geography, National University of Singapore (2025) | MSc Human Geography, University of Münster (2019) | BA Cultural Geography, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2016)
Publications
Wellisch, Simon. 2025. ‘Simulating and Playing Geopolitics in Digital Games’. PhD Thesis. National University of Singapore. Publication soon available.
Wellisch, Simon. 2024. ‘Dimensions of Space in Digital Games’. In Gaming and Geography: A Multi-Perspective Approach to Understanding the Impacts on Geography (Education), edited by Michael Morawski and Sebastian Wolff-Seidel, 37–47. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42260-7_2.
→ Download preprint (PDF)
Krtička, Luděk, Jan Ženka, Petr Dvořák, Jan Macháček, David Vogt, Lucie Orlíková, Pavel Kukuliač, Adam Pavlík, Marek Halada, Jan Kopp, Alexandr Nováček, Simon Wellisch, Gesa Hatesohl, Petr Žufan, Simona Šťastná. 2021. Atlas Rozvoje Venkova (Atlas of Rural Development). Ostrava: University of Ostrava. Website.
→ Download book (external link) (PDF)
Presentations
Wellisch, Simon. 2025. Just A Game? War in Digital Simulation Games. Young Congress for Geography, Leipzig University, 18/09/2025. Wellisch, Simon. 2025. Finally Graduated – What Now? Stories from Early Career Researchers. Young Congress for Geography, Leipzig University, 18/09/2025. Wellisch, Simon. 2024. Simulating Geopolitics: Singaporean Playful Encounters in Digital Games. RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, Royal Geographical Society, 28/08/2024. Wellisch, Simon and Songmin Liang. 2024. Drawing China: Negotiations of Geopolitics in Online Communities. IGC Pre-Conference, Queen’s University Belfast, 22/08/2024. Wellisch, Simon. 2023. Tringapore: Singapore in Geopolitical Comics. German Congress of Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt, 20/09/2023. Wellisch. Simon. 2022. Playing Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Imaginations in Digital Games, among Content Creators and Consumers in Singapore and Malaysia. 10th NUS Geography Graduate Workshop, National University of Singapore, 22/04/2022.
Laš, Lukáš and Simon Wellisch. 2021. Japanese Media on Territorial Disputes and Political Geography of East Asia. Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, 21/01/2021.
Teaching
Guest Lecturer, National University of Singapore (2022–2023) Geopolitics: Geographies of War & Peace
Teaching Assistant, National University of Singapore (2021–2023) Introduction to GIS, Applications of GIS & Remote Sensing, Geopolitics: Geographies of War & Peace, Worlds of Football
Reviews
GeoHumanities (2025),
Area (2025),
Environment and Planning F (2025),
Geopolitics (2025), Global Studies Quarterly (2024),
Territory, Politics, Governance (2023, 2024),
Journal of Geography in Higher Education (2023),
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (2021)
Awards
Geopolitics Journal Post-Graduate Research Paper Award (together with Songmin Liang), awarded with US$200, 23/08/2024.
