How thinking is changing

A wide-ranging and multifaceted programme to support early-career researchers: four Schools at the university are currently inviting Master’s students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers to the first ‘Oldenburg School’ for the Humanities and Social Sciences. A series of events is open to all interested parties. From European refugee policy to critical discourse analysis, context-oriented cultural studies to human–animal relations – with a variety of workshops and lectures, summer schools and masterclasses, the two-week ‘Oldenburg School’ covers a broad spectrum of topics. It brings together the diverse range of opportunities for early-career academics under the umbrella of the Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences (3GO). What does ‘good academic practice in research involving human subjects’ look like? The Chair of the Commission of the Senate for Ethics and Research Impact Assessment, psychologist Prof. Dr Christiane Thiel, will give a talk on this topic on Thursday, 8 September, from 2.00 pm in Lecture Theatre Centre A14 (Room 0-031). The event is also intended to help clarify individual questions regarding research ethics; no registration is required. “Oldenburg’s past as a Nazi stronghold” is the focus of the guided city tour “Thirteen Brown Years”, which the Oldenburg historian Dr Ingo Harms will lead on Monday, 12 September, 4.00 pm. Those interested can find out more about this event, which forms part of the autumn workshop “Interpretative Research Methods”, by emailing. Those interested in the alumni summer school ‘Critique of Self-Education’ on 13 and 14 September can also still register by email (). Why does Hamlet actually see a ghost? How are comics and social discourse interrelated? How do private individuals’ diaries help me to situate Goethe’s *Werther* within the discourse on suicide? Why might my shop receipts be of interest to future historians? And what does Google have to do with it? These and similar questions will be the focus of the masterclass “Re-reading New Historicism as a Method of Context-Oriented Cultural Studies” on Tuesday 13 September, 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm, which is being led by Oldenburg-based American studies scholar Prof. Dr Martin Butler together with literary scholar Prof. Dr Moritz Baßler from the University of Münster. Late registrations are still possible for those who decide at the last minute. There are also a few places left on the 3GO workshop on critical discourse analysis with Regina Wamper and Isolde Aigner from the Duisburg Institute for Language and Social Research. Anyone wishing to learn about the method and its theoretical context can try to secure one of the remaining places for the workshop on Friday 9 September, from 10.00 to 16.00. How are perception, thought, personal encounters and conversations changing in our ever-accelerating world? How can we respond meaningfully to the increasing number of unfinished beginnings in our everyday lives? Bremen’s “Theater der Versammlung” will bring these questions to life on stage on Thursday 15 September at 5.00 pm in Lecture Theatre Centre A14 in the interactive click-based performance “C COPY A, verschlüsselt”, followed by a panel discussion. Due to limited seating, registration by email () is required. However, the numerous public lectures organised by the organisers from Schools I to IV can be attended on the spot. Experts will discuss European refugee policy on Friday, 9 September, from 4.00 pm in a round-table discussion in the library hall. In addition, the Berlin-based ancient historian Prof. Dr Wilfried Nippel will give a lecture on ‘The Relief of Participation: Representation Instead of Assembly Democracy’ (17 September, 9.00 am, Senate Meeting Room). Prof. Dr Ulrich Bröckling, a sociologist of culture from Freiburg, will discuss “Paradoxes of an education for freedom” under the heading “We must always do what we want” (14 September), whilst Düsseldorf-based historian Prof. Dr Achim Landwehr will speak on “Taking one’s time. Present and Absent Times – and the Constitution of the Subject” (13 September, both at 6.30 pm in the Library Hall). Further public lectures can be found in the programme. The “Oldenburg School” comprises the doctoral programme “Cultures of Participation”, the DFG Research Training Group “Self-Formations”, the Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC), the project “Focus on Research-Based Learning” (FLiF) and the Erasmus Mundus degree programme “European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations” (EMMIR). The EWE Foundation, the Oldenburg University Society (UGO), the General Students’ Committee (AStA) and Schools I to IV have made this wide range of events possible through their financial support.