History, geography and politics/economics have been taught as a combined subject (Gesellschaftslehre) at numerous types of school since the 1970s. However, there is still no cross-phase teacher training programme that qualifies teachers to teach the combined subject. A series of lectures organised by the Institute for Didactics of History is now discussing perspectives for the subject of Gesellschaftslehre. It is aimed at students, didacticians, subject coordinators and teachers.

Naturalistic views of the human mind challenge widespread notions of free will and conscious action: If all thought and action can be traced back to neuronal mechanisms of action, freedom appears to be a mere illusion and consciousness a superfluous by-product. The lecture series presents two current proposals for solutions, each of which will be explored in three lectures and a concluding commentary with a joint discussion.

There are over 600 European city atlases in the library of the Institute for Comparative Urban History (IStG) at the University of Münster. Not only do they attract attention with their many colours and details, their information content also serves as a starting point for research projects in various disciplines.

The lecture series deals with the connection between music and Islam. Being a much debated subject within Islamic discourses, we will deal with the variety of theological positions on the definition, permissibility and the forms of use of music, drawing on Islamic dogmas and the history of Muslim societies. Ethnographic research from around the world will help to highlight not only the religious function of music, but its social, political and identity-forming role for Muslims in Western and Muslim-majority countries around the world as well.

“Most people first think of the printing press when they think of pre-modern media revolution. One prerequisite for its success was paper as a raw material. The history of its invention and implementation is much longer and was much quieter in medieval Europe than the drumbeat of book printing – as historian and medieval specialist Carla Meyer-Schlenkrich explains in an interview.”

The fact that “thinking with your fingers” was common in medieval and early modern philosophy has been forgotten over the centuries due to the improved availability of paper and ink and the improvement of printing. A research team has now brought archival material on this historical practice back to light for the first time.

 

Every semester, the Chair of Early Modern History invites external researchers to give lectures in Münster, thus giving advanced students, doctoral candidates and postdocs in early modern history the opportunity to participate in current research debates. The colloquium is also open to those interested in general history.

Everyone bears a responsibility for the energy transition – from the personal level to the political and international levels. Philosopher Prof. Dr. Michael Quante is the co-publisher of “Energy Responsibility”, a publication which appeared just recently. In this interview he talks about approaches, both large and small, to finding solutions.