Käte Hamburger Research Centre

global dis:connect is an internationally oriented centre for advanced humanities research. It provides an intellectually open and collaborative environment for scholars examining historical and contemporary processes of globalisation.

Our research starts from a relational perspective: integration, disconnection, and disintegration are co-constitutive, not opposites. Migration, markets, and information circulate unevenly, encountering barriers, exclusions, and delays that are integral to globalisation itself. This perspective enables fellows to investigate the cultural, social, and interpretative dimensions of globalisation across disciplines.

A distinctive feature of global dis:connect is the systematic integration of the arts into humanities-based research. Artistic practices offer alternative modes of inquiry, making dis:connective phenomena – often elusive, difficult to quantify, or marked by absence – analytically and sensorially accessible. Collaboration with artists expands both scholarly analysis and public communication, opening new ways of thinking, seeing, and engaging with globalisation.

Fellows benefit from regular colloquia, workshops, conferences, and artistic formats that foster sustained dialogue within the cohort and with (inter-)national partners. Located in Munich, global dis:connect combines a globally connected research environment with close ties to a vibrant cultural and academic landscape.

Why apply?

global dis:connect offers an internationally visible and intellectually stimulating environment for outstanding humanities scholars. Fellows pursue individual projects while participating in a collaborative, interdisciplinary community.

Key benefits include:

• Academic profile and visibility: Present research at international events and publications.

• Interdisciplinary and international networking: Connect with scholars across the humanities and global partner institutions.

• Innovative intellectual exchange: Collaborate with artists and engage in experimental formats that expand research perspectives.

We invite applications from scholars seeking to advance their work in dialogue with an international research community and to contribute to innovative humanities-based studies of globalisation.

Contact us

Käte Hamburger Research Centre

global dis:connect

Maria-Theresia-Str. 21

81675 Munich, Germany

gdc@lmu.de

Käte Hamburger

Käte Hamburger (1896–1992) was one of the most influential literary theorists of the twentieth century. Her work connected literary studies, philosophy, and epistemology – long before interdisciplinarity became a guiding principle in academia.

Käte Hamburger studied philosophy and German studies in Munich, where she completed her doctorate in 1922. In 1933, Käte Hamburger was dismissed from academia and forced into exile as a Jewish scholar. After a brief stay in France, she emigrated to Sweden, where she lived for more than two decades. Her scholarship emerged from lived experiences of rupture, migration and cultural encounter – questions central to globalisation research today.

Käte Hamburger’s most influential theoretical ideas emerged during exile. Working across languages, cultures and academic systems, she asked:

• What is literature’s roles in times of crises?
• How can scholarship defend intellectual freedom?
• How does knowledge travel across borders?

Since 2008, the Käte Hamburger Research Centres have provided outstanding scholars with the freedom to pursue world-class humanities research. Named after Käte Hamburger, the centres create spaces for international collaboration, interdisciplinary exchange, and innovative humanities research across borders.