Dynamics in the Global World
Ideas, narratives, rituals, goods, rules, borders, people, and spaces are in a constant state of change. Individuals’ and societies’ responses to entangled challenges are highly diverse.
In an increasingly interconnected world that is simultaneously characterized by difference, Regensburg Area Studies are generating new research questions by exploring interrelations, entanglements, and cross-references as well as boundaries both within Europe and also between Europe and other regions.
This idea is reflected in UR’s Department for Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies – DIMAS.
© UR | Graphics: Astrid Riege
DIMAS provides a project-focused, flexible, transdisciplinary structure and thereby also supports new intersections with existing disciplines.
Different regions are brought together in a cooperative, dynamic research agenda.
Comparative social and spatial research is one of DIMAS' core topics, which is the focus of the EU-Horizon-Project ‘Fairville. Facing inequalities and democratic challenges through co-production in cities’.
© Fairville | Photo: Anna Steigemann
DIMAS shapes the collaboration between the department and the collaborating UR Faculties (Law; Catholic Theology; Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Philosophy, Art History, History, and Humanities) as well as the
Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), one of the largest and longest established research institutions of its kind in Germany.
© UR | Photo: Julia Dragan
Further impetus is provided by the Leibniz ScienceCampus ‘Europe and America in the Modern World’ , a joint project of IOS and UR as well as by the Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies, founded in 2012.
The establishment of a new Center - Think Space Ukraine (TSU) or Denkraum Ukraine (DU) – aims to consolidate and advance Regensburg’s diverse expertise on Ukraine's culture, economy, politics, and law. In 2024, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has pledged substantial support for the project.
© UR | Photo: Julia Dragan
In providing a platform for collaborative research projects in area studies, DIMAS seeks to cooperate with the various institutions and centers based in Regensburg promoting the University's focus on innovative transnational studies and international degree programmes.
© UR | Photo: Julia Dragan
Additional interdisciplinary perspectives emerge from the intersection of the diverse theoretical and methodological approaches that contribute specific traits while engaging in exchanges with other perspectives and research groups. Among them is FOR 2770 Beyond Canon_ - the first DFG-funded Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at a Faculty of Theology.
International and local scholars gather in the Center to conduct research and discuss so-called heterotopias of religious authority in ancient Christianity. Their objective is to gain insights into religious life beyond ecclesiastical and theological norms as well as into the actual meaning of the biblical canon.
© Beyond Canon_ | Photo: Charlotte von Schelling
Research on various topics and themes is also facilitated by interdisciplinary centers and institutes, many of which are at UR’s Faculties of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures or Philosophy, Art History, History, and Humanities. Their scholars support both contemporary and historical research, such as the DFG-funded Research Training Group (RTG) 2337 Pre-modern Metropolitanism
They focus on the meanings of metropolises, conducting research on the cultural, socio-economic, political, religious, or technological dynamics in pre-modern cities. Their “metropolitanity” is subject to specific historical and cultural conditions that have changed dramatically, particularly under the influence of industrialization and globalization over the last 150 years.
© UR | Photo: Kathrin Pindl
The Center for Commemorative Culture (Zentrum Erinnerungskultur) adopts inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives to focus on the forms, conditions, possibilities, and effects of historical commemoration.
The Center aims to promote a close exchange between academic research on commemorative cultures and actors working on public commemoration and history, to inspire experimental approaches, and thereby to critically reflect on and actively co-create social processes of commemoration.
A chronological focal point is commemorative culture relating to National Socialism and the Holocaust. Regarding this topic, the Center closely collaborates with the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial.
© Flossenbürg Memorial | Photo: Thomas Dashuber
#notabene
#sciencestories
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Folklore and Artificial Intelligence
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Early career conference on memory culture
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Collaborations between academia, artistic practice, curation, and policy-making.
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New Center for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies at UR
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Rawls's theory of deliberative democracy and its contemporary relevance in the digital age.
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The LSC secured funding for a further four years.
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Annual conference of the DFG funded RTG 2337 "Pre-modern Metropolitanism"
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"I want to be an advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves."
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UR hosts matchmaking conference.
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Terminological pitfalls, geopolitics, and knowledge hierarchies
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Stories and interviews leading beyond the biblical canon, presented by the DFG Center for Advanced Studies (FOR 2770) Beyond Canon_
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The UR is home to numerous institutions and centers that promote research and teaching relevant to area studies across the faculties.
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In her talk at UR, Yi Yi Prue, an Indigenous lawyer from Bangladesh, made an urgent appeal not to leave the poor and marginalized groups behind.
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Jeff Rathke, U.S. expert on Germany, talks with UR students and Dr. Gerlinde Groitl about German-American relations and the transatlantic partnership.
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The Gendered Power System in the Catholic Church and its Impact on Women in Religious Communities – A trans-disciplinary and international DFG workshop
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Interview with Philipp Schwartz Fellow Tetyana Malyarenko and Historian and IOS Director Ulf Brunnbauer
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Multidisciplinary exchange in a relaxed atmosphere offering the chance to get to know each other
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Talk by UR visiting scholar Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Alberta, Canada
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Exploring firms, green behavior, and global challenges
#blogjournal
Europe, America, and Global Transformations
Frictions is a blogjournal – a hybrid format of blog and e-journal – discussing Europe and the Americas in the context of global transformations. The project is run by the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Europe and America in the Modern World", which is based at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) and the University of Regensburg.
© LSC Europe and America | Photo: Paul Vickers
Just Navigate!
Regensburg Area Studies
Meet some of our early career scholars and learn about their projects!
© UR | Photo: Julia Dragan
Those Who Gain Understanding
The Regensburg Hub of Research beyond the Biblical Canon
© Photo: Jörg Frey