Learn about Research at the MPI during Halle Science Night 2026
What will the health care of the future look like in Saxony-Anhalt? Is digitalization an opportunity or a danger? How do migrant women in Halle create a feeling of belonging in a new country? And how does globalization affect queer communities in Namibia? During Science Night in Halle on Friday, 3 July 2026, researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and University Medicine of MLU Halle-Wittenberg will present their work on these questions to interested members of the public.
Paula Brake, Franziska Fink, Axel Kiehn, Eva Steinberger
Gesundheit geht alle an: Gemeinsam die Zukunft der Gesundheitsversorgung gestalten
17:00–18:00, Melanchthonianum am Uniplatz, Lecture Hall D
How can people be enabled to be involved in decisions about health care? What forms of participation does this require? How do they envision good care? Who is responsible for it? And how do we create trust between research, medical practitioners, and members of society? Health care provision in Saxony-Anhalt is changing rapidly, shaped by new technological developments and the needs of an aging society. As a result, new digital pathways for healthcare are emerging in the region. Turning their gaze forwards, researchers at MLU University Medicine and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology are following these processes and asking what they mean for the future: How can we create a shared foundation for a healthy future for everyone? Attendees are encouraged to reflect upon their role in these healthcare transformation processes. With a combination of brief sketches and open discussion, we offer insights into current projects that strive to more actively involve residents in the development of digital health technologies.
Ceren Deniz
Nähe spüren, Zugehörigkeit gestalten: Einblicke in den Alltag von Frauen in Halle
18:00–19:00, Melanchthonianum am Uniplatz, Lecture Hall D
During this interactive event, attendees have an opportunity to engage with photos and artwork created during two participatory projects for migrant and non-migrant women in Halle (Saale). In their creations, the women reveal how they experience and navigate their everyday lives in the city – their interactions with places, institutions, and other people. The anthropological method of participant observation illuminates how identity and belonging are negotiated on a daily bases, often in the face of challenges such as bureaucracy, marginalization, or care work. Attendees are invited to participate in the discussion and consider questions such as: What does it mean to belong and what happens when belonging can’t be taken for granted? How do the experiences of migrants help us understand how we may experience other forms of exclusion or struggles to belong even in our hometowns? Come and join us as we look at Halle with new eyes.
Max Fuchs
Feldforschung mit LGBTQIA+-Gemeinschaften im urbanen Namibia
19:00–20:00, Melanchthonianum am Uniplatz, Lecture Hall D
Come learn about Max Fuchs’s research among LGBTQIA+ communities in urban Namibia. Drawing on insights from a year of field research, he sheds light on the socioeconomic disparities within these communities and the ways that inequality is reflected in queer spaces – but also the moments that create community in spite of fragmentation. How does the postcolonial and post-apartheid geography shape the queer scene in Namibia? In addition to providing a look at a world that is unfamiliar to most of us, Fuchs also talks about the process of ethnographic field research and how participant observation in queer spaces and events as well as interviews with various conversation partners – NGO workers, activists, and community members –enabled him to gain a deep understanding of Namibian lives and worlds.