Online Workshop Building Bridges: Activists and Cultural Researchers in Conversation
Online workshop at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
March 9-13th, 2021
As posited by psychologist Anne Roe, the academic community needs to be conscious of their “social obligations.” From the outset and especially since Stuart Hall, critical cultural studies aspire to unearth the constructedness of cultural and social phenomena in order to expose power structures. Moreover, cultural studies informed researchers usually strive to share the findings they obtained with society, hoping to foster emancipatory endeavours.
But how does this aspiration translate into today’s German discourse and the situation of the study of culture in Germany? We are living in times of increasing awareness of the diversification of society and a growing reflection on structural relations of power. We are witnessing huge social and environmental challenges with a progressing sense of urgency, often accompanied by a heavily polarized audience – migration, climate change, and a global health crisis being only three pressing examples. Within academia, the study of culture analyzes these dynamics in its manifold research fields. It offers concepts and tools for critical investigations, produces studies and engages in scholarly debates, thereby discussing, for instance, de- and post-coloniality, gender issues, epistemic violence, migration and the Anthropocene. But how does this theoretical research relate to our social and political reality?
Looking beyond scholarship and academia, the workshop aims to foster a dialogue between scholars and organizations working on the interface of the study of culture and social practice, academic discourse and political action. The workshop addresses early career researchers who situate their research in the wider field of the study of culture, and who are interested in engaging in a discussion with activists, consultants and policy makers. Please apply by Friday, March 5th, 2020 to building.bridges.GCSC@gmail.com. Places will be limited. We would also like to encourage you to tell us about your interests and why you would like to discuss with us the questions and issues we raised above.
The workshop will take place online over several days. Beginning on March 9 at 10:00 and ending on March 12 at 10:00 with a plenary discussion.
Discussion languages will be English and German.
Contact: Ruben.pfizenmaier@gcsc.uni-giessen.de, laura.borchert@gcsc.uni-giessen.de and stellamaria.frei@gcsc.uni-giessen.de
Further Information: https://bit.ly/39jNRQ