Current Topics
Table of contents
Elections 2024
2024 is Saxony's bumper election year: On June 9, there are local and European elections, and on September 1, there will be elections for the Saxon State Parliament. In view of a societal mood that oscillates between consistently high support for right-wing populist to extremist positions and widespread demonstrations in favor of democracy and diversity, new parties and frustration with the government, the outcome is not only particularly exciting, it also sets the course for the future of Saxony and Europe.
Dr. Manès Weisskircher
Junior Research Group Leader at TU Dresden’s Institute of Political Sciences, affiliated researcher at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarian Research.
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/powi/das-institut/nachwuchsgruppe-rexklima/Team/manes-weisskircher
https://hait.tu-dresden.de/ext/institut/mitarbeiterprofil-9259/
Key research areas
- Political parties
- Protest movements
- Right-wing populism and extremism
Maximilian Kreter
Research Associate at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarian Research
https://hait.tu-dresden.de/ext/institut/mitarbeiterprofil-25/
Key research areas
- Political parties
- Voting behavior
- Right-wing extremism, right-wing populism, right-wing terrorism
Prof. Anja Besand
Chair of the Didactics of Civic Education, John Dewey Research Center for the Didactics of Democracy
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/powi/dpb/die-professur/inhaber-in
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/powi/joddid
Position paper on the 2024 election year: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/powi/joddid/das-joddid/news/positionspapier-zum-wahljahr-24
Key research areas
- Civic education
- Schools as spaces for education in democracy and teaching values
Junior Prof. Dr. Anna Sophie Kümpel
Junior Professor in Communication, with a focus on digital media and the methods to research digital media
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/ifk/das-institut/mitarbeiter-innen/anna-sophie-kuempel
Video: How do politicians and political parties use Instagram in their election campaigns? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC-JFwzj7NM
Key research areas
- Social media in election campaigns
Social Inequality
Resources and life chances are unequally distributed in Germany, with serious repercussions. People with low incomes and lower assets have a shorter life expectancy and are sick more often than rich people. Educational opportunities and career development opportunities are still largely dependent on social background.1 This is not only unfair, but also jeopardizes social cohesion and even democracy itself. For many people, poverty and a lack of prospects lead to a loss of trust in institutions and make them susceptible to extremist positions.2
TU Dresden researchers are investigating various aspects of social inequality. They are happy to share their expertise with the media for their reports.
Sociology
Prof. Dr. Antonia Kupfer
Chair of Macro-Sociology
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/iso/mak/die-professur/prof-dr-kupfer
Key research areas
- Social structure
- Gender relations
- Sociology of work and education
- Power
Prof. Dr. Natalja Menold
Chair of Methods in Empirical Social Research
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/iso/mes/die-professur/prof-dr-menold
Key research area
- Methods of studying social inequality
Economics – Economic Inequality
Prof. Dr. Alexander Kemnitz
Chair of Economic Policy and Economic Research
https://tu-dresden.de/bu/wirtschaft/vwl/wuw/die-professur/inhaber
Key research areas
- Distribution of wealth and income
- Causes of economic inequality
- Equal opportunities and poverty
Educational Sciences – Educational (In)equity
Prof. Dr. Anke Langner
Chair of Education / Inclusive Education
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/ew/iew/ewib/die-professur
Key research areas
- Inclusion and inclusive education
- Handling diversity
- Social exclusion and participation
- Dresden University School as a practical implementation of a school for everyone
PD Dr. habil. Ina Krause
Research Associate at the Chair of Adult Education
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/ew/die-fakultaet/beschaeftigte?profil=Krause_Ina
Key research areas
- Social inequality from the perspective of work and organizational research
- Vocational training research
- Digitalization research
Dr. Christian Müller
Research Associate at the Chair of Adult Education
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/ew/die-fakultaet/beschaeftigte?profil=M%C3%BCller_Christian
Key research areas
- Continuing education as an instrument for greater educational equality
- The Matthew effect in continuing education (He that has plenty of goods shall have more.)
Social Philosophy
Dr. Lucas von Ramin
Social Philosophy / Scientific Coordinator EXU Emerging Field “Social Change”
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/forschung/exzellenzmassnahmen/gesellschaftlicher-wandel/ansprechpartner-innen
Key research areas
- Interface of social inequality, democracy and the threat of extremism
- Instrumentalization of social inequality
Social Inequality in History
Prof. Dr. Susanne Schötz
Chair of Social and Economic History
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/ige/wsge
Key research areas
- Industrialization/industrial revolution and the social question
- The workers' question and the workers' movement from the Age of Metternich, through the revolution of 1848/49 to the German Empire
- Organization of work, history of social policy and the welfare state, company social policy
- Democratization of gender relations
- Urbanization and social inequality
Experts in conflict and peace research
The number of wars worldwide is at an all-time high and the number of people dying in these wars is the highest in over 30 years. Europe is focusing in particular on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which has now been going on for over two years. There are also other trouble hot spots such as Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgia. A second focal point from a European perspective is Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel and the resulting war in the Gaza Strip. But violence is also escalating in countries such as Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar, ...
Scientists at TU Dresden work on various aspects of conflict and peace research. They are happy to share their expertise with the media for their reports.
Prof. Dominik Steiger
Chair of International Law, European Law and Public Law
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/irget/jfoeffl9/die-professur/Lehrstuhlinhaber
Key focus areas
- International law, esp. human rights
- United Nations law,
- International law of peace and armed conflict
- International law of war
Prof. Christian Leßmann
Chair of Economics, esp. International Economic Relations
https://tu-dresden.de/bu/wirtschaft/vwl/iwb/die-professur/inhaber
Key focus areas
- Causes of civil wars
- Resource conflicts
- Ethnic conflicts
- Sanctions
Dr. Jochen Kleinschmidt
Institute of Political Science
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/powi/intpol/die-professur/ma
Key focus areas
- Armed conflicts
- Security policy
- Strategic studies and armaments technology
- Organized crime
- Political geography
- Futurology
- Regional priorities (Eastern) Europe, USA, Latin America
Lisa Hecht
Institute of Philosophy
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/iphil/personen/dr-lisa-hecht
Key focus areas
- Ethics of war: Just war, pacifism, moral responsibility, and moral rights in war
- Proportionality and necessities in war
- Military aid
- Sanctions
- Reparation and reconstruction
War in Ukraine
For a report on the current situation in Ukraine, there are numerous experts at the TU Dresden who are at your disposal with expertise in political science, but also in cultural studies and, in some cases, many years of experience in research on Eastern Europe.
Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger
Professor of International Law, European Law and Public Law
Scientific Director of the Center for International Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Public international and European law
- Law of the United Nations
- International protection of human rights
- international business law
- German and foreign constitutional law
Prof. Dr. Klavdia Smola
Professor of Slavic Literary Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Russian, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian culture as well as cultures of Eastern European minorities
- Alternative and dissident art and literature
- Border phenomena and transfer processes in literature, culture and science
Prof. Dr. Holger Kuße
Professor of Slavic Language History and Linguistics
Areas of specialization include:
- Studies of discourse (esp. Russian philosophical discourse, political and religious discourse, and advertising in Slavia)
- Linguistic theory (esp. on the relationship between semantics and pragmatics)
- Cultural studies linguistics, discourse and argumentation linguistics, semantics and pragmalinguistics of contemporary Slavic languages
Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter
Professor of Political Science with a focus on international politics
Areas of specialization include:
- Emergence, impact and change of international organizations
- Relations between (inter)state and societal actors in international politics
- Creation and contestation of norms from the perspective of language and discourse analytical approaches in international relations
JProf. Dr. Tim Buchen
BKM Junior Professor for Social and Economic Networks of Germans in Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th Century
Areas of specialization include:
- German-Eastern European interconnections
- Jewish history
- history of (German) imperialism in Eastern Europe
- migration and settlement policy
- history of minorities
Prof. Dr. Marianne Kneuer
Professor of Political Systems and Comparative Politics
Areas of specialization include:
- Functional logics of democracies and autocracies
- democratic and autocratic transformation
- external factors (promotion and diffusion) of democratization and autocratization
- foreign policy of autocratic regimes
- legitimation strategies of autocracies
- Impact of digitalization on political processes: e-democracy, e-participation and e-government
Dr. Matthäus Wehowski
Research Associate at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Ukrainian history and culture of memory (see current publication)
- comparative history of East Central Europe
- nationalism and religion
- media history
- history of the Cold War
- history of transformation
Marta Kozłowska, M.A.
Research Associate at MIDEM (Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy)
Areas of specialization include:
- Migration and Flight in Poland
- Migration discourses
- Central Eastern Europe/Visegrád Group
- Polish politics
- social integration and solidarity
The new large language models – ChatGPT and beyond
The large language model ChatGPT has shifted public focus toward artificial intelligence (AI). The chatbot is part of a new generation of AI systems. ChatGPT composes texts, generates images and videos, and programs code. The possible uses for large language models are manifold – in the corporate world, in medicine, in media and more. But what technological advancements do they promise? What potential do they hold for education, industry, science and society? And what ethical and legal challenges does their use entail?
A number of researchers at TU Dresden are currently searching for the answers to these questions and are also available to journalists and other media professionals as points of contact.
Prof. Anne Lauber-Rönsberg
Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property, Media and Data Protection Law; Director of the Institute of International Law, Intellectual Property and Technology Law; Member of Lernende Systeme – Germany’s platform for artificial intelligence (https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/home-en.html)
Key focus areas:
- Copyright and data protection
- Liability law and AI regulations, incl.: Who do AI products belong to? What stipulations apply to the use of content for AI training purposes? Does AI violate data protection laws? Who is liable for incorrect statements issued by ChatGPT?
- ChatGPT and AI Act
Prof. Alfred Benedikt Brendel
Chair of Business Information Systems, esp. Intelligent Systems and Services
Key focus areas:
- Human-machine interaction
- Anthropomorphism
- Error management
- Digital services
- Hybrid intelligence
Prof. Birte Platow
Protestant Theology with a focus on Religious Education, Member of the Management Board of ScaDS.AI and Area Lead of the Responsible AI research area at ScaDS.AI
Key focus areas:
- Ethical aspects
- AI and education
- Human-AI interaction
Prof. Alexander Lasch
Chair of Linguistics and History of German
Dean of Studies of the Digital Humanities Master’s degree program
Key focus areas:
- Linguistic knowledge engineering
- Machine analysis
- Implementation of text generators in a university education context
Prof. Simon Meier-Vieracker
Chair of Applied Linguistics
Key focus areas:
- Linguistic foundations and functionality of ChatGPT
Prof. Lars Bernard
Chief Digitalization and Information Management Officer of TU Dresden
Key focus areas:
- General strategic issues surrounding the use of AI in an academic setting
Prof. emeritus Bernhard Irrgang
Chair of Philosophy of Technology (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science), consulting services for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on AI and VR 2018/2021
Website: http://bernhard-irrgang.eu
Tel.: +49 351- 2683282
Key focus areas:
- Designation of the scientific nature of AI and problems with its integration in society (in the field of applied ethics)
- Deep learning
- Neuronal networks
- Application of AI in robotics, biomedicine and molecular biology
- Philosophical issues surrounding the explainability of algorithms, including ChatGPT
On April 26, 2023, TU Dresden’s Extended University Executive Board joined forces with the Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences (CIDS) and the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) to host an informational event focused on methods of working with these systems. A recording of the event (in German) is available on TU Dresden’s YouTube channel.
Expert Opinions on the Discussion about the Planned Abolition of Article 219a
Article 219a of the German Criminal Code prohibits “offering, announcing or promoting abortions”. This primarily affects physicians who wish to provide information about whether and how they perform abortions. Until now, the mere publication of this information has made them liable to prosecution.
A draft bill from the Ministry of Justice now argues for the abolition of article 219a and once again moved the debate about the legal regulation of abortions into the public focus. By abolishing the paragraph, the federal government would fulfill one of the promises it made in the coalition agreement.
At the same time, this debate is also fueling the debate about article 218 of the German Criminal Code. Article 218 makes abortion itself a punishable offense, unless the conditions of impunity explained in article 218a are met.
In the debate about both articles, philosophical, historical, political and, last but not least, medical lines of argumentation collide and paint a complex picture of the situation. The following experts from the TU Dresden will provide information on the topic with their expertise:
Prof. Dr. Nikita Dhawan
Professor of Political Science with a focus on political theory and the history of thought
Fields of expertise:
- postcolonial-queer-feminist history of ideas
- global justice
- Human Rights
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Ellerbrock
Professor of Modern and Contemporary History
Fields of expertise:
- gender history
- body history
- violence and emotion
- social history
- european and transnational history
- intentional non-knowledge and transformation processes
- history of emotions
Prof. Dr. Tamara Jugov
Professor of Practical Philosophy
Fields of expertise:
- analytical political philosophy and social philosophy, esp.
- social and global justice
- theories of power and domination critique
- questions of feminist philosophy