Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re)

Freedom of Research: Art Exhibition
2024-10-21 - 2024-11-05 | RWTH Aachen, C.A.R.L., Claßenstraße 11, Aachen, 52072, Germany
We are pleased to have brought the exhibition “European Archive of Voices” to Aachen.
A team of 50 young international interviewers has interviewed people from across Europe born in the first half of the 20th century in their mother tongue about their experiences, fears and hopes. This diverse collection of memoirs includes activists, artists, lawyers, politicians, scientists, writers, and many more. Through these varied biographies, the project aims to highlight the rich, complex, and polarized histories of Europe and the generation that rebuilt it after 1945.
Young photographer Maximilian Gödecke, focusing on reportage and portrait photography, travels through European countries, capturing personal portraits of the witnesses to history featured in the “European Archive of Voices.” Through his lens, he captures not only their faces but also the spirit of a “last generation.” The project won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2020.
The exhibition will be displayed in the Foyer of the C.A.R.L. at RWTH Aachen University. The opening will take place on Monday, 21 October 2024, at 12:00pm.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

An IAEA for AI? The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Governance Models from the Nuclear Age - Elisabeth Röhrlich
2024-10-30 17:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Berlin)
This event is part of our winter semester 2024/25 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Freedom of Research: Freedom Late Night
2024-11-04 18:30 - 23:30 | Ludwig Forum, Jülicher Str. 97-109, Aachen, 52070, Germany
We invite you to an inspiring event featuring thought-provoking talks, artistic performances, and scientific presentations. Delve into the critical questions: “Why is science crucial for freedom?” and “How do key technologies ensure our freedom and that of future generations?” Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a vibrant discussion on the power of education and technology in securing freedom for all.
The Freedom LateNight event will be held in the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst in Aachen, offering a unique and immersive experience that explores the multifaceted concept of freedom. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the theme from various perspectives – artistic, scientific, political, and deeply personal – across three dynamic stages.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

Freedom of Research: Symposium
2024-11-05 09:00 - 16:30 | Forum M, Mayersche, Buchkremerstraße 1-7, Aachen, 52062, Germany
In a conference format, we will explore various aspects of research freedom in times of uncertainty through panel discussions, TED Talks, and interactive sessions. Engage with renowned scientists, hear firsthand accounts from representatives in business, politics, and academia, discuss the ideas of young researchers from across Europe who are currently working on pressing issues that may affect all of us, and reflect with us on the major challenges for the future of Europe.
These thematic discussions will take place on the rooftop of the bookstore “Mayersche” at forum M, right in the heart of Aachen. Whether you are a student, an expert, a media representative or a local, you are warmly invited to join the debates.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

“5 to 12” RWTH Science Night
2024-11-08 18:00 - 2024-11-09 00:00 | RWTH Aachen, C.A.R.L., Claßenstraße 11, Aachen, 52072, Germany
On November 8, 2024, the 20th science night “5 to 12” will take place at RWTH Aachen University. The annual event aims to present science and research at the RWTH to the public in different events across the RWTH Campus. The main hub of these events will be the C.A.R.L. and the program can be found here (in German).
The KHK c:o/re will be represented on the second floor of the C.A.R.L. in S05 with its theme “Unboxing Science: Experience Knowledge in Art and Society”.
Join us anytime between 7 p.m. and midnight!

Logic and the Philosophy of Science - Workshop with Gabriel Sandu
2024-11-12 09:00 - 15:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
9:00 – 9:10 Welcome
9:10 – 10:05 Gabriel Sandu (University of Helsinki): “Logical representation of causal inferences in statistics”
10:05 – 11:00 Gabriele Gramelsberger (RWTH Aachen University): TBA
(11:00 – 11:15 Coffee break)
11:15 – 12:10 Dawid Kasprowicz (RWTH Aachen University): “Modality as a subject for science and modality as experience in science”
(12:10 – 13:40 Lunch break)
13:40 – 14:35 Markus Pantsar (RWTH Aachen University): “Logical foundations of science in the age of generative AI”
14:35 – 15:30 Jack Copeland (University of Canterbury, Christchurch): “Uncomputability(?)—mental and physical”

STS between the Climate Crisis and the Einstein Telescope - Harro van Lente
2024-11-13 17:00 - 18:30

Alan Turing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Imitation Game - Jack Copeland
2024-11-20 18:00 - 19:30 | OecherLab, Kapuzinergraben 19 D, 52062 Aachen
At the turn of the millennium Time magazine listed Alan Turing among the twentieth century’s 100 greatest minds. His ideas helped to transport us from an era where ‘computer’ was the term for a human clerk who did the sums in the back office of an insurance company or science lab, into a world where many have never known life without the Internet. His fundamental contributions to computer science are now widely celebrated, but less explored is his pioneering work on what we now call artificial intelligence.
This lecture describes the evolution of Turing’s thinking about intelligent machinery, from his wartime investigations at the British codebreaking headquarters at Bletchley Park, through to his groundbreaking publications in the early 1950s. His famous 1950 article ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ described his Imitation Game, now called simply the ‘Turing test’. Over the years, Turing’s test has been the target of a hail of objections from computer science, philosophy, and elsewhere. The lecture will suggest that leading objections in the literature miss their mark, being for the most part based on misunderstandings of Turing’s subtle test; and recent claims that Turing’s test has actually been passed will be evaluated in the light of Turing’s own specification of the test.
Jack Copeland is Distinguished Professor in Humanities at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), a world-wide expert on the life and works of Alan Turing as well as a leading philosopher of AI, computation, and information. The lecture is followed by a fireplace talk between Jack Copeland and Holger Hoos on Turing and AI. Holger Hoos is professor of computer science at RWTH Aachen University and leading researcher in the field of machine learning. The evening will be introduced by Gabriele Gramelsberger, director of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research Aachen (KHK c:o/re) and professor of philosophy of science and technology at RWTH Aachen University. The event is organized in cooperation between the KHK c:o/re, the Center for Artificial Intelligence at RWTH Aachen, and the OecherLab. Available seats are limited; we recommend arriving early.
You can find the poster for the event here.

Workshop: "Emergence, Causality, and Complexity"
2024-11-25 - 2024-11-26 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Organizers: Erica Onnis, Ana María Guzmán, Alexander Schubert
Abstract:
According to many authors involved in the debate about emergence, ontological emergent phenomena can be characterized as partially dependent on a more fundamental base and causally novel in instantiating new causal properties able to make them autonomous. Moreover, emergence is often recognized as a relevant feature in complex systems, namely those systems composed of several parts mutually influencing each other and producing unexpected and sometimes highly organized behaviors. The significance of the relationship between emergence, causal efficacy, and complexity is clear. However, how to conceive more precisely this connection and the notions at play is far from straightforward.
From a historical point of view, one particular type of complex object sparked the debates that continue today: the organism. After the advent of biology as a science, the question of whether the complexity of biological phenomena introduces some kind of non-linear causality shaped the search for a middle position between mechanism and vitalism in, for example, post-Kantian idealism and, subsequently, British Emergentism which gave the middle position its contemporary name. Debates about constraints and their causal relevance in biology prove that such historical considerations are still relevant today.
The international workshop Emergence, Causality, and Complexity aims to bring together contemporary and historically inspired philosophical perspectives on the nature of
emergent phenomena, their causal dimension, and their role in shaping our view of complexity.
Please find the program of the workshop here.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Cancelled: From IP and Cookies to IDFA/GAID. Towards a Historical Sociology of (Digital) Addressing - Ricky Wichum
2024-11-27 17:00 - 18:30
Unfortunately, this lecture has been canceled due to health reasons. We will continue our lecture series on December 18. Thank you for your understanding.
This event is part of our winter semester 2024/25 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Spaces of Research Beyond the Laboratory? The University as a Neglected Research Object in STS - David Kaldewey
2024-12-18 17:00 - 18:30

Communicating Science and Technology. How Can STS Benefit From Historical Semantics? - Désirée Schauz
2025-01-08 17:00 - 18:30

Lecture “The (global) politics of Technology Assessment – discursive-deliberative or agonistic?” – Pierre Delvenne
2025-01-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
This lecture is part of the “STS Forum” organized by the HumTec (Human Technology Center) at RWTH Aachen University.
Abstract:
The dynamics of convergence of specific practices (e.g., responsible research and innovation [RRI], technology assessment [TA]) across research and innovation policies are frequently interrogated by STS scholarship. Progress itself has often been defined by its ability to make projects expand without changing their framing assumptions. This quality is “scalability” [and it refers to] the ability of a project to change scales smoothly without any change in project frames (Tsing 2015: 38). In this talk, I will explore the possible standardization of TA practices and knowledge norms and its consequences at a time when the TA community is considering that TA can and should go global beyond nation-specific practices to meet the current socio-technical challenges of our time.
Can TA practices be scaled up to reach and engage a global audience? Can there be a global TA organization? Given the normative and philosophical roots of TA that make it unique among the many other practices that aim to support decision making and public debate, the only sustainable answer to these questions forces us to consider TA’s relation to democracy. I will start by arguing that the politics and practices of scaling TA are matters of democratic politics, since there is no viable TA without a strong democratic life.
From this point, I will ask: What kind of democracy are TA practitioners committed to, and how has this shaped the approaches they have developed to support decision-making and public debate? What are the limits of these visions in terms of the insights and revitalization they can still bring to TA practices and democratic orders? With these questions in mind, I would like to explore the roots of TA in relation to democracy. Drawing on recent work (Delvenne and Parotte 2024), I will begin with a brief overview of four theories of democracy that I find relevant and useful for making sense of TA’s crucial role and activity in the tumultuous times that many democracies are currently experiencing. First, I will consider the theories of discursive and deliberative democracy developed by Benjamin Barber and Jürgen Habermas, which are often considered by the TA community to be at the core of TA’s rationales and methodologies (van Est/Brom 2012). I will then include the ideas of two authors who theorized agonistic models of democracy – Noortje Marres and Chantal Mouffe – whose approaches that value conflict and dissensus have somehow been neglected by the TA community and, to a large extent, by scholarly work on TA.
I will argue that the contribution of discursive and deliberative theories, while crucial, is now leading to an impasse from which a way out must be found. The successes of the model of democracy sought by Habermas and Barber remain mixed. All around, the framework of representative democracy is cracking and in need of deep repair given the widening gap between those who govern and those who are governed. As an institutional embodiment of democratic ideals translated into practice, if it is to continue to play a pioneering role, adapted to the contemporary challenges posed by the rapid rise of far-right extremism and epistemic ambiguity about the status of science, TA needs to renew its sources of theoretical inspiration.
I am not advocating a switch between discursive-deliberative and agonistic approaches. Instead, my intention is to blur the traditional distinctions between these models of democracy, leading to the conclusion that it is fruitful to consider the boundary between the two as not insurmountable, in theory as in practice. Identifying what I will call ‘disturbance zones’ at the intersection of these theories of democracy will allow me to consider the global politics of technology assessment. I will do so tentatively, guided by Anna Tsing’s conceptual lens, arguing that in the shadow of the zeitgeist of scalability, it is necessary to turn attention to the nonscalable as a spur to TA theory and practice.

What Role for History and Philosophy of Science in STS? Critical Engagements with Empirical Inquiry - Sabina Leonelli
2025-01-21 17:00 - 18:30

ERS invites… Dr. Pēteris Zilgalvis: Competition Law in the Digital Era: AI and other new challenges
2025-01-24 12:00 - 13:30 | RWTH Aachen University – Super C – Generali Saal 639, Templergraben 57, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Professor Stefan Böschen, Director of the KHK c:o/re, and the Exploratory Research Space (ERS) of RWTH Aachen University invite you to another lecture of the “ERS invites…” series, this time featuring Dr. Pēteris Zilgalvis, Judge at the General Court of the European Union, to discuss how AI is reshaping the legal landscape from various perspectives.
For further information, please visit the event website.

Beyond-nature / Beyond-life
2025-02-21 10:30 - 17:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Due to the rapid development of materials sciences during the past decades, such disciplines known as bioinspired materials and biorobotics have posited themselves as domains whose starting point is inspiration from nature, or more precisely, from various ‘natural’ or biological objects and processes found in the natural world. For example, the technology of CRISPR gene editing developed in the 2010s may be elucidating for such projects. These projects in genetics go beyond the common conception of the readability of the world, and showcase attempts to program nature as an application of genome editing. One may therefore suggest that ‘nature’ does not act any more as a limit beyond which one cannot reach further; rather, it is a mark which may be or should be transcended.
As such examples may show, some of these developments intend to reach domains that are not only ‘beyond nature’ but also ‘beyond life’. Because many of these projects are often conducted in relation with medical research, they may result in possibilities of re-writing life while simultaneously re-writing what health and illness may potentially become. Especially due to the advent of cyber technologies, the emerging artifacts that combine the material with the digital revolutionize medical worlds, surpassing conceptions of ‘biology as information’. Correcting nature and correlatively correcting life for the purpose of ‘fixing’ or ‘ameliorating’ parts of it opens new inquiries on how understanding, researching and theorizing life and its being ‘nature’ expand ‘beyond’ these domains.
The aim of the workshop is to explore new discourses and conceptual approaches in which the research on ‘beyond-nature’ and ‘beyond-life’ is embedded. We intend to question the ways in which they reflect older traditions, identify concrete examples that support the use of such concepts, and examine how they contribute to a new theoretical landscape in the 21st century.
Link to the Zoom Meeting:
https://rwth.zoom-x.de/j/61559379749?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 615 5937 9749
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Program
10:30 Coffee and cookies
11:00-11:30: Denisa Butnaru, Michael Friedman: Introduction
11:30-12:30: Falk Tauber (Freiburg)
Beyond natural motion – Plant and animals as inspiration for soft autonomous machines
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00: Bianca Jansky (Augsburg)
Mundane every-day life maintenance and repair-work in algorithm-mediated (self)care with devices in, on and with bodies
15:00-16:00: Eric Deibel (Maynooth)
AI and humans who think about life: on neurotechnology and generative biology
16:00-16:15 Coffee Break
16:15-17:15: Ulrich Schwaneberg (Aachen)
Protein engineering of adhesion promoting peptides for innovations in material science that go beyond-nature
19:30: Dinner

International Conference “Cultures of Research”
2025-03-25 09:00 - 2025-03-27 15:30 | Forum M, Mayersche, Buchkremerstraße 1-7, Aachen, 52062, Germany
The international conference “Cultures of Research” takes stock of the first four years of the fellow program at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Rearch (c:o/re). During these years, more than fifty international fellows came to the KHK c:o/re to explore the transformation of research in its many facets. Topics such as the digitalization of science, the growing influence of AI on research practices, the organizational transformations in science, the “engineering of science”, and the historical as well as intercultural comparison of “varieties of science” have been widely discussed. The conference “Cultures of Research” will focus the discussions on these topics in various panels with current and alumni fellows as well as members of the scientific advisory board of the KHK c:o/re.
A detailed program with all speakers and titles can be found in this document.
Program

Time
Tuesday, 25th
Wednesday, 26th
Thursday, 27th

09:00-12:00
Welcome and Introduction
Panel 4 “Digitalisation of Science” Lecture by Franck Varenne
Panel 7 “Expanded STS” & Euregio

Panel 1 “Historicizing Science” Lecture by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

Lunch

13:00-15:30
Panel 2 “Dealing with Complexity” Lecture by Mary Morgan
Panel 5 “Varieties of Science” Lecture by Alfred Nordmann
Panel 8 “Art and Research”

Coffee break

16:00-18:00
Panel 3 “Lifelikeness”
Panel 6 “Freedom of Research” Lectures by Frederik Stjernfelt & Steve Fuller
Departure

18:00-20:00

Evening Keynote Lecture by Ad Aertsen

Conference Dinner

Reception (finger food)

Workshop "Engaged Social Studies of Modelling"
2025-04-03 09:00 - 15:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Modelling and computing are increasingly at the heart of innovation, governance, and public policy. Yet, many modelers remain detached from the social, ethical, and political implications of their work, often viewing these aspects as irrelevant to the success of the model. The flexibility, variety, and resistance to falsification, coupled with their status as authoritative evidence-making technologies, have also enabled models to distance themselves from public scrutiny and social critique.
For years, historians and philosophers of science, and researchers in Science and Technology Studies have studied climate, health, environment, and economics models. However, these insights have often been fragmented, external to modeling communities, and disconnected from their everyday concerns and practices, perpetuating the “two cultures” divide, famously described by C.P. Snow.
In the wake of global experience of modelling COVID-19, however, the social and political dimensions of modeling have come into sharper focus within modeling communities themselves, and the call for more responsible modeling and computing is now gaining momentum.
This shift presents an opportunity to bridge these divides. This workshop aims to capitalize on this moment, as the social critique of modeling is now beginning to catch the attention of the modelling community. We will begin by discussing what social studies of modelling is, and how it can evolve from an external reflection into a transformative, engaged research program that works within and alongside modelling communities.
If you would like to attend, please register with: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de
Program:
09:00 – 9:30: Welcome & Coffee
09:30 – 11:00: Opening Discussion: Ehsan Nabavi, Andrea Saltelli, Lieke Melsen, Stefan Böschen
Brief introductions + initial reflections on ‘social studies of modelling’ (framed by a short draft shared in advance)
11:00 – 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:45: Roundtable: ‘Engaged social studies of modelling?’
12:45 – 14:00: Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:30: Collaboration and Reflection on Next Steps
Mapping intersections and possibilities for collaborations. Reflections, next steps, and possible ways to continue the conversation

Tagung "Digitale Aufklärung" der DGPhil
2025-04-16 10:00 - 2025-04-17 15:30 | RWTH Aachen University – Super C, Templergraben 57, Aachen, 52062
You can find the program in this document.
If you would like to attend, please register with: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de

Workshop "After Networks: Reframing Scale, Reimagining Connections"
2025-04-16 16:30 - 2025-04-17 17:30 | RWTH Aachen University – Super C, Templergraben 57, Aachen, 52062
If “Expanded STS” can also be understood as a platform – in a sense that it gathers different disciplines that eventually go back to their original research field – the workshop “After Networks: reframing scale, reimagining connections” proposes a direct connection with the KHK c:o/re’s 2024 research theme. The interdisciplinary program, combining art and internet studies, also puts together different approaches on how science and technology are configured in other spheres beyond academia. Gathering scholars, artists and activists who have been working on disruptive understanding of digital systems, this two-day event will discuss alternative ways to reimagine connections in contrast to increasingly monopolistic and financially motivated social media platforms.
In the last few years, we have witnessed an unprecedented crisis in the way social interactions have merged with the informational space. The current “space of the world”, as the artificial space of social media platforms has been called (Couldry, 2025), is designed and controlled by corporations with strictly business purposes, putting at risk a sense of community in a devastating way. How can the future of the internet be imagined beyond social media platforms? What can we learn from other networks or other notions of space devised by artists? In which ways can digital communication be grounded on equity, common ownership and sustainability? These are some of the questions that will be addressed during the workshop.
The program includes an opening artist talk with Eduardo Kac, a keynote speech with the media scholar Lori Emerson, who is launching her new book “Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook” (Anthology Editions, 2025) and a round table focused on a community-centered perspective of networks.
If you would like to attend, please register with: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de
You can find an overview of the speakers here.
Program:
April 16:
16:30 – 18:30: Artist talk
Eduardo Kac: Dialogical Art on Earth and in Space
Moderated by Nathalia Lavigne
Recognized for his pioneering work in the fields of telepresence, bioart, holographic poetry and space art, Eduardo Kac has been developing artworks since the early 1980s that explore the idea of what he calls “dialogical art”. His work articulates processes of communication between different spheres and agents, and between both humans and non-humans, such as animals, plants and robots. In this talk, Kac will focus on his recent works developed in outer space, showing their connection with earlier works from the 1980s and 1990s in which he expanded communication in art to include the non-human. The lecture is followed by a screening of the documentary Inner Telescope, a Space Artwork by Eduardo Kac (2017, 35 min), directed by Virgile Novarina.
April 17:
9:30: Introduction of the project “After Memory” (more info here)
Nathalia Lavigne and Lisa Deml
10:00 – 12:00: Keynote
Lori Emerson: The Future of the Internet is a Future of Networks
Moderated by Ana María Guzmán
In the occasion of the launch of “Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook” (Anthology Editions, 2025), Lori Emerson will present some case studies gathered in the book: networks that existed before or outside of the internet, digital as well as analog, IRL as well as imagined, state-sponsored systems of control as well as homebrew communities in the footnotes of hacker culture. She is the Associate Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Intermedia Arts, Writing, and Performance Program at the University of Colorado Boulder and Director of the Media Archaeology Lab. She is also co-author of THE LAB BOOK: Situated Practices in Media Studies (University of Minnesota Press, 2021), author of Reading Writing Interfaces: From the Digital to the Bookbound (University of Minnesota Press June, 2014), and editor of numerous collections.
12:00 – 14:00: Lunch and coffee
14:30 – 16:30: Roundtable
Tatiana Bazzichelli, Geert Lovink, João C. Magalhães, Alex Wermer-Colan, and Bruna Zanolli: Local networks: reframing scale
Moderated by Nathalia Lavigne
In times when the ‘extinction internet’ notion has been claimed from a “platform-in-the-age-climate-collapse perspective” (Lovink, 2024), which other telecommunication infrastructures could be developed in this current configuration? How can a more nourishing sense of community be recreated beyond the social disintegration naturalized on social media? Gathering five researchers who have been working on disruptive understanding of digital systems, this roundtable will focus on a community-centered perspective of networks and their importance in the current context. Geert Lovink and Tatiana Bazzichelli will talk about the organization format of the Institute of Network Cultures and the Disruption Network Lab – founded by each of them in 2004 and 2014, respectively. Focusing on the challenges around inequalities affecting particularly the Global South, Bruna Zanolli will present recent projects developed by indigenous communities in Brazil, while João C. Magalhães will discuss the potential use of deliberative democracy, and in particular of online citizens’s councils, to address platform speech governance issue. Lastly, Alex Wermer-Colan will talk about the coalition Philly Community Wireless, co-created by him in the outskirts of Philadelphia in 2020.
Have a look at the event poster here.
Header Image:
© Illustration of SSTV event “Still Life Alive” (by Carlos Fadon Vicente) which also included “Intercities São Paulo / Pittsburgh” from 1988, organized by the Digital Art Exchange (headed by artist Bruce Breland) [from DAX archives, Carnegie Mellon University, “Intercities Sao Paul-Pittsburgh” Jan. 25, 1988 Letter of May 31 to Breland/Kocher from Matuck FF44]

Science-Art Installation Experiment "Melodic Pigments: Exploring New Synesthesia"
2025-04-28 16:00 - 17:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Science-Art Installation Experiment by Yasmin Vega (Tokyo University of the Arts) and Masahiko Hara (Tokyo Institute of Technology/Institute of Science Tokyo)
Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in another sensory or cognitive pathway. An example of synesthesia is experiencing “colors” in response to sensory information. This phenomenon can manifest as perceiving and feeling “colors” when hearing certain sounds, reading letters, or even tasting or smelling something.
In this installation, we aim to train a machine using machine learning based on databases that map the correlation between emotions and colors in response to certain sounds. The machine will then demonstrate the colors it imagines and feels when it hears a sound, thereby expressing its own form of new synesthesia in machines.
Through these explorations, we seek to deepen our understanding of synesthesia in machines and its emergent functions, moving beyond mere sympathy or empathy between humans and machines. Additionally, we aim to explore methodologies for visualizing the internal cognitive processes of machines.
If you would like to attend, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.
—
Credits header photo: Masahiko Hara

Innovation as Res Publica: The New Governance of Technoscience and its Politics – Nina Frahm
2025-05-07 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
This lecture is part of the summer semester 2025 lecture series Expanding Science and Technology Studies and the STS Forum organized by the HumTec (Human Technology Center) at RWTH Aachen University.
Abstract:
Imperatives of technoscientific innovation have become a ubiquitous leitmotiv for public policies in the 21st century. Driven by increased public investments in research and development and fueled by hope and hype regarding the benefits of emerging technologies for society, innovation is no longer a mere task of the market but a central concern of democracies in their pursuit of desirable futures. Yet, innovation’s intrinsic uncertainty, its risks and possible harms for people and the planet also present a challenge for public institutions when it comes to legitimizing innovation efforts.
In my research, I follow the turn to innovation as res publica – a public thing – and argue that it is enabled by a shift from ‘hard’ regulatory instruments to tools and frameworks for the ‘soft’ governance of technoscience such as ethics guidelines and principles, public engagement exercises, and co-creation processes. Rather than following technocratic rationales, the new governance of technoscience relies on new forms of reasoning and expertise that grant society, its values and needs a central role in shaping innovation trajectories. As such, it is key for the production of powerful imaginaries of democratic sovereignty vis-à-vis innovation and corollary ideals of socio-technical order. By zooming into the field of AI and emerging neurotechnologies, I examine the situated politics of new governance regimes, and in particular, their critical role in the making of a body politic in the innovation era.
If you would like to attend, please register with: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Design Meets Evolution: Theory and Practice - Theodore von Kármán Lecture with Victor de Lorenzo
2025-05-13 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
The prevailing view of biological evolution is not unlike bricolage/pastiche/tinkering – in sharp contrast with rational engineering. Yet, different paths often lead to solutions that coincide or converge whether they emerge from naturally-occurring evolution or rationally designed. Such a conjunction – often presented as a mere anecdote – in fact reveals the ability of biological systems to physically explore solution spaces and gravitate towards information-rich attractors, which can be found through different routes. The consequences of this notion for bioengineering are remarkable, as it enables solutions to multi-objective optimization challenges not yet amenable to all-rational approaches. The ensuing technical question is how to bring about hyper-diversification not only of genomic sequences but also environmental parameters for securing the desired performance of a given synthetic device. This issue will be illustrated with a number of practical cases where naturally-occurring or artificially enhanced variability was key to find ideal outcomes to otherwise intractable design hitches of interest for industrial and environmental biotechnology.
If you would like to attend, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Expanding STS: Art, Science, and Technology Studies (ASTS) - Hannah Star Rogers
2025-05-21 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
Art and science are all around us: in the academy, in galleries, and in the news. How do we make sense of the power that these two categories hold in our society? And is this process new? In this lecture, Rogers explores how the tools of Science and Technology Studies (STS) can provide critical insights into art and science projects, highlighting the practices of these knowledge-making communities as discussed in her book Art, Science, and the Politics of Knowledge (MIT Press, 2022). Rogers’ work challenges the idea that art and science are inherently separate or incompatible. Instead, she suggests that these fields are better understood as knowledge communities that are constantly negotiating, shaping, and blurring their boundaries. This approach reframes how we think about the roles of art and science in society, and it also points to a new subdiscipline—Art, Science, and Technology Studies (ASTS)—which blends the insights of both fields to explore their interconnectedness. This framework can deepen our understanding of how these disciplines shape social worlds. By examining artistic practices through the lens of STS and showing how art can inform STS inquiry, Rogers highlights a dynamic and evolving relationship between science and art. This approach invites us to think beyond the traditional categories and consider the fluidity of knowledge production, where the boundaries of art and science are constantly in flux, influenced by politics, culture, and technological advances.
This event is part of our summer semester 2025 lecture series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Tagung "Der singuläre Satz"
2025-06-11 - 2025-06-13 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Tagung “Der singuläre Satz” by the Research Area “Wissenskulturen” of the Faculty Arts and Humanities of RWTH Aachen University in cooperation with the KHK c:o/re. The event will be held in German.
Abstract:
Singuläre Sätze zirkulieren in unterschiedlichen Wissenskulturen. Manche dieser Sätze, etwa mathematische Sätze, Weisheitssätze, Gnomen und Aphorismen, sind von vornherein als Einzelsätze konzipiert, andere stammen aus umfangreicheren Texten und haben ein Eigenleben entwickelt. In Einzelsätzen wird Wissen in prägnanter Form verdichtet und überliefert; das Zitieren, Sammeln, De- und Rekontextualisieren individueller Sätze erlaubt ihre Neuinterpretation und ihre Überführung in kollektive Wissensbestände. Einzelsätze partizipieren an lokalen Kulturen des Forschens und Lehrens und überqueren zugleich die Grenzen zwischen Wissenschaft, Literatur und gesellschaftlicher Öffentlichkeit. Als mobile Kondensate von Wissen geben sie Auskunft über komplexe, sich transformierende Systeme wie Wissenschaft, Recht, Religion, Kunst, Politik und Medien, in denen sie ihre Wirkmacht entfalten. Die Tagung fragt nach der Poetik, Funktion und Epistemologie von Einzelsätzen in verschiedenen wissensgeschichtlichen Kontexten von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart.
Information und Anmeldung:
wissenskulturen@germlit.rwth-aachen.de
Programm:
Mittwoch, 11.06.2025
Begrüßung/Einführung
15.00-15.45 | Gabriele Gramelsberger, Christian Metz, Caroline Torra-Mattenklott, Klaus Freitag (Aachen): Der singuläre Satz als prägnante Form
15.45-16.45 | Winfried Menninghaus (Berlin): Drei Faktoren memorabler Einzelsätze
Pause
17.00-18.00 | Elisabetta Mengaldo (Padua): Sätze als verdichtete Formeln. Lichtenbergs Marginalien und seine Sudelbücher
Abendveranstaltung
20.00 | Lesung und Gespräch von und mit Oswald Egger
Ort: Raststätte, Kulturraum Aachen, Lothringerstraße 23, 52062 Aachen
Moderation: Christian Metz und Sarah Goeth
Donnerstag, 12.06.2025
Epistemologie mathematischer und physikalischer Einzelsätze
09.30-10.30 | Gabriele Gramelsberger (Aachen): Protokollsatzdebatte – Überprüfbare singuläre Sätze
10.30-11.30 | Michael Friedman (Bonn): Blumenberg, Wittgenstein und (mathematische) Elementarsätze
Pause
12.00-13.00 | Arianna Borrelli (Aachen/Berlin): Erhaltungssätze: Die Rolle der Sprache in der Konstruktion naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis
Mittagspause
14.30-15.30 | Aura Heydenreich (Erlangen): „Von Stund an sollen Raum für sich und Zeit für sich völlig zu Schatten herabsinken…“ Narratologie und historische Epistemologie von Einsteins/Minkowskis Raumzeit in der Relativitätstheorie
Pause
Singuläre Sätze und ihr Umfeld: Kompilation, Kontextualisierung, Vernetzung
16.00-17.00 | Christian Kaiser (Bonn): Die Methodik des Samplings philosophischer Einzelsätze in medizinischen Quaestiones des Mittelalters
17.00-18.00 | Manfred Eikelmann (Bochum): Denkwürdige Spruchszenen. Wissenspraktiken in den Apophthegmata des Erasmus von Rotterdam und ihrer ersten deutschen Übersetzung (1531- 1535, 1534)
Freitag, 13.06.2025
Ästhetik, Politik und Wirkkraft singulärer Sätze
09.30-10.30 | Anne Storch (Köln): Der Satz, der am Anfang ist
10.30-11.30 | Sabrina Blank (Aachen): Von der Fälschung zum legitimierten Rechtsanspruch des Papstes: Die Tragweite des singulären (Grund-)Satzes der päpstlichen Nichtjudizierbarkeit im Mittelalter
Pause
12.00-13.00 | Johannes Engels (Köln): Die Sentenzen der Sieben Weisen des antiken Griechenlands als ein Beispiel epochen-übergreifend einflussreicher ‚singulärer Sätze‘ 13.00-13.30 | Abschlussdiskussion
Hier das Programm als pdf-Datei
Bildnachweis Header:
Isaac Newtons Eintrag in Andreas Arnolds album amicorum, 8. November 1681. Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: Cod. Guelf. 226 Blank., folio 82r. (public domain)

Metascience as the Social Hygiene Movement of Science Studies - Bart Penders
2025-06-18 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
Metascience and its more activist sibling, scientific reform, seek to rebuild public and peer trust for embattled fields or disciplines through the proposal, development and testing of new bureaucratic procedures for experimentation and publication in science. In the expanding STS universe, metascience is a qualitatively different addition, located outside of the HPS sphere and drawing concepts and methods primarily from psychology and epidemiology.
Metascience’s tendency to build procedures and infrastructures is primarily motivated to keep things out of scientific practice: researcher degrees of freedom, bias, social, political and economic influence and more. This lecture explores how the 19th-century hygienist movement can serve as a metaphor for contemporary scientific reform, in which reformers act as “procedural hygienists.” Drawing on Mary Douglas’ Purity and Danger, I will argue that just as the hygienists sought to impose order and cleanliness on the physical environment, today’s reformers aim to purify scientific procedures, addressing concerns of pollution in the form of bias, error, and opacity.
I will draw attention especially to the role of statistics as part of procedural hygiene. In both 19th century hygienist movements and in contemporary scientific reform movements, they are used to quantify and display contamination, purify data, assert authority and legitimacy, and build trust. They also come with the risk of epistemic injustice and the opacity of the moral agenda underpinning definitions of purity. To this end, I will ask how metascience is positioned relative to an expanding STS.
This event is part of our summer semester 2025 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Vortrag "Ein Kind der Wissensökonomie? Zur Geschichte der Wissensgeschichte"
2025-06-25 18:00 - 21:00 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Professor Caspar Hirschi from the University of St. Gallen will give a talk on “A child of the knowledge economy? On the history of the history of knowledge” (“Ein Kind der Wissensökonomie? Zur Geschichte der Wissensgeschichte”) in the KHK c:o/re lecture hall. The talk will be held in German.
Everyone is cordially invited to attend!
For further information and registration, please contact Sandra Dresia: dresia@histinst.rwth-aachen.de

Talk & Discussion "Hidden Futures: Work. Clicks & Crowds"
2025-06-26 19:00 - 23:00 | PACT Zollverein, Bullmannaue 20a, Essen, 45327, Germany
Which chain of work processes are triggered by a click in an app? Whose bodies are thereby set in motion and exposed to the elements? And how will our cities change when work is no longer tied to spaces, but is controlled by an ephemeral architecture of routes, data and likes?
The promise of services that can be delivered directly to your doorstep around the clock has now become part of everyday life. However, platforms such as Uber Eats, Gorillas and Lieferando are operated at the expense of migrants, who are frequently subjected to precarious working conditions. Digital interfaces conceal the material conditions that make such services possible initially.
The evening brings people together who work in the digital economy, in the context of app-based delivery services, logistics platforms or the care secctor. What future of work becomes visible here, and what future do we want? The audience is invited to open discussions, personal assessments and solidarity-based networking.
With Janne Martha Lentz, Semih Yalcin, Hedi Tounsi, Sebastian Randerath, metroZones e.V. / Jochen Becker and more.
“Work. Clicks and Crowds” is the start of the new series “Hidden Futures” at PACT, which is being developed in cooperation with the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re) | RWTH Aachen University. The series looks at the material conditions of a variety of models of the future developed in the present.
Header photo: Hedi Tounsi, 2023

Data Behaviorism: A History - Daniela Wentz
2025-07-02 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Due to the heat, the lecture will only take place online.
Abstract:
Is behaviorism a revenant? This talk traces the emergence and expansion of data behaviorism – an epistemic and technical regime that models and governs human action through behavioral data and has shaped key infrastructures of prediction, recommendation, and control in contemporary digital systems. Drawing on historical case studies from mid-century behaviorist psychology, this talk interrogates the historical and epistemological foundations of data behaviorism by asking whether the behavioral logics underpinning today’s algorithmic systems represent a rupture – or rather an expansion – of earlier modes of governing conduct. Engaging critically with contemporary diagnoses of data-driven control, it explores how the capture, formalization, and modulation of behavior have long structured practices of intervention. By foregrounding its historical trajectories, I aim to open up data behaviorism to critical scrutiny from an STS perspective.
This event is part of our summer semester 2025 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
Please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Tagung "Illustratives Denken – Zur Rolle von Zeichnungen, Scribbles und Visualisierungen im wissenschaftlichen Entdeckungsprozess"
2025-07-10 14:00 - 2025-07-11 17:00 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Tagung “Illustratives Denken – Zur Rolle von Zeichnungen, Scribbles und Visualisierungen im wissenschaftlichen Entdeckungsprozess” by the Aachen Competence Centre for the History of Science (AKWG) is organizing the AKWG Conference 2025 in cooperation with the Chair of Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Technology and the KHK c:o/re of RWTH Aachen University. The event will be held in German.
Abstract:
Das Aachener Kompetenzzentrum Wissenschaftsgeschichte (AKWG) organisiert in Kooperation mit dem Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie und Technikphilosophie sowie dem Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Kulturen des Forschens die AKWG Tagung 2025. Thema ist das illustrative Denken, das anhand von Zeichnungen, Scribbles und Visualisierungen den wissenschaftlichen Entdeckungsprozess voranbringt. Zahlreiche Beispiele aus der Wissenschaftsgeschichte lassen sich hier finden. Auch ist das Thema nicht neu, doch soll noch einmal vertieft nach der epistemischen Rolle des illustrativen Denkens gefragt werden.
Weitere Informationen finden sich auf der Website des AKWG und im Veranstaltungsprogramm.
