Current events

"Our belief that science alone could deliver us from the planetary quagmire is long dead." (Sörlin 2012)

Beyond 'elegant nonsense', what do the humanities and cultural sciences have to offer in the discourse on climate change? The common belief is that climate change as an environmental problem falls exclusively within the exploratory and explanatory remit of the natural sciences. These determine the subject area, research the problems and propose solutions. However, the scientific view alone does not take into account the fact that the sciences themselves and the phenomena they research are embedded in complex cultural and social contexts.

We see it as a task of the humanities and cultural studies to focus on these interrelationships, in which climate change is discussed, talked about and thought about. We are therefore organizing a department-wide course on this topic for the winter semester 2020/21.teaching focus.

Events from the individual institutes will use their different questions, theories and methods to provide a multifaceted perspective on the phenomenon of 'climate change' and its discursive negotiation. The events will be networked with each other and the results and findings will be presented to the (university) public. The teaching focus will be supplemented by an evening lecture series, which will expand our seminar approaches and encourage joint discussion

_{Source: Sörlin, Sverker: Environmental Humanities. Why Should Biologists Interested in the Environment Take the Humanities Seriously? In: BioScience, 62(9)/2012, pp. 788-789, here p. 788.}

"Rap has recently hit the headlines in a particularly negative light. Anti-Semitism, sexism and homophobia have dominated media coverage for good reason, as the research results show. However, this does not exhaustively cover German-language rap. The music genre has long since ceased to be a niche phenomenon; instead, the rap scene is characterized by diverse forms, styles and attitudes. This anthology is dedicated to German-language rap since 2000 and focuses for the first time on individual text analyses that approach this musical genre and its artists from multiple perspectives and disciplines."

The edited anthology by Dagobert Höllein, Nils Lehnert and Felix Woitkowski was presented on 27.02.2020 on Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Click here for the link:

https://srv.deutschlandradio.de/dlf-audiothek-audio-teilen.3265.de.html?mdm:audio_id=812056