Dear all participants and future participants of the WinterSchool!

In January we had lively discussions about authorship, Foucault and Barthes. Now I’m organizing a workshop in Bochum on 23.11.2012. It is about the question of a “Second Authorship” in the cases of Kafka, Panizza, Döblin, Benn, Schnitzler and Musil. It will be in German but I would be happy to welcome also English speaking guests.

You’ll find further information here: http://staff.germanistik.rub.de/neugermanistik-2/veranstaltungen/

and please do not hesitate to contact me for any questions! I hope to see you (again) soon! Klara

WS participant Michael Toggweiler writes in the latest issue of the Mercator News about his appreciation of a space allowing for encounters beyond power struggles and the resulting respectful discussions that took place during the Winter School 2012. Read his article in German →

Generation Facebook – Vom Leben im digitalen Enclosure

Text: Dr. Theo Röhle, Universität Paderborn

Der Börsengang von Facebook rückt näher. Am 18. Mai sollen erstmals Aktien für jedermann erhältlich sein, zumindest in den USA. Für das Unternehmen werden Einnahmen von bis zu 11,8 Mrd. Dollar erwartet, dessen Gründer Mark Zuckerberg würde damit in die Riege der 40 reichsten Menschen der Welt aufsteigen. Auch wenn der Börsenwert des Unternehmens nach aktuellen Berechnungen unter den 100 Mrd. Dollar liegen wird, die einst prognostiziert wurden, bricht Facebook alle Rekorde: Der bisher erfolgreichste Börsengang eines Internetunternehmens hatte Google 2004 nur vergleichsweise geringe 1,7 Mrd. Dollar eingebracht. Und es werden zunächst nur 5% der Aktien frei gehandelt werden.

Read more

Still fishing for a suitable social networking site for your institution? (Design by Megan Robichaud) 

Should the adminsitration engage in social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.? This was the main topic discussed at the 10. Alumni-Talk organized by the MPA unibe Alumni. Read more

You can now listen to the lectures given at this year’s Winter School:

Click here to listen to Prof. Dr. Christiane Schildknecht (Philosophy, University of Lucerne) explaining the concept of knowledge, including its limits and an analysis of different forms of knowledge.

Click here to listen to PD Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer (History, University of Heidelberg) talking about the changing relation between information and knowledge: new communication technologies and contemporary societies’ perception of them – the example of telegraphy.

Click here to listen to Prof. Dr. Michael Hagner (Science Studies, ETH Zurich) talking about the generation and transfer of knowledge in the digital age: the fate of the printed book and changing notions of intellectual property, reading, writing and interpretation.

Click here to listen to PD Dr. Stefan Willer (Literary Studies, ZfL Berlin) talking about figurations of future knowledge: a rhetorical and epistemological investigation of knowledge-to- come in connection to current prognostic notions like ‘sustainability’, ‘security’, ‘scenario’, ‘contingency’.

Dear participants of the Winter School 2012

The memory of our lively conversations is as fresh as the snow that (finally) covers the Swiss landscape now. I would like to thank you once more for your manifold contributions to the success and friendly atmosphere of the first of a series of at least four of such international events for doctoral and postdoctoral students. It was marked by intellectual curiosity, polite dialogue and mutual learning as well as cheerful evenings of music and play.

In the following, I would like to post the overall concept of the Bernese Winter School that I introduced in my welcome speech on Sunday evening. Read more

Watch guest lecturer Roland Wenzlhuemer from the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” at the University of Heidelberg drawing a conclusion on this year’s Winter School.

Watch what guest lecturer Stefan Willer, Center for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin (ZfL), says about the Winter School.

Although I had to leave earlier it was with many new inspirations that transformed and thus enriched my knowledge. The Bernese Winter School was a wonderful experience of the ex-change and the trans-lation of ideas and thoughts and concepts. In this context I would like to cite Jean Paul (1796):

“Fremde Idee sind die Insekten, die den Samenstaub von einem guten Gedanken in uns zu anderen tragen und dadurch befruchten.”

“Foreign ideas are the insects that transport the seeds of a good thought in ourselves to others thus fecundating them.” (my transl.)

Looking forward to continue with this exciting exchange!

Here’s the link to the Mentorenblog website.