Structure
Creating Better Conditions for Humanities Research
The humanities and social sciences in Konstanz can look back upon a long tradition of active cooperation in research. Since there are no firmly set departmental boundaries at the university, the structure always encouraged, even forced, scholars to work across the disciplines on common research projects. The Center will now be able to carefully bundle these many activities, expanding them in directed manner around further scholarly components. Accompanying this will be additional improvements to the research environment.
More on the scholarly components
Improving International Visibility and Cooperation
One of the imperative ambitions of the Excellence Initiative consists in making research carried out at German universities internationally well-known once again. In order to achieve this in the humanities in Konstanz, the Center is principally taking three paths. Already completed monographs have been translated with support from Center funding, mostly (but not exclusively) into English. Moreover, members of the Center can fall back upon an established pool of translators. In a targeted manner, they are encouraged and receive support to publish articles and essays in top, internationally recognized journals. In addition, the Center continues to draw upon a cooperative network in the humanities that has existed in Konstanz for decades. To the greatest extent possible, personal contacts and exchanges are being turned into linkages which are firmly institutionalized and thematically original.
Establishing Zones of Transfer
In the case of a topic like integration which is so prominent in public discourse, humanities research cannot afford to withdraw into the ivory tower. Yet it is not simple to link together the research activities of the Center and social debates on migration, new “lower classes”, failing states and the limits of European integration. The Center will certainly take part in extra-academic discussions. In the medium to long term, richly provided for zones of transfer will offer suitable forums for mutual exchange. Soon a clearinghouse will take up work at the Center itself, where interested parties can obtain orientation and contact addresses on current issues of integration.