Research Areas

Under the auspices of the collective program of the Center, four research areas have been distinguished at the outset. So as not to hinder the linkage between projects and disciplinary competencies, these areas are designed to be taken as an outline of content, not as a segmented organization for the Center.

In the research area “Cultures of Identity”, inquiry centers upon the cultural preconditions for the construction and success/failure of collective and individual identities as well as the construction of epistemic objects.

The research area “Narrative Theory as Cultural Theory” studies how social relations are produced and made plausible by means of narratives, and how narratives cope with contingency and disintegration.

In the research area “Transcultural Hierarchies”, the focus is upon the interferences between different cultures with respect to the relations of power which must be negotiated in each case.

The research area “Cultural Dynamics of Religion” concerns itself with the cultural presuppositions of how religion has been institutionally constructed as well as with religion’s embedded potential for conflict.