Events

At the College for Social Sciences and Humanities, academic events in various formats take place on a regular basis. You will find lectures, conferences, workshops, or panel discussions linked to different fields of research within the social sciences and humanities. Open science formats addressing the general public are also part of the portfolio.

Most events are planned by resident researchers and Senior Fellows, organised with support from the College’s event coordinator. Moreover, the College hosts select events offered by other members of the University Alliance Ruhr working in the social sciences and humanities.

The following list provides an overview of upcoming and past events at the College.

Next Event

Workshop
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Collage with a photo of the Rhein-Herne Canal in Gelsenkirchen

Canal Dreams. Towards a Critical History of Inland Waterways

01/10/2026 - 02/10/2026, Essen

Since late medieval times, shipping canals have been essential for inland waterway transportation. A considerable number of canal projects were proposed, discussed, and even partially constructed but failed to provide usable waterways. Recent scholarship has explored how canals were a preliminary form of geo-engineering. This interdisciplinary workshop brings together researchers who have worked…

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Conference
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symbolic graphic: conference hall with rows of chairs

Aurora Staff BIP Expanding Scholarly Horizons & Aurora Student BIP Rising Voices: Emerging Scholar's Forum

05/10/2026 - 09/10/2026, Essen

The one-week joined retreat for students and researchers synchronises two Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP) for scholars and students respectively in the two fields of (a) sustainability and climate change research and (b) culture: diversities and identities research.

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Lecture PostdocLab
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Envisioning a Human-Centred AI in Education Ecosystem: Connecting Teacher Preparation, Schools, and Key Stakeholders

05/10/2026, digital

Lecture by Evrim Baran, Iowa State University (USA)

Organiser: School Development and AI Agency Research Lab (SD-AI)

This talk presents a vision for building a strategic Human-Centred AI in Education ecosystem that goes beyond individual tools or isolated initiatives.

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Lecture PostdocLab
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Schulentwicklung in der Digitalität – KI verstehen, erfahren und aktiv gestalten

05/10/2026, digital

Vortrag von Sigrid Hartong, Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg

Organisation: School Development and AI Agency Research Lab (SD-AI)

Der Impulsvortrag skizziert das aktuelle Forschungsfeld und zeigt anhand unterschiedlicher Projekteinblicke, welche KI-Risiken im Kontext von Schulentwicklungsfragen nach wie vor stark unterschätzt werden und wie diese Risiken adressiert werden können.

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Lecture PostdocLab
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Bildung für KI – KI für Bildung: Forschungseinblicke zwischen KI-Führerschein und agentischen Trainingssystemen

12/10/2026, digital

Vortrag von Sabine Seufert, Universität St. Gallen (Schweiz)

Organisation: School Development and AI Agency Agency Research Lab (SD-AI)

Der Vortrag beleuchtet die doppelte Bildungsfrage der KI: Was müssen Menschen lernen, um KI kompetent und verantwortlich zu nutzen – und wie kann KI selbst Lernprozesse unterstützen?

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Lecture PostdocLab
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From Human Agency to Responsible AI in School Development: Designing Human-Centred AI for K-12 Education

12/10/2026, digital

Lecture by Olga Viberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)

Organiser: School Development and AI Agency Research Lab (SD-AI)

This lecture examines how human-centred AI can strengthen, rather than diminish, human agency in K-12 education. It discusses key challenges, including trust, transparency, privacy, autonomy, and cognitive offloading, and considers their implications for…

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Conference
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Präludo – Wissenschaft im Vorfeld der Spiele-Tage: Brettspiele zum Kompetenzerwerb

21/10/2026, Essen

Organisation: Copenhagen Business School & Netzwerk "Schule und Spiel"

Die Fachkonferenz ermöglicht fachlichen Austausch zu Forschung, Kompetenzmessung und pädagogischer Praxis für Wissenschaft, Hochschullehre und Bildungspraxis.

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Newsletter

Past Events

Workshop
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Causal Inference with Spatial Data: Intersection of Labour and Housing Markets

10/09/2026 - 11/09/2026, Essen

Organiser: FDZ Ruhr at RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, University of Duisburg-Essen

The workshop brings together researchers to discuss how labour markets, housing affordability, residential choices, and regional change interact, with a focus on empirical evidence and policy-relevant research.

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Workshop
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Akzeptanzbedingungen einer Vermögenssozialpolitik

21/08/2026, Essen

Unter welchen Bedingungen kann eine Vermögenssozialpolitik gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz finden? Der Workshop bildet den Auftakt eines neuen interdisziplinären Projekts, das soziologische und politikwissenschaftliche Perspektiven zusammenbringt.

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Workshop
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Intergenerational Social Protection and Governance for Healthy Ageing in Africa: Policy Innovations for Inclusive and Resilient Societies

23/07/2026, CEST | digital

Africa’s social protection architecture is currently not well equipped to compensate for complex effects of population ageing, climate shocks, and gender inequality. At the same time, some African states are generating innovative policy responses. This interdisciplinary workshop brings together researchers and representatives from international organisations and African Union institutions to…

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Workshop
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Neo-Emotions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Feelings and Change

16/07/2026, Essen

The concept of ‘neo-emotions’ is based on the idea that our emotional range changes over time and in context. Not only have the meanings of classic terms such as anger, happiness, or embarrassment been transformed, but new kinds of emotions have also emerged. This workshop brings together scholars from different disciplines to examine how feelings become established emotions, which conditions…

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Workshop
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graphic showing stacked books and "Across the Borderlands" in writing

Working across the Borderlands: Epistemic Recognition for Interdisciplinary Research

09/07/2026, Essen

Workshop for researchers working in interdisciplinary spaces

Why is some knowledge easily heard – and other knowledge easily overlooked – in interdisciplinary work? In this participatory development workshop, the team of the Borderlands project introduces epistemic recognition – and invites participants to help build it.

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Workshop
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Women as Victims or Perpetrators of Violence: An International Perspective

09/07/2026 - 10/07/2026, Essen | hybrid

This workshop aims to gain a better understanding of how women experience or shape the nature of violence and victims in different cultural, social and economic contexts. Researchers and practitioners from both the Global South and the Global North will examine the intersections of gender, culture and violence; agency, context and legal issues; and aspects of resistance, resilience, coping and…

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Conference
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front of the building of Ilia State University Georgia

Sustaining Academic Freedom: Ilia State University and its Academic Partnerships with Germany

07/07/2026 - 08/07/2026, Essen

Organisers: University Alliance Ruhr & Ilia State University (Georgia)

The conference brings together representatives from academia, university management, funding organisations and civil society from Germany and Georgia. The focus will be on current developments in the Georgian higher education sector, the importance of academic freedom, and prospects for future cooperation and support measures.

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Workshop
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Children Who Work: Child Labour from Multidisciplinary Perspectives

03/07/2026, Essen | hybrid

Child labour is still prevalent, particularly in the Global South. This workshop aims to deepen the understanding of child labour from an interdisciplinary and international comparative perspective. The focus is on socio-economic structures, legal frameworks, and historical aspects.

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Workshop
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illustration

Heat and Health: Bodies, Environments, and Unequal Thermal Worlds

26/06/2026, Essen | hybrid

Extreme heat is linked to illness and increased mortality. Both harmful and therapeutic uses and effects of heat are unevenly distributed across societies. This workshop examines heat as an embodied and sensorial experience that shapes health and illness, exhaustion, recovery, and care. A second focus lies on the approach to heat in health governance: how do different conceptions of heat – as…

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Lecture
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illustrative image; photo of lecture hall in the background

Rechtsextremismus als Hype? Zur Radikalisierung junger Menschen in den Sozialen Medien

23/06/2026, Essen | Event in German | Essener Wissenschaftssommer

Die Bildungswissenschaftlerinnen Nicolle Pfaff und Wivian Weller zeigen anhand von ausgewählten Social-Media-Inhalten auf, wie länderübergreifende ideologische Vorstellungen des Nationalismus und der sozialen Abwertung von Gruppen zum Bezugspunkt jugendkultureller Praktiken werden.

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Contact us

Event Coordination

Laura Ziewitz

Event Coordinator

Phone: +49 201 183 - 6545

E-mail: