interne Termine

Writing an academic thesis is a complex process that presents its own challenges. Dr. Birgit Schreiber, a social researcher, journalist, and coach from Bremen, together with journalist Uwe Buse, will teach how to reliably navigate this process in this two-day workshop, which provides guidance on effective self-coaching. The workshop is offered bilingually (English, German).

Das Verfassen einer wissenschaftlichen Arbeit ist ein komplexer Prozess mit ganz eigenen Herausforderungen. In diesem zweitägigen Workshop werden Dr. Birgit Schreiber (Schreiber Coaching Bremen), Sozialwissenschaftlerin, Journalistin und Coach, und der Journalist Uwe Buse vermitteln, wie man diesen Prozess sicher meistern kann. Der zweisprachige Workshop (Deutsch und Englisch) bietet dabei Anleitungen für ein effektives Selbstcoaching. Praktische Übungen werden nach Möglichkeit anhand von Texten durchgeführt, die von den Teilnehmern bereitgestellt werden.

When Sigmund Freud wrote his essay “The Uncanny” (“Das Unheimliche”) in 1919—a work that remains highly regarded to this day—he used the term to describe an affective attitude that combines contradictory connotations, thereby making the concept a compelling indicator of the sensing of unease that […]

Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Belonging | This opening conversation invites participants to deepen their awareness of unconscious biases, critically reflect on their own assumptions, and explore how discrimination manifests in everyday interactions and institutional structures.

Through interactive exercises, guided self-reflection, and collaborative discussions; participants will examine how social norms, power dynamics, and systemic inequalities shape our perceptions, attitudes, and interactions with others.

Particular attention will be given to how intersecting forms of privilege, marginalization, and structural inequality influence experiences of inclusion, exclusion, and belonging.

Together, we will explore practical strategies to challenge discriminatory practices, foster inclusive environments, and strengthen a shared commitment to diversity, equity, and belonging in academic and professional settings.

A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of polarization. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy hunt against this spectre. Where is the opposition party that has not been decried as polarizing by its governing opponents? Where the opposition party that has not hurled back the branding charge of polarization — against both its more progressive counterparts in opposition and its reactionary adversaries? And yet we must note: empirical social research rarely finds the polarization presumed to be everywhere. This tension is the starting point of the talk: What if polarization is seen everywhere because it structures the very way in which politics observes itself? And what follows from this insight for the political present? Polarization, the core thesis holds, is an expression of how modern politics processes its own contradictions. The politically explosive question is therefore not so much whether society is polarized, but above all along which axes.

— Building bridges to the Bremen art world. An excursion to Weserburg. Museum für modern Kunst

The field of infrastructure studies lies at a critical juncture marked by novel kinds of logistical interfaces, new configurations of agency, and enduring neo-Foucauldian concerns with the shifting contours of the human subject.  In this presentation I develop a conceptual synthesis between four analytical perspectives: an emphasis on infrastructure as a set of cultural and material artefacts marked by diverse modes of enquiry; the co-evolutionary dynamics of infrastructure networks in relation to the corporeal vulnerabilities of urban space; the emergence of successive socio-technical imaginaries that connect with the metonymic or ideological significance of urban infrastructure; and the significance of infrastructure as an epistemological vantage point for embodied encounters with urban space.  I show how the question of infrastructure intersects with a series of wider debates over agency, subjectivity, and the rise of algorithmic governmentalities.  I emphasize the value of creative practice as a vibrant alternative to creeping forms of analytical modularity and neo-positivist epistemological elision.   

— Research Approaches and Methodologies Reflecting specific research projects within the broader spectrum of possible research approaches and methodologies.

— Fellow Research Approaches and Methodologies: A Hands-on Follow-up Contextualizing RTG 2686 Fellow projects within the broader spectrum of research approaches and methodologies

— Deep Dive Reading and Reflection on the Writing Process: Writing and Text Feedback Techniques

— Relevanz. Über den Erkenntniswert wissenschaftlicher Forschung

Details will follow. Mercator Fellow Michael Hampe will be at the RTG 2686 from January 18 to 22, 2027.

Rainer Stummer
—(Un)Building Contradiction(s) – Postfoundationalism, Ecology, Movement

Kim Wagener
— Berührung, Widerspruch, Differenz. Aporien tastend-experimentellen Schreibens nach Jean-Luc Nancy

Ann Imke
— Climate Fiction at the Water’s Edge: Negotiating Climate Change Imaginaries Through Literary Space and Perspective

Leyla Rommel
— Counter-Counter-Cultures: Contested Gender Ideologies: Misogyny, ‘Trad Wife’ Ideals, and the Construction of Masculinity in Digital Discourse

Ximena Cervantes Englerth
—Strategies of Epistemic Resistance in Intersectional Anti-Racist Activism: An Analysis of Transmedial and Post-Digital Self-Narratives from the Afro-Hispanic Diaspora

Lara Herford
—Demokratie im Streit. Zur Metapragmatik einer politisch-kommunikativen Dissenspraktik

Jan Hensellek
—Digital Conspiracy Discourses as Spaces of Dissension

Konstantinos Chatziandreou
—Urban Contradictions and the Governance of Space: The ‘Urbanes Gebiet’ Zoning Category as a Case Study

Dominik Koos
—Mit Recht zur Lohngerechtigkeit? Der Rechtskampf um das Prinzip der Entgelttransparenz

Toolbox – Contradiction Studies #14 im Wintersemester 2025/26 – Workspace: Informelles Jahrestreffen

Toolbox – Contradiction Studies #13 im Wintersemester 2025/26 – Workspace: Interner Workshop

Toolbox – Contradiction Studies #12 im Wintersemester 2025/26 – Workspace: Interner Workshop

Toolbox – Contradiction Studies #11 im Wintersemester 2025/26 – Workspace: Interner Workshop