“Applied Humanities: Genealogy and Politics” is a newly established Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and located at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

The Center explores the socio-political significance of the humanities in historical, contemporary, and global contexts. In Western modernity, applied research has traditionally been viewed as a universally valid body of knowledge, based on laws and often exploitable for practical gain. In contrast to this view, the Center explores the untapped potential of various humanities disciplines in shaping and transforming society. In this sense, “applied humanities” comprises a global-historical array of practices that transcend disciplinary boundaries and are embedded in political, cultural, and economic frameworks. Beyond mere utilitarian ends, the humanities perform an emancipatory, politically critical function, rooted, for instance, in the provision of a particular body of knowledge, in the development and transfer of particular skills and techniques, in the reflection and recontouring of social structures and ways of life, and the shaping of public discourses.

The interdisciplinary research group aims to uncover these functions and to enter into an intensive exchange with a group of national and international fellows, associated colleagues, staff, young researchers, and students.