Museums, Archives, Gardens etc.: Knowledge and Space in the Ruhr Area. An Excursion Seminar
Anil Paralkar
Latest since the ‘spatial turn’ it has become clear in humanities and social sciences that spatial conditions frame the way in which knowledge can be produced, perpetuate, represented, and disseminated. This seminar explores historical spaces like museums, archives, libraries etc. which shaped knowledge in the past. To do so, we are going to visit examples of such spaces in the Ruhr area and Cologne and discuss how they historically developed as spaces of knowledge production and dissemination. This allows us to better understand how knowledge was historically generated and how its spatial confinement shaped its epistemic formation in the past as well as in our contemporary understanding.
Aside from an initial and a concluding session, the seminar is going to be conducted in the form of excursions entirely. On 23 May, we plan to visit the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum and the City Archive in Cologne, on 20 June the Deutsche Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the Varnahgensche Library Iserlohn, and on 18 July the Botanical Garden Bochum.
If you wish to participate, please state your motivation in a short email to anil.paralkar@uni-wh.de.
Aside from an initial and a concluding session, the seminar is going to be conducted in the form of excursions entirely. On 23 May, we plan to visit the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum and the City Archive in Cologne, on 20 June the Deutsche Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the Varnahgensche Library Iserlohn, and on 18 July the Botanical Garden Bochum.
If you wish to participate, please state your motivation in a short email to anil.paralkar@uni-wh.de.
Anil Paralkar
The last years, I spent studying the dynamics of history and transculturality. Currently, I am pursuing a PhD on food and racism in the encounter between India and Europe during the 15th to 17th centuries. Since June 2023, I have been responsible for coordinating the ‘Relexionsraum Wissenschaft’ in the Studium fundamentale. Aside from a keen interest in the history of food, I cherish delving into a good meal.
E-Mail: anil.paralkar@uni-wh.de
Wie werden wir lernen?
In preparation for classes, students have to read assigned texts, which frame the excursions. The excursions allow students to actively explore public spaces and critically investigate their setup. Student presentations ask the students to actively reflect on the spaces.
Ziel der Veranstaltung
We will explore how historical spaces of knowledge like museums, archives, libraries, botanical gardens etc. came into being and how they historically informed knowledge production. This is also going to help us to reflect under which historical preconditions they emanate knowledge today.
Max. Teilnehmendenzahl
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