Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM)

city / country: 
Vienna, Austria
Contact: 

Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen
Spittelauer Lände 3
1090 Wien
Austria

+43 (0)1 31358 108
Contact person: Mary Kemle-Gussnig

kemle-gussnig@iwm.at

The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences. Since its foundation in 1982, it has promoted intellectual exchange between East and West, between academia and society, and between a variety of disciplines and schools of thought.

In the early days, the Institute primarily sought to reintegrate the ideas and experiences of Eastern Europe into Western debates, from which it had largely been isolated after 1945. This goal remains of crucial importance even two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, as old and new boundaries between East and West continue to shape beliefs, attitudes, and institutions. At the same time, the IWM has been trying to foster the exchange of ideas and knowledge between Europe and North America.

More broadly, the Institute is committed to broaching new and often contested topics of societal relevance, thus contributing to debates on a wide range of political, socio-economic, and cultural issues. Accordingly, research at the IWM is closely related to the challenges confronting political practitioners and the public at large. As a result, the Institute’s work has an intellectual as well as a practical dimension: research activities are designed to provide an impetus for policy-oriented programs and vice versa.

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Premises and facilities: 

The IWM is located in the centre of Vienna and hosts approximately 85 fellows and guests per year. The academic programme includes weekly seminars, regular public lectures and debates as well as conferences and workshops. All fellows are assigned an individual workspace with internet access. The IWM library holds 40,000 volumes, 160 periodicals, as well as documentary material related to the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka.

 

 

 

 

Scientific priorities: 

Research at the IWM is currently focused on the following fields:

1) Sources of inequality / social solidarity, including gender studies;

2) Religion and secularism from an intercultural perspective;

3) United Europe – divided history, with a special focus on Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe from the 19th century to the present;

4) Cultures and institutions: Central and Eastern Europe in a global context;

5) The future of democracy;

6) The philosophical work of Jan Patočka

7) Juridification and legal pluralism from the local to the global scale

8)The history of international law, international relations and multinormativity

 

Opening to sciences outside the humanities and social sciences: 

All proposals must fall within the humanities and social sciences.