Hier finden Sie Ausschreibungen für Stellen, Forschungsstipendien und Preise sowie Aufrufe zur Einreichung von Konferenzbeiträgen.
Here you will find calls for positions, research grants and awards, and calls for conference papers.
CfP: Articles for a special Issue on ‚Comic Literacies‘ by the journal ‚Comedy Studies‘, abstract deadline: 31 July 2026
Like other studies in literacy (media, social, visual, etc.), we understand comic literacies as culturally and socially situated discourses and practices that produce, process, transform and contest meaning in a variety of different comedic contexts. In this sense, comic literacies can be understood as shared yet unevenly distributed repertoires of knowledge that allow performers and audiences to perceive and mobilise something as comic in historically specific ways. Existing norms and hierarchies may be reinforced or destabilised in the process, sometimes both at the same time. Three areas appear crucial to this endeavour: Comic literacies can be observed when studying comedy’s materialities, its arrangements and its affects. Regarding the first area of investigation, the special issue asks how comic literacies are connected to, and indeed depend on, the materiality of human or non-human bodies and things. The second area of inquiry turns to practices of arrangement in comedic dramaturgy, choreography, oratory, etc. which involve the positioning and coordinating of words, bodies, things, actions or sounds in space and time. Finally, the special issue is interested in the evolving relationship between comic literacies and affect.
We invite discussions of historically and culturally situated comedic artefacts and practices throughout the ages that explore the theoretical parameters of comic literacies through a social, economic, political, ethical, media, and/or aesthetic lens. Submissions that approach comic literacies comparatively or genealogically as well as empirical case studies using qualitative methods are also encouraged.
We suggest that authors choose whether to focus more on materialities, arrangements or affects to explore comic literacies. Topics and questions might include but are not limited to:
- How do specific comedic artefacts or practices produce, mediate or negotiate comic literacies within their historically and culturally distinct contexts?
- How do comedic materialities, arrangements or affects shape, probe and/or defamiliarize tacit knowledge, respectively?
- How might the comedic negotiation of established knowledge depend on specific media settings, genre conventions or audiences?
- What would a methodology of comic literacies look like that takes audiences’ access to, processing of and affective responses to comedy’s tacit knowledge into account?
- Finally, how can we theorise the relation between a comedic artefact or practice and shared knowledge, (Western) systems of knowledge production and epistemological uncertainty – including situations in which shared knowledge fails?
Please submit proposals (250-300 words) to aileen.behrendt@uni-potsdam.de by end of July 2026. Selected proposals will be invited to prepare articles of 6000-8000 words which will be due on 31st of January 2027 and will be peer reviewed. Articles will be published on-line as they are accepted.
The articles will be published as a special issue of the journal Comedy Studies in early/mid 2028. The special issue is edited by Aileen Behrendt (University of Potsdam), Karin Peters (University of Bonn) and Roxanne Phillips (KWI Essen). For more information please click here.
Studentische Hilfskraft (SHK) im Projekt „Cultures of the Cryosphere: Infrastructures, Politics and Futures of Artificial Cooling“ am KWI, 10 Std./Woche
Das Kulturwissenschaftliche Institut in Essen sucht zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt, spätestens zum 01.09.2026 für das Projekt „Cultures of the Cryosphere: Infrastructures, Politics and Futures of Artificial Cooling“ eine studentische Hilfskraft (m/w/d) aus den Geistes- oder Sozialwissenschaften mit einer Arbeitszeit von ca. 10 Stunden/Woche.
Das internationale Forschungsprojekt bringt Kulturwissenschaften, Philosophie, Technikgeschichte und -soziologie zusammen und untersucht die kulturellen Ursachen und Folgen von Technologien künstlicher Kälte. Mehr Informationen zum gesamten Projekt sowie allen Projektpartnern finden sich hier. Der Forschungsschwerpunkt, der am KWI in Essen bearbeitet wird, ist Space Cooling.
Ein Büroplatz am KWI in Essen Rüttenscheid wird zur Verfügung gestellt. In der Regel ist es aber auch möglich, die Aufgaben remote zu erledigen. Die Arbeitszeiten können flexibel gestaltet werden. Die Anstellung erfolgt zunächst auf ein Jahr befristet. Eine längerfristige Anstellung wird angestrebt.
Gelegenheiten zur eigenen, akademischen Weiterentwicklung, ggf. auch in Form einer Anfertigung einer Abschlussarbeit im Projekt ,wird nach Möglichkeit gerne vom Team (Leitung: Dr. Stefan Höhne; Mitarbeit: Dr. Alina Wandelt & Dr. Sebastian James Rose) unterstützt.
Zu den Aufgaben der Tätigkeit gehören Literaturrecherchen und Forschungsassistenz; Organisation, Archivrecherchen und ggf. Forschungsreisen.
Vorausgesetzt werden sehr gute Kompetenzen in der Literaturrecherche, sehr gute Englischkenntnisse sowie erste Erfahrungen in der Arbeit mit historischen Quellen und Archiven und/oder Methoden der Erhebung und Auswertung der qualitativen Sozialforschung, insbesondere Ethnographie.
Bewerbungen mit einem kurzen Anschreiben und Lebenslauf bitte als eine PDF per Email an Alina Wandelt alina.wandelt@kwi-nrw.de.
Bewerbungsschluss ist der 05.05.2026.
Weitere Infos sowie die vollständige Ausschreibung finden Sie hier.
CfA: Thyssen@KWI Fellowship October 2026 – March 2027
The Thyssen@KWI Fellowship adresses excellent researchers from the humanities, cultural studies, and the social sciences. It is most generously funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. International researchers are invited to apply as well as scholars of German nationality, provided they demonstrate outstanding international work experience and contacts. We invite applications from research fellows who have completed their PhD and have already gained several years of post-doctoral research expertise (R3 level). Project proposals should address KWI’s research agenda. The KWI (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut) in Essen provides fellows with modern infrastructure, office space, technical support, and offers a library service, event and research management as well as any administrative and communicative support.
We expect the Thyssen@KWI Fellow to be present at the institute at least 3 days a week. The fellow will be expected to participate in entry and exit interviews. The Thyssen@KWI Fellow is requested to actively take part in the Colloquium, lectures, conferences, reading groups and other academic events at KWI. Moreover, we expect the fellow to contribute to the KWI Blog. Knowledge of German is not required since the Fellowship Programme relies on a strong command of English. We expect successful applicants to begin their fellowship on the announced starting date (October 1 2026). Due to our semester schedule and the design of the fellowship programme, the start and end of the fellowship are not negotiable.
We kindly ask you to apply in the form of one single PDF file (max. 20 MB) which must be submitted electronically to international.fellowship@uni-due.de with the subject line: “Thyssen@KWI-Fellowship”. The application must be written in English and must contain a CV, a list of publications, PhD certificate, and a proposal sketching your KWI project (max. 5,000 characters).
The application deadline is 11 May 2026. For further questions, please consult the FAQs or contact international.fellowship@uni-due.de. Please finde the full call here.