The College of Fellows Lecture Series invites international fellows and Tübingen academics to present their research and network. Every month, fellows and international guest researchers from the University of Tübingen present their research findings. If you are interested, please contact infospam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

July 2, 2025 6:30 pm    Villa Köstlin | Seminarraum 

Towards an Aesthetics of Sociality. An Experiment in Subverting the Coloniality of European Aesthetics 

In the first part of my lecture, I reconstruct the close connection between the emergence of philosophical aesthetics in the 18th century, on the one hand, and colonial capitalism on the other. In doing so, my focus is on the mode of subjectification through ‘civilizing’ aesthetic experiences, which is at the heart of the aesthetic theories that emerged at that time; a mode of subjectification that promises a superior subject position to a few bourgeois subjects, while completely or partially excluding other people as ‘subhumans’ from the allegedly civilizing processes of subjectification and thus also from being persons in the full sense.

Against the backdrop of my claim that the concept of the subject thus inaugurated continues to function as a norm to this day, I will explore some approaches to aesthetics of sociality in the second part of my lecture. By this I mean aesthetic practices and theories that are not content with re-thinking the subject of aesthetic civilization in less exclusive terms than is the case, e. g., with Hume and Kant; much rather, aesthetics of sociality reject the norm of the civilized and, at the same time, self-determined, autonomous subject entirely. Fred Moten’s theoretical praxis of the ensemble and Walther Benjamin’s engagement with aesthetic practices in post-revolutionary Russia play a central role here.

19-20 June 2025   University of Tübingen | Alte Aula 

PUBLIC PANEL: Leonie de Jonge & Helen Battaly, moderated by Rolf Frankenberger 

Organizers: Lynne Tirrell (UConn, Philosophy, HRTS), Niels Weidtmann (U. Tübingen, College of Fellows), Sara Bangert (U. Tübingen, College of Fellows), Rolf Frankenberger (U.
Tübingen, Institute for Research on Far-Right Extremism)

This event of the focus group “Far Right Threats to Democracy” is based upon a cooperation between the Human Rights Research Consortium (Connecticut-Baden Württemberg), the College of Fellows – Center for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Studies, University of Tübingen ant the Institute for Research on Far-Right Extremism (IRex), University of Tübingen.

22-24 July 2025   Villa Köstlin

"lndeed, what scientists have said about climate change challenges not only the ideas about the human that usually sustain the discipline of history but also the analytic strategies that postcolonial and postimperial historians have deployed in the last two decades in response to the postwar scenario of decolonization and globalization." 

This is how Dipesh Chakrabarty describes the challenge of climate change to our conception of history. Chakrabarty's work offers a profound reflection on the intersection of human history and climate change. As one of the leading scholars in South Asian history, Chakrabarty's earlier work on the "provincialization of Europe" (Provincializing Europe. Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (2000)) paved the way for a revision of historiography that moves beyond Eurocentric narratives. Chakrabarty's work urges us to recognize and understand the historical, social, and geoscientific dimensions of climate change to grasp the consequences of human actions on our planet. "The crisis of climate change calls on academics to rise above their disciplinary prejudices, for it is a crisis of many dimensions." His call for a reimagining of modernity and for a "planetary" rather than "human-centered" perspective, have sparked engaged debates about the question of the role of history and social sciences in the age of climate change. His discussion about the intertwining of human history with geological processes raises vital questions: How does Chakrabarty's argument challenge traditional historical narratives? What are the implications of framing history as a "planetary age"? How do we reconcile the human impact on the Earth with the geological processes that have shaped the planet lang before humanity's rise? What responsibilities do scholars in the humanities and social sciences have in addressing the climate crisis? How can social scientists contribute to the understanding of climate change without oversimplifying its causes or consequences? The Masterclass seeks to explore these and other implications of Chakrabarty's works.

11 July 2025, 6 pm    Villa Köstlin | Common Room

Philosophical Fragments as the Poetry of Thinking
Talk and Book Presentation

Luke Fischer will discuss, and read from, his new book that explores the intersection between philosophy and poetry, Philosophical Fragments as the Poetry of Thinking: Romanticism and the Living Present (London: Bloomsbury, 2024). The presentation will be followed by an open conversation relating to themes of the book.

About the book: 
Innovatively combining philosophical inquiry and aphoristic writing, this study presents a bold new interpretation of philosophical poetics. Exploring fragments, both thematically and formally, Luke Fischer situates the form as uniquely positioned between philosophy and poetry.

15 July, 6 pm    Villa Köstlin | Coom Room

Saint Mary (1997), directed by Shahriar Bahrani and written by Saeid Bahmanpour (IMDb 6.8/10),  presents a Quranic perspective
on the birth of Jesus and has been frequently aired on Iranian national television during Christian-related events.
 

The CoF Lunch Talk Series invites international fellows and Tübingen researchers to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere during the lunch break. Each month, a fellow presents his or her research. The CoF Lunch Talks take place in the Villa Köstlin. 

The CoF Lunch Talks in the summer term 2025 can be found here.

Women Philosophers on Nature 

1 Juli 2025, 6 pm   Villa Köstlin | Seminar Room

Program:

-Dalia Nassar (University of Sydney): "Our Moral Relation to Nature: Germaine de Staël and Karoline von Günderrode’s Environmental Ethics"

-Veronica Cibotaru (University of Tübingen): "Hedwig Conrad-Martius, The Soul of Plants"