Supervision of Bachelor Theses
Currently I am looking for interested students who want to write a qualitative-empirical oriented thesis (mainly interviews or participatory observations) on one of the following topics:

- How does the relationship to and the perception of energy change among consumers in the course of the energy crisis 2022/23?
- How does the relationship to and the perception of energy change among consumers when they purchase an electric car, a photovoltaic or solar thermal system or similar?
- What is the relationship to and perception of energy among consumers who are self-sufficient in energy? e.g. on permaculture and organic farms, in Tiny Houses, on wagon yards, in allotments, etc.?

If you are interested, please contact me by email and we will arrange a consultation.

Research Interests:

  • Sociological theory, esp. actor-network theory, posthumanism, pragmatism, phenomenology, theories of practice, neomaterialisms.
  • Economic and energy sociology, consumer research
  • Political ecology and environmental sociology
  • Sociology of science and technology (STS)
  • Sociology of participation and design

since 06/2021 - Doctoral studies in Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as member of the doctoral program "Sozio-technische Gestaltungskompetenz in der digitalen Gesellschaft" ("Socio-technical Design Competence in the Digital Society") of the Research Center for Information System Design at the University of Kassel.

since 04/2020 - Research assistant in the Research Unit "Sociological Theories" at the University of Kassel.

2017-2020 - Studies of Sociology and Computer Science at the University of Kassel, degree M.A. Sociology.

2017-2018 - Collaboration at the Institute for Participative Design in Oldenburg, Germany.

2016-2017 - Training as a mediator according to the standards of the Bundesverband Mediation e.V. (German Mediation Association) in Hannover

2013-2017 - Studies of Sociology, Politics, Public Law and Administrative Sciences at the University of Münster, graduated with a B.A. in Sociology/Political Science.

Functions/Memberships

- Mid-level representative in the faculty council of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Kassel (since 10/2021)
- Member of the board of directors of the Research Center for Information System Design at the University of Kassel (12/2020-10/2022)

    Dissertation Project: Response-able Design / Designing Response-ability - Patterns of Responsible Design of Intelligent Energy Systems

    The dissertation project is dedicated to the design of intelligent or self-sustaining systems and asks for patterns of their responsive and answerable design. It does this in a contrasting comparison of two cases: 1.) The design of intelligent power grids (so-called smart grids) and 2.) the design of self-sustaining energy systems in the case of permaculture design. In doing so, the thesis asks how a sociological concept of designing technosocial facts can be formulated and argues for a concept of responsible designing as responding and responsive action. The question of the dissertation is: How is responsibility produced in the shaping of self-sustaining energy systems? And: What does it mean to design such systems in a way that responds to the future and is responsible for the future?

    The project is divided into 4 subprojects:

    - A discourse genealogy and interpretive pattern analysis of the smart grid discourse (1990-2015),

    - An ethnography and social-world mapping of participation and multi-stakeholder communication in grid development planning and the climate-neutral power system platform (Plattform Klimaneutrales Stromsystem),

    - An ethnography and interpretive pattern analysis of permaculture and passive energy system design,

    - A theoretical exploration of the notion of social gestalt and responsibility as responses in human engagement with the environment and technology, esp. in phenomenology, gestalt theory, schema theory, sociology of practice, and pragmatism.

    Texts:

    Lamla, Jörn/Roschka, Jakob (2021): Konsum. In: Endreß, Martin/Rampp, Benjamin (Hg.): Handbuch Politische Soziologie. Baden-Baden: Nomos (forthcoming).

    Lectures/Workshops:

    Roschka, Jakob: "Each World Has its Participation." - Mapping the Social Worlds of Energy System Design in Germany as Contexts of Participation. Panel presentation. STS Conference Graz, Session: "The context-dependency of conflict and participation issues in the energy transition", Graz, 02.-04.05.2022.

    Roschka, Jakob: Methods as In/Formation of Practice, Patterns of Response-Ability in the Case of Agile Software Engineering. Workshop presentation. The Un/Making of Forms, Formographic inquiries into practice, accountability, and infra-critique. International workshop organized by Ingmar Lippert and Susann Wagenknecht, Dresden, 02.-03.09.2021.

    Kocksch, Laura/Laser, Stefan/Pittroff, Fabian/Roschka, Jakob/Sørensen, Estrid: Inquiring the digital interstice through a data sprint: Ethnographic research where front and back end meet, Workshop. Materialist Informatics Conference. Kassel, 23-25.03.2020.

    Research Center for Information System Design (ITeG)

    The Sociological Theory Research Unit has been part of the Research Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG) at the University of Kassel since 2015. For many years, the ITeG has been engaged in interdisciplinary research on the design of socially desirable information and communication technology from a socio-technical perspective.
    Jakob Roschka is part of the ITeG graduate program "Socio-technical Design Competence in the Digital Society" and was a member of the ITeG Board of Directors from 2020 to 2022.

    Research Center for Information System Design (ITeG): More Infos