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The International Graduate School "Resonant Self-World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices" starts with the first cohort of doctoral students

Monday, 02 October 2017

The International Graduate School (IGS) "Resonant Self–World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices", a collaboration of the University of Graz and the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt, starts with the first cohort of doctoral students in the winter term 2917/18. The program, financed by the FWF and the DFG, is planned to run for three and ahalf years, where new doctoral students are recruited to do their PhD's in the frame of this research program.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Spickermann, since 2014 professor of Ancient History at the University of Graz, and Prof. Dr. Jörg Rüpke, specialist of ancient religion and Vicedirector of the Max Weber Centre, set up the idea to apply the theory of Hartmut Rosa's about resonance to religious practices in antiquity and to compare them with those of modern times. These research questions will now be examined under the direction of  Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Spickermann and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Irmtraud Fischer (Graz) as well as Prof. Dr. Jörg Rüpke and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa (Erfurt) in an interdisciplinary frame. To this end, the doctoral students at Graz are in close contact to their colleagues at Erfurt, and they have supervisors at each institution. The doctoral students establish tandem teams and spend their second year at the partner university. Thus, they develop an academic tool kit that goes beyond their disciplinary limits, since they become familiar with different research traditions as well as with diachronic and comparative approaches.

Spokesperson of the International Graduate School at Graz, Univ.-Prof. Wolfgang Spickermann emphasises the importance of the Graduate Schoo for the promotion of junior researchers: The Graduate School stands for a high quality of research - guaranteed by the participating institutions as well as by the indiviudal researchers and their expertise. They offer the doctoral students an excellent environment. In particular, the diachronic and interdisciplinary approach of the Graduate School is appealing, since the resonance theory is applied to various contexts and periods. With the three participating faculties at Graz - the faculty of Catholic Theology, of Business, Economics and Social Science, and of Arts and Humanities - we cover a broad range of theoretical models. When they are applied to topic of the individual research projects, we achieve a better understanding of self-world relations, on our interaction with the world - with human beings, objects, but also with the transcendent. Moreover, we establish a permanent international cooperation and offer a joint doctoral degree for our graduates due to the cotutelle agreement with the University of Erfurt. This means an important contribution to the European Research Area.“

The opening confeence of the International Graduate School will take place at Graz, 16th to 18th October 2017 (further informationen here).

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