College for Social Sciences and Humanities

"The College is designed as a space where research evolves across disciplines and universities, where academic questions are examined from multiple angles, and where researchers from the UA Ruhr form new bonds with international colleagues. Our focus here is on individual collaboration and small groups rather than large-scale projects. Through our Senior Fellowship Programme, we invite renowned researchers from all over the world to the Ruhr region.

As we all come from very different disciplines and backgrounds, we strive to develop new perspectives for the broad field of the social sciences and humanities. Under the roof of the College, you will find experts representing a wide array of approaches and methodologies, eager to tackle subjects ranging from social behaviour and interaction, communication, education, media and the arts to history, politics and economics. The College’s three research professorships will explore highly significant topics of contemporary societies, such as the impact of non-knowledge in complex organisations, the influence of experts and intellectuals on the public sphere, or the potential of digital tools for the formation of pluralistic memory cultures. Offering three junior professorships and collaborative short-term grants, the College also supports excellent early and mid-career researchers in an open-topic mode. Finally, the College offers events and publications reaching out beyond academia, as we are interested in a wider public’s questions and expectations about science and scholarship.

As a creative hub attracting interdisciplinary work, the College addresses current challenges, but it also provides leeway to identify new research topics. It is our aim to generate epistemic and social value for the three universities and their members and we believe that, with joint efforts, we will increase the international visibility and reputation of the Ruhr region in the humanities and social sciences."