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Ursula Rao, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Ursula Rao, the Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI) has been elected a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW), receiving her certificate of appointment in June 2023. The BBAW is an association of outstanding scholars with a tradition of more than 300 years. Its mission includes the advancement of science, policy consulting, and the promotion of dialogue between academia and society. Scholars who have distinguished themselves through scientific achievements are eligible to be elected as members. more

Christoph Brumann, member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society and Head of Research Group at the MPI for Social Anthropology.

Christoph Brumann, Head of Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Honorary Professor at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, has been elected as a member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society (MPS). He fulfills these duties as the newly elected speaker of the Scientific Staff Representatives of the Human Sciencies Section of the MPS. As such, he has also become a member of the Perspective Council of the section. more

Dirk Hanschel: Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Head of the Research Group ‘Environmental Rights in Cultural Context’

Will recognizing oceans, rivers, and forests as legal subjects entitled to special rights allow us to protect them more effectively? In 2008, Ecuador became the first nation in the world to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution. Since then, the idea has continuously gained momentum around the world, with local initiatives, social movements, NGOs, and even courts invoking rights of nature in their activities and decisions. But what effect do ecocentric rights actually have in practice? This question is the focus of a new research project at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI). The two-year project is funded by a €350,000 grant from the Volkswagen Foundation. more

Science Night in Halle – Friday, 7 June 2023

How is artificial intelligence changing psychotherapy and what does it mean for patient-therapist relationship? Why are terms like “clan crime” and “parallel justice” not merely problematic, but also basically wrong? And what is so remarkable about the astronomical research being conducted in Africa? Three MPI researchers – Claudia Lang, Hatem Elliesie, and Hanna Nieber – will shed light on these questions during Science Night in Halle on Friday, 7 July in the Melanchthonianum. The lectures, which will be held in German, start at 17:00. more

Ursula Rao: Managing Director of the MPI and Deputy Spokesperson for the draft proposal “New Global Dynamics: Worlds in Crisis?” that 
has been submitted to the second competition phase of the Excellence Strategy of the German state and federal governments.

The Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI) has submitted a joint bid for a new Cluster of Excellence on the topic “New Global Dynamics: Worlds in Crisis?” together with the Universities of Leipzig and Halle and six other elite non-university research institutions. The cluster will bring together social and environmental researchers to study the worldwide crises and transformation processes that we are facing today. The draft proposal has been submitted to the second competition phase of the Excellence Strategy of the German state and federal governments. more

Ursula Rao: Spokesperson of the IMPRS "Global Multiplicity. A Social Anthropology for the Now" and Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

In Fall 2023, the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI), together with Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Leipzig University, and FAU in Erlangen, will inaugurate the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) “Global Multiplicity: A Social Anthropology for the Now”. With an initial funding period of six years, the IMPRS will provide structured training for up to 40 doctoral students, making this jointly hosted programme one of the largest research schools for early-career social anthropologists in Europe. The spokesperson of the IMPRS is Ursula Rao, Managing Director of the MPI. more

In this interview with Jovan Maud, Ghassan Hage talks about why he has taken a break from the University of Melbourne to join the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and what his plans are for the two years of his stay. He describes how he is collaborating with colleagues in Halle on a new book project on "Social Repair", explaining why this concept is useful and how it connects the research of the Institute’s three departments.

In this interview with Jovan Maud, Ghassan Hage talks about why he has taken a break from the University of Melbourne to join the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and what his plans are for the two years of his stay. He describes how he is collaborating with colleagues in Halle on a new book project on "Social Repair", explaining why this concept is useful and how it connects the research of the Institute’s three departments. more

MPI-Alumna Anita von Poser took on a professorship at the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Oktober 2022.

At irregular intervals we publish interviews with alumni of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. We find out where they are living and working now, what they are conducting research on, and how their time at the MPI shaped their subsequent careers. In closing they share their advice for young anthropologists and name a book that has impressed them recently. more

Ursula Rao, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, has been appointed as a member of the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat). Rao will begin her term of office on 1 February 2023.

Ursula Rao, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, has been appointed as a member of the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR). This body advises the federal and state governments on policy matters concerning science, research, and higher education. Rao will begin her term of office on 1 February 2023. more

Annika Lems, Frontiers of Belonging: The Education of Unaccompanied Refugee Youth, Indiana University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-253-06178-2

When thousands of refugees began arriving in Europe in 2015, they were received with an outpouring of solidarity and assistance. Particular concern was directed towards the needs of children and teenagers traveling alone. Programmes were developed for them based on the vision of education as a path to rapid integration into the host society. Anthropologist Annika Lems conducted research among 16 of these young refugees. In her book Frontiers of Belonging: The Education of Unaccompanied Refugee Youth, published in July 2022, she analyses how this vision of belonging failed to materialize in many cases and what bureaucratic hurdles stood in the way of diversity and participation. more

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