KFG 54:  Applied Humanities - Genealogy and Politics

• Subject Area: Humanities
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 509851987

Buzzwords such as “timely,” “with practical applications generating sociopolitical and economic impact,” “sustainable,” “ecological,” and “future-oriented” have left their mark on contemporary science funding. And it is not only the natural sciences and engineering, but above all the humanities that are being called to overcome an oft-lamented crisis of legitimacy and “strengthen research with applied components,” as one can read in any number of recent research programs. But what can and should applied research in the humanities look like? Does this actually imply new research agendas? These are the questions the proposed Center for Advanced Studies seeks to address, in order to shed new light on the historical and contemporary sociopolitical significance of the humanities. In Western modernity, applied research has traditionally been seen as a universally valid body of knowledge, based on laws and easily exploitable for practical gain. In contrast to this view, the center will explore the potential to shape and form society inherent in a field of “applied humanities” that has yet to be conceptually defined. “Applied humanities" in this sense comprises a historical structure of practices forming in, between, and beyond disciplinary boundaries in the context of political and economic systems. Inasmuch as it transcends merely utilitarian considerations, it possesses an emancipatory, political-critical function that questions social phenomena in connection with political and technological infrastructures, and that envisions new forms of coexistence between people and their environments. Taking a genealogical approach, the interdisciplinary center will unearth this historical structure along two main areas of focus: “the politics of practice” and “infrastructural thought." These focal points will further branch out into several areas: “the practice of provenance research,” “digital humanities,” “humanities and the promise of globalization,” and “environmental humanities.” The center will foster a robust exchange among its academic directors, staff, national and international fellows, and associated assistant and junior professors. Various collaborative methods in the transdisciplinary project are expected to generate a number of publications during the first funding phase, as well as podcasts, exhibitions, open access formats, and publishing initiatives. Meanwhile, we will collaborate with the fellows to broaden the scope for the second funding phase to encompass perspectives from global history. In short, “applied humanities” are a worthwhile object of study because they express a fundamental conflict inherent to all forms of scientific knowledge between reflective distancing and concrete feasibility, and because the focus on applicability opens up a new historical-political, transdisciplinary, and transregional perspective on the humanities.

• DFG Programme: Advanced Studies Centres in SSH

Projects

• Applied Humanities–Genealogy and Politics (Applicants te Heesen, Anke ;  Tkaczyk, Viktoria )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Tkaczyk, Viktoria )

• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Viktoria Tkaczyk
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Anke te Heesen