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Fusion of two images: "Dyers scraping stenciled fabrics," figure 235, Hommel & Mercer, China at Work 1937, and "Indian indigo-dye worker," photo A. Mamidipudi, 2017.

Dept. III

Artifacts, Action, Knowledge

Director Dagmar Schäfer

T +49 30 22667 151

 

Department III studies the history of knowledge and action considering the changing role of artifacts: texts, objects, and spaces. Our research collectively examines the processes and structures by which people grappled with the materiality of existence. Through the analysis of everyday actions, we interrogate the boundaries and intersections between the inner workings of objects and all domains of life. Together these approaches allow us to pursue inquiries into historical epistemologies of action.

The Department's research structure has three entry points: artifacts (things), action (making), knowledge (work), and research activities are organized into working groups. These open up qualitative methodological pathways that are complemented by critical engagement with our Source Based Initiatives. Along each pathway, research activities are organized into collaborative working groups focused on project-based outputs that promote discussion and debate on the production of knowledge.

Working Groups

Transience Group
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Agriculture and the Making of Sciences
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Ability and Authority
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Animal Mobilities
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Reclaiming Turtles All the Way Down
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Out of Place, Out of Time
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Translation Terroirs: Maps of East Asia as Translations
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“Tu” in Local Gazetteers
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Proteins and Fibers
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Metals and Minerals
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Cosmological Knowledge in Late Imperial China
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Common Knowledge and Its Sources in the Sinosphere
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Epistemologies of Craft
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Fenye in Local Gazetteers
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Visualization of the Heavens Working Group
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Soil & Agricultural Knowledge
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Agriculture and Water
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Animal Materialities
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Got Milk? History of Making Lactose Intolerance Science
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Mediterranean Nautical Cartography
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