Re-thinking Europe
New University of Konstanz research centre “Kulturen Europas in einer multipolaren Weltordnung” to be established with funds from the Dr Karl Helmut Eberle Foundation – Funding of 500,000 euros
A new cultural studies centre at the University of Konstanz exploring “Kulturen Europas in einer multipolaren Weltordnung” (European cultures in a multipolar world) willdevelop an alternative vision for Europe beyond Eurocentrism. It is made possible through the Dr Karl Helmut Eberle Prize, which supports innovative and bold research projects at the University of Konstanz. The prize is endowed with 500,000 euros and will be presented by Dr Alexandra Zoller and Dr Georg Freiherr von Schönau, both members of the managing board of the Dr Karl Helmut Eberle Foundation, which is chaired by Thomas Schwind. The public ceremony will take place at 17:00 on Thursday, 28 June 2018 in the “Kulturzentrum am Münster” in Konstanz.
The laureates include Junior Professor Nicolas Detering, Professor Albrecht Koschorke and Professor Kirsten Mahlke, all cultural scientists working at the University of Konstanz. The new centre will be international in character and collaborate with a variety of partners from countries such as China, Argentina and South Africa. As a research and training facility, it will promote the university's international master’s programme “Studies in European Culture” and establish a new doctoral programme investigating political and intellectual alternatives to Eurocentrism (“Europa nach dem Eurozentrismus”). As such, it will not only advance the careers of the university's junior researchers, but it will also boost the university's profile in cultural studies.
In their research, the award winners proceed on the assumption that: “Europe is no longer the dominant global force it used to be for centuries. At the same time, the post-war continent is considered by many an important model of political, legal and cultural integration that it is well worth emulating”. Besides the role of Europe in the modern world, the centre will also address a range of topical issues that it seeks to discuss with both academic and broader audiences.
Nicolas Detering has been Junior Professor of Modern German Literature at the University of Konstanz since 2017. His doctoral thesis entitled “Krise und Kontinent. Die Entstehung der deutschen Europa-Literatur in der Frühen Neuzeit” (Crisis and Continent. The Emergence of Literary Discourses on Europe in the Early Modern Period) was recognised with the Gerhart Baumann Prize. Before joining the University of Konstanz, Nicolas Detering worked at the Deutsches Seminar at the University of Freiburg and its Collaborative Research Centre “Heroes – Heroizations – Heroisms. Transformations and Conjunctures from Antiquity to the Modern Day”.
Albrecht Koschorke has been Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Konstanz since 2001. He was speaker for the Research Training Group “The Figure of the Third” and leads the on-going Research Training Group “The Problem of the Real in Modern Culture”. Koschorke is a member of the executive board of the Cluster of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of Social Integration”. He was honoured with the Academy Prize of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Kirsten Mahlke has been Professor of Cultural Theory and Methodology at the University of Konstanz since 2011. Prior to that, she held a Professorship of Romance Literatures at the University of Heidelberg. As a Principal Investigator, she worked on the ERC project “Narratives of Terror and Disappearance” and is a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study Konstanz, which is part of the university's Cluster of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of Social Integration”.
The Dr Karl Helmut Eberle Foundation has provided an annual research prize for research projects at the University of Konstanz since 2016. In line with the donor's wishes, the associated funds are allocated irrespective of the scientific discipline and on a performance-oriented basis. Interdisciplinary and international projects are expressly welcome. The funding will allow the research centre to initiate cutting-edge, innovative and bold research projects, thereby enhancing the University of Konstanz's research profile and safeguarding its continued development.
Facts:
- Dr Karl Helmut Eberle Prize for the cultural studies centre “Kulturen Europas in einer multipolaren Weltordnung” (European cultures in a multipolar world) at the University of Konstanz
- Funding amount: EUR 500,000
- The prize will help initiate cutting-edge, innovative and bold research projects at the University of Konstanz
- Public award ceremony takes place at 17:00 on Thursday, 28 June 2018 in the “Kulturzentrum am Münster” in Konstanz.