News — Forum Internationale Wissenschaft

Publication of a political policy brief with FIW participation¹

Several EU member states are undermining refugee protection in Europe in view of the relatively low number of asylum seekers at the EU's eastern external borders and justify this with attempts by Russia and Belarus to “instrumentalize” migration. In a newly published policy brief, Judith Kohlenberger, Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, Lena Laube, Bernd Parusel and Daniele Saracino examine the narrative of the “instrumentalization” of migration and its impact on asylum policy in the EU: Link.

Lecture of Kaat Louckx on May 14, 2025 “Questions of Modernity: How Asking Questions Shaped Our Modern World”²

The lecture will take place at 16:15 in lecture hall IV (HS IV). Abstract How did the seemingly simple act of asking structured questions shape modernity? This project traces the social and epistemic history of questionnaires, surveys, and interrogations from seventeenth-century scientific societies to early twentieth-century statistical congresses. Focusing on five arenas—scientific inquiry, state governance, professional expertise, legal interrogation, and transnational standardisation—it explores how formalised questioning produced new forms of knowledge and authority. Through comparative archival case studies from Europe and North America, the project aims to explain the emergence of categories like “household”, “occupation”, and “truth”, linking their history to contemporary debates on data ethics, citizenship, and surveillance. The lecture will outline the research agenda and its relevance across the humanities and social sciences.

New employee at the FIW³

Religious studies researcher Dr. Ramona Jelinek-Menke joined the Department of Religious Studies team on 1 March 2025.

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New employee at FIW⁴

Viviane Schall joined the office of the FIW as new IT administrator on March 18, 2025 and the LAGIP as a research assistant.

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Vitor Barros received scholarship⁵

In January 2025, Vitor Barros received a doctoral scholarship from the Gerda Henkel Foundation for his project ‘Ethnic differentiation and subtle racial animosity: Brazil (1887-2022)’.

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Best Master Thesis 2023 in Sociology at the University of São Paulo⁶

Vitor Barros, FIW researcher, obtained the prize for Best Master Thesis 2023 in Sociology at the University of São Paulo.

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New employees at the FIW: Kathrin Fischer and Lukas Boch as new researchers in the Department of Religious Studies⁷

Didactician Kathrin Fischer and historian Lukas Boch joined the Religious Studies team at the beginning of 2025.

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Berufung von Dr. Hanno Kruse an das Forum Internationale Wissenschaft⁸

Dr. Hanno Kruse was appointed as Junior Professor (W1 with tenure track to W2) for Sociology with a focus on social inequality at the FIW.

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