Activism and Academia. Fields and Methods in Academic Activism
In recent years, there have been many occasions, some of them quite painful, forcing us to rethink the relationship between activism and academia. In particular, the university protests against the war in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, have brought into focus the interactions between activism and science, including dead-ends and mutual misperceptions, but also surprising alliances. Long-standing questions about the historically tense relationship between institutionalized science and the political sphere have shifted and entered a new constellation. This includes the observation that there could be “activism from above” (i.e., the demand by state representatives and institutions for “academic activism”), as well as the impression that moral and political beliefs have formed new bonds in activist research and scholarship.
Preceded by a conference on Activism and Academia: On the Theory, History, and Relevance of a Provocation in November 2022, this year’s annual conference examines the relationship between activism and academia, focusing in particular on how activism manifests itself in the practices, methods, and subjects of the humanities. Focusing on specific fields, we will discuss how activist concerns are incorporated into academic formations and what this means for both academia and activism.
The event will be held in German and English. The admission is free, no registration required.
Program
ATTENTION: Changes in the program!
Thursday, 5 Dec 2024
9.15 am
- Eva Geulen (ZfL): Welcome & introduction
Aktivismus von oben?
Chair: Henning Trüper (ZfL)
- Peter Strohschneider (LMU Munich): Normative Fakten? Über kognitiven und aktivistischen Stil
- Christoph Paret (University of Vienna): »Amoklauf der reinen Vernunft« oder Vernunft des Amoklaufs? Arthur Koestler über die angewandte Philosophie des Stalinismus
11.00 am
- Markus Rieger-Ladich (University of Tübingen): In wessen Namen sprechen? Und mit welcher Autorität? Über einige Fallstricke des positionalen Fundamentalismus
- Sabine Döring (University of Tübingen): Aktivismus als Selbstbeschränkung der Wissenschaftsfreiheit
2.00 pm
Rückkehr der Literatursoziologie
Chair: Pola Groß (ZfL)
- Carolin Amlinger (University of Basel): Soziale Hermeneutik. Literatursoziologie als Provokation
- Carlos Spoerhase (LMU Munich): Gute Formen und schlechte Formen
4.00 pm
Philologie mit Ausrufezeichen
Chair: Eva Axer (ZfL)
- Jonas Grethlein (Heidelberg University): Von der moralischen Lektüre antiker Texte zur moralischen Lektüre in der Antike
The presentation by Christian Benne (Københavns Universitet) unfortunately has to be canceled.
7.30 pm
Keynote at ICI Berlin
ATTENTION: Please register at www.ici-berlin.org/events/john-guillory/
Chair: Eva Geulen (ZfL)
- John Guillory (New York University): Scholarship, Activism, and the Autonomy of Social Spheres
Friday, 6 Dec 2024
10.15 am
Rescue at Sea: Law and Art Research
Chair: Alexandra Heimes (University of Greifswald)
- Itamar Mann (University of Haifa/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Three Lifeboats
- Hilde Van Gelder (Katolieke Universiteit Leuven): Shipwreck and Lifesaving in the Strait of Dover: Shifting the Perspective through Experimental Art Research
1.30 pm
Aktivismus in autoritären Staaten
Chair: Matthias Schwartz (ZfL)
- Nina Weller (ZfL): Osteuropaforschung in Zeiten des Krieges: Öffentlichkeit, Aktivismus, Selbstbefragung
- Kader Konuk (TU Dortmund University): Geisteswissenschaften im Exil
- Ralph Weber (University of Basel): Politikrelevante vs. politische Wissenschaft? Überlegungen aus der Praxis von Forschung zum chinesischen Parteistaat im Kontext demokratisch-autoritärer Spannungen
4.00 pm
Roundtable: Fallbeispiel: Aktuelle Debatten über Antisemitismus
Chair: Patrick Eiden-Offe (ZfL)
- Aleida Assmann (University of Konstanz)
- Felix Axster (Technische Universität Berlin)
- Georg Simmerl (ZfL)