Funded by the DAAD, my collegues from Petrozavodsk and Tübingen and i will conduct a research seminar and summer school in summer 2020, dealing with the roles of universities in local welfare production by comparing the cities and universities of Tuebingen, Germany, and Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation.
Universities are places of knowledge production and free thought. Or, at least they should be. Academic disciplines like social and economic sciences as well as law are particularly concerned with social developments. They also analyse and reflect social developments aiming at formulating policy recommendations. As places of discourse and education, universities ideally offer room for critical, reflexive thinking and, as spaces of education for future elites, are important instances of socialisation.
Against this background, the seminar aims at reflecting the role of universities in the production of local welfare, the strengthening of civil society, the development of critical reflection and associated competences and skills. Furthermore, it provides the opportunity for an assessment of the role of the two universities of Tübingen and Petrozavodsk in local welfare production.
The seminar is a research seminar where students contribute to the general aim by doing small research projects, e.g. expert interviews with local elites, content analysis or discourse analysis of local politics and policy making.
The seminar is funded by the DAAD and includes a summer school (fully funded) in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russia, from the 12th of September to the 20th of September 2020, where students from both cities get the chance to meet, exchange and discussed their conducted research projects.
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