Centres of Advanced Studies as Convivial Spaces of Knowledge Production

Centres of Advanced Studies as Convivial Spaces of Knowledge Production

1st Mecila Alumni Symposium Berlin, 2-4 November 2023

Seeking to intensify academic cooperation in the humanities and social sciences between Germany and the Global South, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has supported the creation of research centres based on the close collaboration between German institutions and institutions from different world regions. Accordingly, five Merian Centres of Advanced Studies, named after the naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), have been established in the cities of Delhi (ICAS:MP, 2015), Guadalajara (CALAS, 2017), São Paulo (Mecila, 2017), Accra (MIASA, 2018), and Tunis (MECAM, 2020).

In this first alumni symposium of the Maria Sibylla Merian Centre Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America, former Mecila Fellows will discuss the progress of their research since concluding their fellowship in São Paulo. On this occasion, we will also take stock of the contribution of the institutes of advanced studies to promoting outstanding, convivial academic cooperation, and to mitigating North-South asymmetries in the production and circulation of knowledge.

Registrations: n.leibbrandt@fu-berlin.de

SPEAKERS AND PROGRAMME
THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER
Harnack-Haus: Ihnestraße 16-20, 14195 Berlin, Mozart-Zimmer

5:00 p.m.: Former Fellows preliminary meeting (closed session)

6:00 p.m.: Public Event Opening
Moderation: Barbara Potthast, University of Cologne, Mecila Principal Investigator and former Director

Günter M. Ziegler, President of Freie Unviersität Berlin
Joseph Osei Djaba, First Secretary Education, Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Germany
Roberto Jaguaribe, Ambassador of Brazil in Germany
Vivien Barganz, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Jörg Dünne, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, former Mecila Fellow

6:30 p.m.: Panel discussion: Overcoming North/South Asymmetries – The Contribution of the Centres for Advanced Studies (public)
Moderation: Peter W. Schulze, University of Cologne, Mecila Principal Investigator and former Director

Daniel Schönpflug, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Head of Academic Programs
Andreas Mehler, University Freiburg, MIASA Spokesperson
Sérgio Costa, FU Berlin, Mecila Speaker
Daniela Vicherat Mattar, University of Leiden, former Mecila Fellow

8:00 p.m.: Reception (public)

FRIDAY 3 NOVEMBER
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstraße 19, 14193 Berlin
FU Berlin, Boltzmannstr. 1, 14195 Berlin, Room 003

8:15 a.m.: Group departure from Hotel Steglitz International

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 Private Guided Tour: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (WiKo) and Forum Transregional Studies (closed group)
Closed to former Mecila Fellows and hosted by Prof. Dr. Daniel Schönpflug (the WiKo’s Head of Academic Programs) and Dr. Georges Khalil (Managing Director of the Forum Transregional Studies)

12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Transit window and catered lunch break on the FU Berlin campus: Boltzmannstr. 1, 14195 Berlin, Room 003

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Fellows Panel: Spaces for more than human convivialities (public)
Moderation: Peter Birle, Ibero-American Institute, Mecila Principal Investigator and former Director

Jörg Dünne, HU Berlin ― Quiltrology? Research on Street Dogs in the Humanities Between Local Differences and Global Similarities
Ana Carolina Torquato, Universidade Federal do Paraná ― Animal display in fiction: the theme of human-animal confinement and captivity in Clarice Lispector’s work
Simone Toji, University of Sheffield ― Epistemic conviviality between a researcher and her interlocutors in Brazil: Building ethical grounds in migration and urban studies through care and imagination
Daniela Vicherat Mattar, University of Leiden ― Researching space as a source of vulnerability and care: From a square to a novel

4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Coffee break

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Fellows Panel: Intersecting inequalities: identities across spaces (public)
Moderation: Carlos Alba, El Colegio de México, Mecila Principal Investigator

Aline Correa, University of Cologne ― Congresso Universal das Raças: Hierarquias, corpos, tempo e geografias
Vanessa Massuchetto, Universidade Federal do Paraná / MPI Legal History ― Colonial women’s experiences and knowledge of normativity: study of cases of rape in colonial Paraguay (18th century)
Joanna Malgorzata Moszczynska, University Regensburg ― Magical journalism and Latin American wars: Kapuscinski’s “The Soccer War”

SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER
FU Berlin, Boltzmannstr. 1, 14195 Berlin, Room 003
Floating Berlin e.V., Lilienthalstr. 32, 10965 Berlin

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Conviviality & collaborative research: From alternative methods to alternative forms of dissemination/communication (public)
Moderation: Moacyr Novaes, University of São Paulo, Mecila Principal Investigator

Respondents to Fellows Panels:
Clara Ruvituso, Ibero-American Institute, Mecila Postdoctoral Researcher
Raquel Rojas, FU Berlin, Mecila Postdoctoral Researcher

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Break and transit window to next venue

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Tour of Floating Berlin (closed group)
Ute Lindenbeck (Floating e.V. Berlin)
Laura Kemmer, DAAD-USP (Martius Chair)