Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organisation

The Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization (ISCO) is part of the Faculty of Cultural Studies. The institute's members research and teach primarily through sociological perspectives and engage with questions of cultural theory and cultural organization. Approaches from the sociology of culture and related disciplines of the social sciences are at the center of theoretical and empirical considerations. The research is based both on the tradition of conflict theory in sociology, which – understood broadly – originates in classics such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel, and on approaches from the Durkheimian theoretical tradition, such as Pierre Bourdieu, or on poststructuralist theorizing. Focus areas, which are addressed in the interaction of theory building and empirical research, are sociological theory, the sociology of the arts and aesthetics, Organization Studies, political sociology, the sociology of law and crime, the sociology of the digital, the sociology of migration, and the methodology of social science. 

The lecturers of the ISCO teach in Bachelor, Master and doctoral programs, in the specialization subjects of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, in the Leuphana Semester and in Complementary Studies. The focus of this teaching is on insights and ways of thinking about sociological and cultural theoretical issues, sociological analysis of cultural organization, methods of social research, and related interdisciplinary discourses.

Research Fields

Cultural Sociology
Prof.in Dr.in Andrea Kretschmann

Methods of Cultural Studies
Prof. Dr. Anna Lisa Ramella

Migration and Mobility Studies
Prof. Dr. Serhat Karakayali

Political Sociology
Prof. Dr. Stephan Scheel

Sociology of the Arts
Prof. Dr. Volker Kirchberg

Sociology of Organization and Culture
Prof. Dr. Timon Beyes

Sociology of Organization and Economy
Prof. Dr. Armin Beverungen

Research

The Institute is involved in the research areas "Cultures of Conflict" and "Digital Cultures". Here it conducts analyses in the fields of sociological theory, political sociology, migration research, sociology of law and crime, sociology of work, sociology of culture, technology and media research, as well as analyses of gender relations. With its work, the Institute contributes to the advancement of knowledge in various fields of the sociocultural and its transformation.
More information on current and completed projects can be found in the research database.

Study Programmes

The Institute provides teaching in the German-language Bachelor study program in Cultural Studies and the English-language Bachelor study program in Cultural Studies: Organization, Society, and the Arts, in the Master programs "Cultural Studies: Culture and Organization" and "Theory and History of Modernity", in the doctoral program and organizes summer schools. It is particularly responsible for the following courses at Bachelor and Master level:

 

PHD Studies

It is possible to obtain the doctoral degree Dr.in phil. in the doctoral program Sociology and Cultural Organization. For more information on the doctoral program, please click here.