Projektarbeit

Paintings, sculptures, drawings, and letters, as well as samples of sounds and smells, can be found in the collections of museums and archives. Collections offer a window into historical periods, diverse cultures, customs, and geographies. They contribute to a rich tapestry of human history and its understanding, but they are also both highly selective and inherently biased. Who decides what is selected, preserved, arranged, and classified? The practice of collecting is also an act of exclusion, marginalizing certain voices and perspectives while investing significant resources and expertise in acquiring, preserving, and studying the material being collected.  What efforts, resources, and appropriation processes are legally or ethically justifiable to place objects in the service of science, art, or society? Exploring the practices of collecting reveals how we have cared for art and archives, for better, but often also for worse.

Academic: Heike Düselder | Project Group Number: 01, 02 & 03

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Academic: Maik Jachens | Project Group Number: 04, 05 & 06

Since a few years (museal) collections from colonial contexts are an almost daily topic in German and international media. While prominent cases such as the Benin bronzes stand out, they are far from being representative. This project offers an insight into the task of investigating the origin of a collection from colonial contexts by looking closely at a set of objects kept in the Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover. Its primary aim is to raise awareness for the complexity of the topic and the various questions underlying the future handling with such collections.

Academic: Stephanie Regenbrecht | Project Group Number: 07, 08 & 09

Collections are at the heart of our museums and thus carry the complex founding intention of preserving the cultural achievements of the past and present into the future. However, the crises of the present and an increasingly global society challenge this system and make its problematic issues visible: Whose heritage do museum collections actually represent and is the endless accumulation of physical objects sustainable and contemporary? In this project group, we will get to know innovative museum projects on the topic of collecting in recent years, ranging from participatory processes of co-determination to digital access to the inclusion of non-European perspectives and deacquisition (de-collecting). Against this backdrop, we want to develop and discuss new narratives and forms of presentation for cultural objects of various kinds in the museum.

Academic: Maren Haffke | Project Group Number: 10, 11 & 12

The visual term perspective has an aural equivalent: aurality. Parallel to the way our perspective organizes the way we look at a picture (who or what is in focus, who or what is in the background or out of frame) the aurality of a given sound recording structures the way we listen to it: whom do we identify with, who or what is silent, where do we localize the demarcation between making sense and making noise? In this project group we will lend our ear to current reevaluations of sonic knowledge production in and around sound archives and question how we listen to the past. What is present and what is absent in collections that have colonial history? Are there ways to make audible the ways in which sound archives amplify, contest, or repress certain voices and narratives? Can we challenge our perceptions and develop a new understanding of our relationship to sound and memory? 

Academic: Fernanda Mendonça Pitta | Project Group Number: 13, 14 & 15 (English)

One group would work searching for information regarding Theodor Koch-Grunberg's trips to the Amazon, the collections he assembled, and where they are in Germany and Brazil, Students will be expected to research the Berlim collection of wax figurines and discuss how they pair with the Hamburg collection through the exam of the objects and writing sources. Finally, they will be encouraged to think of how we can address missing collections and their communication, both to communities related to these collections and to the general public. MARKK's collections were severely impacted by WWII, some items of Koch-Grunberg's collection disappeared in the war, Students will be encouraged to think of ways of working with the archives (catalog files with the drawing of the objects, documentation) in order to present these missing collections.

Academic: Ursula Richenberger | Project Group Number: 16, 17 & 18

The German Port Museum is dedicated to the various aspects of the "port" space, a hub where goods, knowledge and people are exchanged. An outstanding exhibit in the collection, which will be expanded in the future, is the sailing ship PEKING from 1911. It sailed to Chile from 1911 to 1932 to transport saltpetre, a valuable raw material at that time, from the Atacama Desert to Hamburg. This ship is and will be the starting point for many stories and for the launch of a collection. There´s a need to ask questions in order to find an approach to start this.
Who speaks? Whose stories, whose objects can be displayed? Whose stories are excluded so far? How can we prevent the collection from being biased? How can the museum collect ethically, professionally, participatively, give space to the diverse perspectives on the history and present of the connection between Chile and Germany and act sustainably?

Academic: Sandra Neugärtner | Project Group Number: 19, 20 & 21

As MoMA’s “Never Alone”-Exhibition demonstrates, the debate about whether digital art qualifies as “art” is a tired if not outdated one. But if we approach the topic from the perspective of the institution and look at it in terms of the function of the museum, such as that of the collection/archive, the question immediately arises of the point of preserving art made of bits and bytes. We want to explore how digital media, the exploitation of the virtual worlds of the Internet and programming language, net art, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), digital commons, cyberfeminism, and performativity of data have entered the art world and contaminate the traditional functions of the institution, sometimes even render it obsolete when it comes, for example, to the question of object value, accessibility, visibility, and discourse.

Data and value are interconnected concepts in the context of information and its usefulness. Data consists of raw, unprocessed facts, figures, and symbols. It contains individual pieces of information that, on their own, may not hold much significance. Value, on the other hand, refers to the usefulness, importance, or worth that data carries when it is transformed into meaningful information. Data in its raw form has the potential to hold value, but it is through the analysis, interpretation, and the appropriate application that data transforms into valuable information, allowing organizations to make informed decisions and achieve their objectives. The collection process of data is of paramount importance for its social and economic value. The way we collect data directly impacts its quality, relevance, and its usability! Likewise, the collection of data is always grounded in social, organizational, or individual values and decisions as to what is valuable enough to be collected in the form of data - and what is not. It is therefore worthwhile exploring which values are represented in collected data, which information is deemed unworthy to be collected in the form of data, as well as how these decisions then shape the social and economic value of data. 

Academic: Stefanie Habersang | Project Group Number: 22, 23 & 24 (Group 22, English)

We are living in a world of surveillance capitalism, where data is the most valuable commodity, and artificial intelligence (AI) is the most powerful tool to extract and exploit it. Surveillance capitalism is a term coined by Shoshana Zuboff to describe the new logic of accumulation that emerged from the digital economy, where data is extracted from people's online and offline activities and turned into predictive products that influence their behavior. New forms of generative AI are transforming the practices and consequences of surveillance capitalism, by enabling more sophisticated and invasive forms of data collection, processing, and monetization which in turn pose new challenges for democracy, human rights, and social (in-)justice.

Academic: Melanie Janßen-Kim | Project Group Number: 25, 26 & 27

In museums worldwide, one can find objects that were bought, taken, or traded. For the museum, these are beautiful items, valuable artifacts that attract visitors. In the places where these objects originated, they were a part of the cultural heritage and a valuable part of history. Which value holds more significance, that of the collector or that of the culture of origin? Where do these objects belong, and what does their return or retention in the museum say about our current values today?

Academic: Liselotte Hermes da Fonseca | Project Group Number: 28, 29 & 30

Can values be created through views and looks? The question could perhaps be turnes around: Can we gaze or look without creating values? For centuries, museums have been collecting 'valuable' things and exhibiting them – and we sink our gazes into the showcases to experience these values. Change of view: How many hours a day do we sink into our screens and how much valuable information do we collect doing so? Unlike (perhaps) the showcases, however, there is a gaze back from these screens: We too are 'seen'. We too have become valuable, we too are being displayed. Whether showcase or screen, both invisible glass screens enable (without laying a hand on?) a gaze that is supposed to give values and knowledge. – Together we will take a look at these connections between gazes, values and knowledge to see how and if they are conceivable – at the place of knowledge, the university.

Academic: Johannes Katsarov | Project Group Number: 31, 32 & 33

The increasing usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in diverse areas, e.g., translation, art generation, medical research, or the screening of CVs, raises many ethical issues: biased algorithms can reinforce discrimination, AI can be used to deceive people, uncontrolled AI can lead to harmful outcomes. An important question is how students and professionals can be sensitized to these risks and problems. At Leuphana, a digital game has been designed to promote this sensitivity. We will focus on the question, whether and how this game sensitizes learners for ethical risks, and on some testing materials that have been developed for this purpose. You will discuss the digital game and testing materials critically, and generate visionary ideas how the game and tests could be improved.

Academic: Raphael Haus | Project Group Number: 34, 35 & 36

In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that computer capabilities would double every 2 years for the next 10 years. It did not take just 10 years. We see this trend continuing until today. In parallel, over the past decade, the number of Fablabs has also doubled. A Fablab focuses on digital fabrication, in other words, learning how to convert data into physical objects and vice versa. The principles are based on open-source hardware development and distributed design. So the intriguing question is whether we can foresee the continued doubling of Fablabs and the scaling of digital fabrication for another 50 years? How would this transformation impact work, education, and play? Could this be the key to sustainable production and consumption?

Academic: Stefanos Dimitriadis | Project Group Number: 37, 38 & 39

We all leave our traces on the Internet.
These are not visually recognizable footprints but data of various kinds. Our data is collected by companies, government institutions and NGOs. The collected data is processed by algorithms so that it can be successfully analyzed. This is usually done legally and sometimes illegally. Basically, these organizations are interested in understanding their citizens better, making their customers personalized offers that are irresistible, and drawing society's attention to social and ecological grievances. In this panel we want to find out which data we should collect in the future as a data-driven society and which benefits we can generate with this data.

The relationship between power and rights is multifaceted and complex. Power can both facilitate the promotion and protection of rights and present obstacles to their realization. Conversely, rights may be understood both as a constraint on power or as an expression of power. Rather than approaching these two concepts through the traditional State vs. citizen paradigm, we will consider their meaning and relationship in the context of inter-State relations in the 21st century. Moreover, we will not limit our study of power and rights to the disciplines of international law and international relations but will also consider other, for example historical, perspectives. Questions that we might consider include whether the notions of power and rights of States are necessarily in tension or whether (and how) they can be reconciled. For this purpose, we will take a look at current events and crises on the regional and global level to revisit notions and narratives such as sovereignty, multilateralism and the rules-based international order. In particular, we will consider the role and shapes of international cooperation as a tool to accumulate collective power while safeguarding rights.

Academic: Thomas Schomerus | Project Group Number: 40, 41 & 42

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Academic: Harald Hantke | Project Group Number: 43, 44 & 45

In the socio-ecological transformation process, two ideal-typical action paradigms confront each other with regard to economic activity: Commercial-economic action and household-economic action. Even if action is currently taken neither according to one nor the other ideal type, this confrontation shows a space of possible actions. We can all play an effective role in this space of possible actions.

Academic: Simone Borgstede | Project Group Number: 46, 47 & 48

Black people and people of colour (POC) are stopped by the police in St. Pauli-Süd again and again. Some young Black men even try not to move in this neighbourhood anymore though they live here. Since 2016, a special police task force is occupying the area by day and night. Their narrative is that they fight 'publicly visible drug-related crimes’. Their practices can be categorized as racist profiling. They force Black people and POC to leave the area through ‚Platzverweise’. We will explore what this means to the affected people and how a strategy of defunding the police can open up alternative perspectives. 

Academic: Lea Gathen | Project Group Number: 49, 50 & 51 (Group 49, English)

In a world marked by ever-evolving global dynamics, the concept of migration has become more relevant and complex than ever before. People from diverse backgrounds and cultures find themselves traversing borders, seeking new opportunities, and adapting to unfamiliar environments. As educators, scholars, and curious minds, we recognize the imperative of comprehending this phenomenon with depth and empathy.

Academic: Olga Kytidou | Project Group Number: 52, 53 & 54

Looking for freedom or restriction in the facilities and spaces of Lüneburg, the groups of this project will look for places, buildings, rooms or locations, with or without people, to answer the following questions What does being free mean? Where can I have freedom? To what extent is my presence protected or restricted? The evaluation of the place will be approached with the theory of the "panopticon" (Foucault).

When Alexander von Humboldt explored the Americas, the collection of plant and animal specimens to ship them to Europe was a core objective. His and uncountable further collections compiled over centuries are an important source for natural sciences until today. For example, herbaria with dried plants or collections of wild bees can tell us the historical geographical distribution of species which today became (locally) extinct, and we might be able to link this loss of species to specific environmental drivers like changes in land use or climate. Without the collection of samples and data, we would not have been able, for example, to document the ongoing substantial loss of biodiversity. More recently, the collection of molecular and genetic data moved into the focus. 

Human-wellbeing would not be possible without the resources nature provides. However, it is a challenge to exploit resources in a sustainable way. Moreover, resources may depend on biodiversity, and, for example, with each species lost through overexploitation of tropical rainforests, we miss the chance to detect natural chemical compounds potentially valuable for pharmaceutical use. While it is obvious that the collection of resources does not only have ecological consequences, but a strong economic component, also the legal perspective has broadened its scope in the past decades: to whom belongs knowledge collected from nature?

Academic: David Abson | Project Group Number: 55, 56 & 57 (Group 55, English)

The current dominant economic systems of the world are premised on the unlimited and unsustainable accumulation of human-made capital (primarily infrastructure capital and financial capital). This capital ‘collection’ is dependent of the liquidation of limited stocks of natural capital, undermining the long-term ability of the environment to maintain itself and our economics systems. In these projects you will critically explore, radical alternatives to the current system that are not premised on unlimited capital accumulation, or on capital accumulation that is not dependent on the conversion of natural capital (for example circular economies, steady state economics, sharing economics, degrowth etc.).

Academic: Leonie Schmitt | Project Group Number: 58, 59 & 60

The way we collect and harvest food significantly impacts the health of our planet - agriculture alone is responsible for 30 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Simultaneously, in countries like Germany, half of adults are overweight and face a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases due to unhealthy diets, while globally, 2 billion people suffer from malnutrition. To address this complex issue, scientists from the EAT-Lancet Commission have developed a concept aimed at nourishing our global population in a healthy and diverse manner without further burdening and exploiting the planet and its biodiversity: the Planetary Health Diet (PHD). Together, we will critically engage with the PHD and explore implementation possibilities, discussing what a dietary transition might look like.

Academic: Lukas Hogenschurz | Project Group Number: 61, 62 & 63

Our current economic system is based on a linear one-way system where raw materials are extracted from nature, transformed into products, and eventually disposed of. This causes constant pressure on the environmental system. In the project group, students will discuss how a circular economy can decrease pressure on environmental systems and how knowledge “created” by nature can be used to further advance the circular economy.

Academic: Pia Redenius | Project Group Number: 64, 65 & 66

The project focusses on sensory experiences: We are walking the districts around the Leuphana University Lüneburg with a short research diary focussing on hearing, smelling, seeing and feeling. The project will connect sensual experiences with well-being. Additionally, it will be associated with the context of local sustainability.

Academic: Timur Sevincer | Project Group Number: 67, 68 & 69

Protecting the environment is a pressing global challenge. Environmental threats include global warming, nature conservation, and clean air and water, among others. Although to address some of those challenges large-scale political decisions are needed, scientists, policymakers, and laypeople have recognized the importance of individual behavior change to master those challenges. In this project, we will shed light on what psychology and motivation science can contribute to help people behave in a more sustainable way. 

Academic: Pablo Castro Sánchez-Bermejo | Project Group Number: 70, 71 & 72

While the world’s mountains encompass a great diversity of species and habitat types, some of them rare or endemic, these ecosystems are threatened worldwide. Among others, the variety of mountain sports (e.g. ski, climbing, trail running) results in a threat to biodiversity due to high erosion, big infrastructures associated, etc. Nevertheless, mountain sports can also have positive effects on biodiversity and sustainable sport models can guarantee the socio-economic development of mountain regions while ensuring biodiversity conservation. In this topic, we will discuss about the intricate relationship between mountain sports and biodiversity and we will collect ideas on the changes needed in mountain sports to promote nature conservation in the era of climate change.

During their lives, people, organizations, and institutions collect resources and strive for recognition. Whether they succeed in their attempts to gain recognition, however, depends on the given situation, the involved people's personality, and how situations are organized. Moreover, the society in which people and organizations exist, plays a dominant part in how to gain recognition. E.g., in the case of a democratic society, arguments, respectful communication, reason, and performance gain recognition. In an autocratic society, in contrast, recognition goes to those who are loyal, obedient, assertive and, if necessary, unscrupulous and ruthless. In both cases, however, there are various situations that are uncertain and risky, and that therefore require trust (Lewis & Weigert, 2012). But what is trust? Various academic disciplines define trust as a state that involves the willingness of a person or group to make themselves vulnerable to another person, group, or institution whose reaction to the demonstrated willingness to trust cannot be predicted and/or controlled (Bormann et al., 2022). Within the focus, we will look at different facets of the relationship between recognition and trust. However, since recognition and trust are highly specific per situation, please choose a context that particularly interests you.

Academic: Laura Wenzel & Vanessa Schwenker | Project Group Number: 73, 74 & 75

Trust and trust building is an indispensable basis of society: We need trust in order to live and cooperate. However, trust and building trust is not a static condition, but rather an interactive, social process that is context- and situation-specific. Together with the project groups, we would like to explore how doing trust and recognizing vulnerability in different contexts influence each other and which roles for example, social identities, power structures and cultural norms play.

Academic: Birte Siem | Project Group Number: 76, 77 & 78

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Academic: Saskia Samland | Project Group Number: 79, 80 & 81

Service learning is a teaching-learning format that has its roots in the United States and has gained recognition in German universities since 2003. Participants of Service Learning projects gain practical experience in community service while simultaneously acquiring and reflecting on academic knowledge in the university. It intended to develop specialized knowledge by referring to real needs in society and to foster the personalities, political awareness aswell as strengthens learners' social engagement and responsibility towards their community (Reinders, 2016).

Academic: Lars Alberth | Project Group Number: 82, 83 & 84

“I profess.” This phrase is the common denominator of any professional service rendered to all sorts of clients. However, this dedication to the clients’ individual problems comes with a specific drama: While the client has to be honest and open about their past action and their individual failings, they also have to trust the professional to provide a remedy for their acute trouble. This trust is grounded in expectations of professional competence. Good service results from having worked on innumerable clients by turning the latter into “cases of X”, a collection which allows proper professional work (diagnosis, inference, and treatment), but might also eat away at the client’s trust.

Academic: Ilsemargret Luttmann | Project Group Number: 85, 86 & 87

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Academic: tba | Project Group Number: 88, 89 & 90

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