Dr. Daniel Michael Hadwiger

“Authenticity” as the purportedly “original”, “pure”, or “true” character of persons, objects or practices has become a major public discourse, a powerful driver of heritage debates and cultural change and a key research issue in the humanities. From theatre and museums studies to heritage conservation and the historical sciences scholars dispute the ways in which authenticity indicates and triggers cultural change in modern societies. While there is a broad consensus among constructivist approaches that historical authenticity was and is always socially and culturally produced, and that there is no such thing as “the pure” or “the original” in terms of materiality, the case of built heritage seems to challenge this approach. Here strong academic and public controversies have emerged on the role and impact of materiality for authenticity. This project is the first to systematically analyse patterns of such discourses in a transnational historiographical perspective. more info

The interdisciplinary summer school is directed at 15 students (with bachelor's and master's degrees) from the fields of history, urban research, architecture, political science and other related fields. It's objective is to give students a detailed insight into the concept of the "socialist city" from a comparative and transnational perspective. On the one hand, various aspects such as urban planning, architecture, housing and social infrastructure, but also monument preservation and state violence will be contextualized and discussed by the experts. The final part of the summer school will deal with the heritage and memory of socialist cities. On the other hand, the knowledge gained should be deepened through the presentation of students’ own projects as well as thematic excursions. more info