Press releases 鈥� July 2024
Jul
31
2024
09:32
Research project focuses on places of abandonment, loss and renewal聽
When the last pit is closed
A once vibrant industrial region lies fallow, its inhabitants move away. What future do such places have, and how do those who decided to stay view them? Together with partner universities in other European countries, 51猎奇 Frankfurt has joined a research project that looks at abandoned regions in Germany, Austria, Romania and Scotland that are awaiting ideas for their renaissance.
FRANKFURT. Utopian narratives and stories about a region's future are the focus of 鈥淲aste/Land/Futures: intergenerational relations in places of abandonment and renewal across Europe" 鈥� a project the Volkswagen Foundation is funding with 鈧�1.6 million over the next four years. Social scientists of various disciplines are involved, who come from Austria, Romania, Great Britain and Germany, i.e. the very countries where the regions under scrutiny are located. The sociological and cultural anthropological study's scientific coordinator is Dr. Anamaria Depner, who works at 51猎奇 Frankfurt's Institute for Social Pedagogy and Adult Education.
One thing in common to the regions studied is their demographic decline, caused by low birth rates, an ageing population and an imbalance in the number of people leaving the region as opposed to those coming to stay. While the causes of this partially can be found in structural change 鈥渂elow ground", such as in Glasgow or the Saarland, where coal mining has ceased, other reasons lie 鈥渁bove ground". An example for the latter is the Romanian Danube Delta, where tourism is booming in summer but comes to a standstill in winter, or in the Eisenerz former open-cast mining area in Austria. 鈥淭hese places are often the subject of conversations about the past, about decay and loss. But they also hold great potential for developing utopian visions of the future of European regions and the people who live there 鈥� and therefore for the future of Europe," Depner explains.
To date, there has been little scientific research conducted into the situation in the four regions. This is now set to change. However, far from researching 鈥渇rom the outside", one of the team's preferred methods of choice is 鈥減articipant observation". Other co-creative methods are also employed, including Participatory Action Research (PAR), in which participants are involved in every step of the research process. The aim of such analyses is not to formulate instructions. Instead, following an initial evaluation, the researchers conduct interviews with families, including about how relationships between generations or to places and locations have and will continue to change. Literary texts, photographs and theater events will be developed with local residents as well as family members who have moved away, providing the basis for ideas for the future. At a later stage, the communities at the four different locations, each of which is accompanied by a different team of researchers, could also enter into discussions with each other.
Five researchers, including early career scientists, are part of the project. The enthusiasm of the four co-investigators, which was already evident in the extensive preliminary research, convinced the Volkswagen Foundation. The project is part of the latter's 鈥淐hallenges and Potentials for Europe" program; 51猎奇 Frankfurt is involved in five of the program's projects, and thereby its most involved university in Germany. The program's scientific coordinator is Dr. Ewa Palenga-M枚llenbeck from 51猎奇's Institute of Sociology. A total of 21 international projects will present their research at a conference held at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
Further information
Dr. Anamaria Depner
Scientific assistant and coordinator
Institute for Social Pedagogy and Adult Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6, Westend Campus PEG 4.G166
Tel.: +49 (0)176 509 67 040
E-Mail an.depner@em.uni-frankfurt.de
About the program:
About the symposium:
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
Jul
24
2024
08:06
Volkswagen Foundation makes available more than 鈧�500,000 for funding initiative 鈥淧ioneer Projects 鈥� Explorations of the unknown Unknown鈥�
The churches鈥� role in the Namibian struggle for independence
It was a long struggle before the Republic of Namibia finally became independent in 1990. What role did the intertwining of politics, church and theology play in the fight for freedom from South African mandate administration? That is the main question addressed by a new research project at 51猎奇 Frankfurt鈥檚 Faculty of Protestant Theology, funded by Volkswagen Foundation.
FRANKFURT. The Volkswagen Foundation is making available a total of 鈧�541,400 for the project, entitled 鈥淒ecolonizing Postcolonialism. On the Intertwined History of Politics, Church and Theology in the Namibian Freedom Struggle (1957-1990)鈥�. Project applicant is Prof. Stefan Michels, who teaches historical theology at 51猎奇鈥檚 Faculty of Protestant Theology. 鈥淩eligious-historical and theological research on Namibia mostly relates to the colonial period. There has hardly been any research on Namibia's contemporary church history. I am very pleased that the Volkswagen Foundation is funding our project, enabling us to expand our state of knowledge. I am also very grateful to the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Research [Zentrum f眉r Interdisziplin盲re Afrikaforschung, ZiAF] for its support during the preparatory phase,鈥� says Prof. Michels.
Namibia's political identity is the result of an eventful history spent between foreign rule and free self-determination: In 1884, the vast southwest African territory was declared a 鈥減rotectorate鈥� of the German Empire and remained a German colony 鈥� known as 鈥淕erman Southwest Africa鈥� 鈥� until the end of the First World War. In 1920, it became a mandate territory of South Africa and thus placed under the sovereignty of the neighboring state, which in turn was shaped by the system of apartheid. Namibia gained independence on March 21, 1990, following military altercations between the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and the South African military, particularly in the years between 1960 and 1989, a period also known as the 鈥淣amibian liberation struggle鈥�.
In the second half of the 20th century in particular, a variety of emancipation movements emerged in Namibia, which fed into the struggle for political independence, both with regard to the country鈥檚 political and ecclesiastical relations with Europe and South Africa. During Namibia鈥檚 colonization in the 19th century, the impact of which continues to shape contemporary social discourse in the country, Christian churches and religious communities established themselves in the country. These religious institutions remained in close contact with the churches of their countries of origin in the post-colonial period.
The project sets out to analyze the intertwining of politics, church and theology, with an additional focus on the question of what role the theology of liberation in particular played for a free Namibia. In addition to an examination of previously unrecorded archive material, the project also will include interviews with contemporary witnesses. Much like a network analysis, the resulting insights into the intertwining of church and politics could improve the fundamental understanding of the emancipation history of suppressed freedom aspirations as well as the roles played by churches and religion. Part from that, the findings also pave the way for further insights into 鈥淏lack Liberation Theology鈥� in southern Africa.
Michels and his team 鈥� the project includes two assistant and one postdoctoral position 鈥� are openly approaching the question of whether the role of the many different churches and church groups in Namibia's liberation struggle can be considered positive or inglorious. Preliminary research had shown that the liberation movement definitely encountered resistance 鈥� born out of concern over further communist-motivated aggression. On the other hand, individual partner churches in Germany had proactively supported the movement. To gain as comprehensive an overview as possible, Michels plans to work closely with Namibian research teams in the project, which to the scholar of church history could turn out to be just the beginning of an even larger research project.
The VW Foundation鈥檚 鈥淧ioneer Projects: Explorations of the unknown Unknown鈥� initiative is funding 15 high-risk projects with a total of 鈧�7.9 million. It supports projects that could lead to major breakthroughs in basic research 鈥� or fail to achieve their goals. In its own press release, the Volkswagen Foundation explicitly acknowledge the real risk of such a potential failure, thereby paving the way for taking the appropriate risks, and adding that, in the event of success, the potential for gaining new knowledge is great.
Further information
Prof. Dr. Stefan Michels
Professor of Church History
Faculty of Protestant Theology
51猎奇 Frankfurt
Tel.: +49 (0)69 798-32404
E-Mail: michels@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Homepage:
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
Jul
3
2024
10:05
German Science and Humanities Council recommends strengthening the Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology
"A symbiosis of research institution and museum"聽
In its evaluation of the Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology at 51猎奇 Frankfurt, the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) acknowledged its research and transfer achievements. The Wissenschaftsrat also found that the institute plays a special role in German-speaking cultural anthropology because it embodies a successful symbiosis of research institution and museum.
FRANKFURT. Following an extensive evaluation, the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftfsrat, WR) has attested the Frobenius Institute at 51猎奇, with its unique archives and collections, a special role in German-speaking cultural anthropology at the interface between research institution and museum. WR also recognized its outstanding, collection-based research and transfer achievements.
Given that different cultural concepts of humanity and the relationships between humans and the environment are central research topics in cultural anthropology, the discipline can deliver important impulses for current debates on the possibilities and risks of human coexistence. At the same time, anthropological research has to be particularly self-reflective, not least due to the oftentimes critical public perception of the discipline and museums as an institution.
Considering its financial and personnel resources, the Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology impressively meets this challenge, the Council鈥檚 evaluation found, adding that the Institute serves as an example worth emulating of how to bridge the gap between research institution and museum that is so characteristic of German-language cultural anthropology. "Since its current director took office in 2017, Frobenius Institute has undergone an extremely positive development and is providing excellent research and transfer services," says Wissenschaftsrat Chairman Wolfgang Wick, adding that these achievements are based on the Institute's archives and collections 鈥� unique in the world 鈥�, including the rock art archive, which has been nominated for UNESCO鈥檚 鈥淢emory of the World鈥� Program. The copies of rock paintings, some of which are no longer preserved in their original form, have been displayed from various thematic perspectives in several exhibitions across Germany and abroad.
In its evaluation, the Wissenschaftsrat also found that Frobenius Institute needs more staff for its broad spectrum of tasks, which range from research, to preserving and expanding collections, all the way to public relations. The Council warns that staffing levels could significantly constrain the Institute's performance in the medium term, and urgently recommends that additional positions be created.
The specific fields for which the Council has identified a particular need for support are central collection processing, easing the workload of researchers, making the archives and collections even more visible internationally, as well as for important digitization and data backup tasks.
"We are extremely pleased with this positive evaluation by the German Science and Humanities Council, especially the praise our researchers received for their great commitment. We feel vindicated in our work and would be grateful to see the political authorities strengthen our basic funding," says Frobenius Institute Director Roland Hardenberg, who is also a professor of anthropology at 51猎奇 Frankfurt.
Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology is a non-university research institute based in Frankfurt, whose offices are located in 51猎奇鈥檚 IG Farben building. The Institute鈥檚 12 permanent employees and 16 externally funded staff are free to use 51猎奇鈥檚 infrastructure and funding opportunities, and it in turn makes its archive, library and collections available to the university鈥檚 students and researchers. It is also involved in teaching and a number of joint research projects. Frobenius Institute receives basic funding from the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts, which had asked the Wissenschaftsrat to evaluate Frobenius Institute in 2021.
Images for download:
Captions:
1) Local researchers of the Tacana, Tsimane' and Moset茅n (Bolivia) visit the Frobenius Institute's rock art archive, 2024 (Photo: Jennifer Markwirth)
2) "Reclining man with horned mask": This copy of a rock painting from Zimbabwe, Rusape (place of discovery: Diana Vow), was made by artist Agnes Schulz in 1929. (Watercolor on paper, 105.5 脳 147 cm, Frobenius Institute FBA-D3 01622-b)
Further information
PD Dr. Susanne Fehlings
Public Relations
Frobenius Institute for Resarch into Cultural Anthropology
Tel.: +49 (0)69 -798 33054
E-Mail: Fehlings@uni-frankfurt.de
Homepage:
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de