Hub 2 - Society, Culture and Heritage

Introduction

Hub 2 - Society, Culture, and Heritage (SCH) - aims to act as a space for academic collaboration in research-oriented teaching activities. It creates a network of collaborations and seeks to develop joint educational offers, especially at MA and PhD level. We also aim to foster multidisciplinary research projects as, well as public and private partnerships with, for example, museums.

The Hub 2 addresses a broad interdisciplinary field of research and teaching in the areas of “Society, Culture, and Heritage”. As societies face constant change and multiple crises, the Hub strives to promote critical reflection on the historical and theoretical basis of different forms of living together. We explore migration, cultural diversity and identity, community building, multilingualism, cultural participation, and forms of heritage, as well as responsibility in and to the world.

This Hub supports academics willing to tackle challenges together with colleagues of the CIVIS partner universities in transnational and multidisciplinary teams. We expect innovation from interdisciplinarity and fundamental international cooperation.

For “Society, Culture, and Heritage”, the following (adaptable) focus areas have been identified:

  1. Mediterranean Studies: Diachronic and Intercultural Perspectives
  2. Heritage and Global Epistemologies
  3. Diverse Societies, Inequality and Social Change
  4. Multicultural and Multilingual Communication and Education
  5. Law, Norms, Ethics and Political Institutions

Activities

In general, Hub 2 aims to foster long-term networks and durable research/teaching collaborations at MA and PhD levels. However, we also support short-term mobility projects within the Hub’s focus areas. Past calls for research and teaching activities have been answered with numerous and diverse project proposals from the humanities and social sciences. Currently, calls for Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) are being published twice a year via the CIVIS website.

For future CIVIS initiatives, all activities that relate to the Hub’s themes and its focus areas are most welcome. A key criterion for all CIVIS activities is the collaboration of researchers and teachers from at least three CIVIS partner universities. Further funding criteria will be communicated along with respective calls. The reviewing and selection of activities are carried out jointly by Hub Chairs and members of the Hub Council.

Apart from educational activities which initiate international collaborations with regard to teaching, the Hub’s work also encourages joint research. A growing PhD network as well as a CIVIS Museums Network strive to set the foundation for long-term and fruitful exchanges between preservation and innovation, exhibition and research – engaging international and interdisciplinary academics, archives, on-site professionals and the public.

Leadership

The Hub was launched in 2020 and is represented and co-directed by the University of Tübingen (UT) and the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). After being co-chaired by Prof. Dr. Dorothee Kimmich (UT, Co-chair 1 in 2021) and Prof. Dr. Theodora Antonopoulou (NKUA, Co-chair 1 in 2022), the Hub is currently co-chaired by Prof. Dr. Dorothee Kimmich (as Co-chair 1 in 2023) and Prof. Dr. Vassiliki Chryssanthopoulou (NKUA).

All CIVIS partner universities have nominated members of the Hub 2 Council, which collectively makes important decisions and reports directly to the CIVIS Steering Committee. The Hub Chairs and Coordinators participate in the extended CIVIS Management Committee and in the Stream 1 Council.

Get involved and learn more

The Hub works to facilitate contacts and collaborations. If you would like to plan a new teaching or research activity with colleagues from the CIVIS partner universities, we invite you to contact Hub Council members at partner universities.

If you need support for finding partners or guidance on the CIVIS approach, please contact the Chairs or Coordinators of the Hub 2 Council:

Hub Council Chairs

Hub Council Coordinators