Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt welcomes new members for the winter semester 2022/23

This academic year, Professor Frédéric Vandenberghe (Brazil) is a Distinguished Fellow of the Max-Weber-Kolleg with his project "Reconstructing Social Theory to Reconstruct Societies". The development of a meta-theory for the further development of social theory is being carried out by incorporating the experiences from Brazil.

The Kolleg research group "Religion and Urbanity: Mutual Formations" (DFG, FOR 2779), which works on India and the Mediterranean region, among others, welcomes as new Fellows this semester: Dr Enrico Piergiacomi (Italy) with the research project "Theology and the Dissolution of Cities. Religious Anti-Urbanism in Early Stoicism"; Dr Kristine Iara (Italy), who has come to Erfurt again to work on the topic "Late Antique Rome: Space, People and Gods"; Professor Shail Mayaram (India) with the project "From Little Medina to Mega-city. The Making and Unmaking of the Sacred City of Delhi" and Dr Anne Murphy (Canada), who is also a renewed Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, with her new project "The Possibility of a Punjabi Urban Imaginary".

In addition, the Kolleg research group welcomes four new research employees: as postdoctoral fellows, Dr Aaron French (USA), who will present the conference "Urban Co-Temporalities. Historical and Systematic Enquiries" and Dr Mateusz Fafinski (Poland) with his habilitation project "Adapted Landscapes: Monasticism and the Late Antique UrbanSocial Spaces". Joining them as doctoral students are Aileen Jennifer Becker (Germany) with her project "The Common Bathing of Christians. Baths as Religious Places of Community in Urban Spaces?" and Mirjam Wien (Germany) with her project "Staging Elites in Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem in Greek and Latin Sources on the Years 1096 to 1204" join the group.

The International Research training group (DFG) "Resonant Self-World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices", which is conducted in cooperation with the University of Graz, welcomes as new PhD students Dina Bijelic with the topic "Modeling Christian Rulership in the Medieval Grail Romance" and Emma Charlotte Weiher, who writes her dissertation on "You must be all things - Resonant Prayer Proems in the North". Also newly accepted in Graz are the doctoral candidates Florian Oppitz with the topic "Religiously Motivated Charity in the Late Antique Eastern Mediterranean", Rupert Rainer with the dissertation topic "The Ekphrasis of the Hagia Sophia in the Context of Self-World Relation", Lukas Jung with the topic "The Agonistic 'Event Culture' in Side and Pamphylia" and Nicole Navratil with the dissertation topic "Performing the Nation - and Womanhood? The self-staging of female leaders of today's nationalist parties in Europe."

In addition, the doctoral candidates who began their dissertations in Graz last year are now coming to Erfurt for their second year of study. These include: Behnaz Ghazi Moradi (Spatiality, Religion, and Body: Relocating Female Experiences in Post-Revolutionary Iran), Marios Kamenou (Resonant Relationships and Religious Innovations: Interpreting Ritual Practices in the Hellenistic Cult of Kybele), Veronika Kolomaznik (Transformation and Resonance of the Enlivened Phallos. Transformations and Effective Powers of a Motif of Ancient Imagery), Matthias Scholler ("Herrscherkult und Krise" // The Imperial Cult in the "Imperial Crisis" of the 3rd Century AD) and Clemens Wurzinger (Tibull, Contexts and the Second Order Resonance).

Also newly associated was Aikaterini-Iliana Rassia with a project on "The Senses of the Mysteries: Exploring the Emotions of Worshippers in the Eleusinian Mysteries."

The research group "Social Philosophy and Social Theory" welcomes Alberto Cevolini (Italy) as a new Fellow, who will work on "The Making of Modern Insurance: A Sociological Approach". In addition, Professor Andrea Schmid from the Faculty of Education at the University of Erfurt has been co-opted. She is working on a project on "RISE (Resonance in School Environment - Discourse, Inclusion and Well-being in Educational Contexts in England and Germany)". Professor Holger Zaborowski from the Faculty of Catholic Theology has associated himself with the project "Coordinates of Europe".

The new Collaborative Research Centres (SFB TRR 294) "Structural Change of Property" conducts research in collaboration with colleagues from Jena. In this framework, the SFB welcomes as new associated members Helena Gräf, Man Guo, Jörg Hebenstreit, Hanna Ketterer, Alexander Leipold, Sebastian Schwecke and Tobias Stadler.

As part of the International Centre of Advanced Studies "Metamorphoses of the Political" (ICAS:MP), the following colleagues will be new fellows in Delhi: Dr Anne Katrin Will (TM4), Dr Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav (TM4), Professor Martin Gaenszle (TM4), Dr Ruojin Zhang (TM6), Dr Arunima Deka (TM6).

Professor Hartmut Rosa, director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg: "The great diversity of fellows and early-stage researchers at the Max-Weber-Kolleg creates a great research environment and exciting opportunities for discussion, which are a great enrichment for all scholars. We look forward to shared research and learning experiences."