Governing for Healthy Ageing: Intergenerational Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa

The population of sub-Saharan Africa aged 60 and over is expected to triple by 2050. Based on a synthesis of demographic, epidemiological, clinical, and policy evidence, Daniel Chigudu and Martina Brandt examine how governance and social protection can be redesigned to meet this challenge and propose an integrated agenda.

Feel the Heat. Thermal Inequalities and Health

Against the backdrop of the heatwave in June 2026, Sreeparna Chattopadhyay and Elena Beregow reflect on the impact of extreme heat on our social lives. The blog post highlights how differences in heat vulnerability are connected with inequalities and why protection against heat is a matter of governance.

© © Pexels / Roman Koval

Growth (In)Dependencies: How Can Societies Become More Resilient?

Can economic growth and environmental sustainability be reconciled? Matthias Kranke and Tabea Waltenberg review the insights gained at their workshop on how growth dependencies may be rethought and reduced – to make societies more resilient and economies more sustainable.

How Environmental Issues are Connected with our Social Worlds

Sule Egya took up the research professorship 'Public Social Sciences and Humanities: Key Societal Debates' in April 2026. In this interview, he explains how environmental issues are connected with colonial history and global imbalances. He also elucidates how he intends to engage the public in debates about current societal issues.

© © eventfotograf.in

AI in Science Communication: Undermining Trust and Reproducing Stereotypes?

How do young people perceive and react to AI-generated scientific content? Do AI-generated images of scientists reinforce stereotypes? Maximilian Krug and Valentina Nachtigall conducted two studies to explore the role and effects of using generative AI in science communication.

How Norms Take Shape in United Nations Peacekeeping: The Case of Bangladesh

Focusing on Bangladesh and Nepal as two of the largest contributors to UN peace operations, Rashed Uz Zaman examines how peacekeeping norms influence local political, legal, and military structures. In this interview, he relates how these international norms are negotiated within national institutions and how they are reshaped through practice.

Multisensory Approaches in Archaeology: Exploring Egyptian, Near Eastern and Aegean Palaces of the Bronze and Iron Age

Multisensory archaeology focuses on sensory dimensions of archaeological sites, artifacts, and landscapes to reconstruct past human experiences. A workshop organised by Uroš Matić and Constance von Rüden in June 2025 explored the potential of multisensory approaches for the study of Egyptian, Near Eastern and Aegean palaces of the Bronze and Iron Age. This post features video recordings of the…

Therapeutic Encounters: Social and Ethical Implications of AI Chatbots in Mental Healthcare

The symposium ‘Therapeutic Encounters with Chatbots’, which took place at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities on 1st July 2025, brought together international researchers and practitioners from different disciplines. They discussed the current state of chatbot technology in mental healthcare, implications of its use, as well as future imaginaries. In this review, the organisers Benjamin…

World Champions of Forgetting. Remorseless American Exceptionalism

"Memory culture has metamorphosed into a forgetting culture, made in the USA." In this essay, William Donahue proposes a covert connection between the long-standing American suppression of civilian and non-combatant ‘collateral damage’ in military campaigns of the past, on the one hand, and the current willingness to countenance massive civilian deaths in contemporary conflicts, on the other. This…

© CC BY SA 2.0 US National Park Service

The Sociology of Public Sitting: What Essen’s Benches Reveal About Intergenerational Relationships

"If you want to understand society, don’t read theory. Watch people striving for a shady spot at 3 pm on a bright sunny day." – Sociologist Imran Sabir observes seemingly mundane activities around public benches in Essen, revealing the social fabric and dynamics behind them in this humorous blog post.