Germany

PhD Scholarships in Cultural Studies, Giessen University, Germany. 2017-18

Nov 22

Giessen University’s International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC), co-funded by the German federal government’s Excellence Initiative, offers a three-year, structured PhD-programme in the study of CULTURE. With its excellent research environment, a doctoral programme which is tailored to the needs of PhD students and the intensive personal support it provides, the Graduate Centre offers doctoral researchers optimum conditions for their PhD-projects and custom-made preparation for the time thereafter, both with regard to academic and non-academic careers.

German and international applicants, with a first or upper second class honours M.A. degree, are eligible to apply. The GCSC’s working languages are German and English, and applicants must be fluent in at least ONE of them; knowledge of both is an advantage and should be acquired during the scholarship period. Read More…

Oliver Hirschbiegel: Das Experiment (2001)

May 28

German director Hirschbiegel‘s debut feature ‘Das Experiment‘ does not quite shine as an accomplished cinematic piece (it is plenty rough around the edges,) but what it does is that it brings ample material to the table for engaging in debates surrounding the psychological ramifications of incarceration, confinement and captivity. The distribution and struggle for power is thematically anything but novel, but in choosing to adapt Mario Giordano’s novel titled ‘Black Box‘, Hirschbiegel does manage to orchestrate (however imperfectly) a taut and bleak look at the ‘discipliners’ and the punished, housed in modern prison systems. Read More…

Käthe Kollwitz: Etching and cutting the Human Condition

Dec 03

My recall of a Kollwitz woodcut is from many years ago, titled ‘Die Mütter’ (The Mothers) – a huddled heap of bereaved and bereft humanity, seeking to console and comfort each other, with futility, for they appear to be calcified by a known or unknown terror. That woodcut remained etched in my consciousness for a long time, tucked away in some obscure drawer, but always there, always gnawing. The work of 19th C / early 20th C German artist Käthe Kollwitz, is not one of tentative, delighting probing but of cathartic, universal anguish. Unleashing a visceral chronicle of human suffering and struggle – through depicting injustice, poverty, and the terrible price of mindless man made conflicts, her work achieves an emotional tenor and intensity that resonates beyond her immediate circumstances in Germany of the early 20th C. Read More…

PhD Scholarships in Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University, Germany 2015

Feb 18

The Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies (GPTS) of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” at the Heidelberg University, Germany, is offering up to four doctoral scholarships, starting in October 2015. Applicants must hold an M.A. or equivalent in a discipline of the humanities or social sciences with an above-average grade and must propose a research project with a strong affiliation to the research framework of the Cluster.

These scholarships are awarded for up to three years and the application deadline is March 15, 2015. Read More…

Doctoral Scholarships: University of Heidelberg, Germany, 2014

Jan 30

The prestigious Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, invites applications for doctoral scholarships in the areas of “Cultural dynamics in globalized worlds” and “Self-regulation and regulation: individuals and organizations”.

The requirement is for highly motivated, excellent PhD students with a strong interest in interdisciplinary research. Applicants must hold an M.A. or equivalent in one of the disciplines of the Humanities or Social Sciences with an above-average grade. Excellent knowledge of English or German, in addition to another language, is expected.

PhD Scholarship: a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities, Cologne. 2014

Sep 18

At the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities, University of Cologne, Germany, a special emphasis lies on hermeneutic and historico-contextual models. Research topics comprise the genesis and invention of knowledge as well as processes of reception and trans-culturation and their anthropological and ethical conditions.

Starting April 1st, 2014 the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities offers twenty PhD scholarships and ten collegiate places over a period of three years and is open to international applicants. The application deadline is October 18th, 2013.

For further information on a.r.t.e.s. and the application procedure, please go here.

Werner Herzog: Stroszek. 1977. (Germany)

Jul 10

The inimitable Werner Herzog is generally known to take on film projects that are more than challenging, both in terms of production and realization, and that also involves working with actors who are ‘difficult’ to say the least. Herzog’s ‘Stroszek‘ from 1977 is a meditative cinematic triumph and remains a prominent film moment from the last century. Putting together an accomplished actor (Eva Mattes) with a non actor (the unforgettable Bruno S.), Herzog weaves a tale in the mode of a grand existential tragedy, pitching in moments of raw pathos along with reflective soul searching for the truth. In telling the story of characters in the fringes of human society – an alcoholic, a prostitute, an elderly eccentric, and their earnest quest for a more respectable, happy life via the american dream, Herzog paints a USA, and a human condition we would rather not acknowledge. Therein lies his directorial brilliance. Watch.

Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral: Fellowships for Painting. 2014

Jun 12

Offering residential fellowships for international visual artists, the Künstlerhaus in Bad Ems, Germany, was founded in 1995 as a place of reflection, artistic production, discussion and meeting. It supports visual artists from all over the world by awarding a total of six artists-in-residence fellowships. For 2014, the residence fellowships will be awarded exclusively for painting. In future, each fellowship will be awarded for a different artistic genre. This offering, which is unique in Germany, is intended to enable deeper mutual creative cross-fertilisation among the resident artists. It will also lead to a more intensive specialist exchange of ideas with external artists, speakers, teachers, curators, etc.

Eligibility
Eligible to apply for a Balmoral fellowship are visual artists of any age from Germany and around the world. The focus of artistic work for the residential fellowships for 2014 must be on the medium of painting, whereby painting does not necessarily mean just ‘paint on canvas’. Formal and conceptual exploration of the limits and possibilities of the genre are also welcome.

The preconditions for applicants for the residential fellowships for visual artists are a completed course of study in art (M.F.A. or comparable) and three years of continuous artistic work after the conclusion of studies until the beginning of the fellowship. Applications are also possible for autodidacts distinguished by special artistic achievements, as documented by exhibitions and prizes. Knowledge of German or English is expected.

PhD Scholarships in Transcultural Studies 2013, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Jan 22

The Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies, University of Heidelberg, Germany, invites applications for eight doctoral scholarships.

Online application closes on March 15, 2013.

Open to Asia and Europe.

The programme offers a monthly scholarship of 1.200 Euro. It further supports scholarship holders in framing their research through advanced courses and individual supervision and mentoring. The scholarships start in the winter term 2013/14 and are granted for two years with the possibility of an extension for an additional year. Half of them are reserved for young scholars from Asia.

PhD position at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, 2012-2013

Oct 29

PhD stipend position in Children and Media, Press or Game Industry (Science and Technology Studies) with the Mercator Research Group “Spaces of Anthropological Knowledge: Production and Transfer”, at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Area of study: Cultural Psychology and Anthropological Knowledge.

Eligibility: An M.A. in media studies, social anthropology, cultural psychology, social sciences, science and technology studies or related disciplines is required. Experience and interest in qualitative methods, preferably ethnography, is necessary. Applicants must be good writers and possess empirical as well as theoretical curiosity. She or he must have the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively. Proficiency in German language is important.

Deadline: November 30, 2012.

Further information