History of the FORUM

The General Studies. Forum Science and Society (FORUM) emerged from the ZAK | Centre for Cultural and Gerneral Studies and looks back on an eventful history as an integral part of KIT:

The Studium Generale was founded in 1949 at the Fridericiana and has existed as a central institution of the Technical University since 1972/73, so it has a long tradition at the University of Karlsruhe.

In 1983, the Research Center for Applied Cultural Studies was established, followed by the Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK). Various departments of the University of Karlsruhe were involved in the institute, which reinforced its interdisciplinary and interfaculty orientation.

In July 2002, the Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK) and the Studium Generale of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) merged to form an interdisciplinary institution at KIT, the ZAK | Centre for Cultural and Gerneral Studies with its three pillars of interdisciplinary teaching, cultural studies research and public science. The founding director was Prof. Dr. Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha.

When Prof. Dr. Senja Post took up her professorship for science communication at the Institute for Technology Futures at KIT, she became head of ZAK on August 1, 2021. Since then, she has initiated a reorientation of content with a focus on social debates about science, technology and sustainability and the interrelationships between science and society. Since October 1, 2024, as a result of the reorientation of the thematic focus, the ZAK has been called General Studies. Forum Science and Society (FORUM).

In 2002, Prof. Dr. Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha founded the ZAK | Centre for Cultural and Gerneral Studies with its three pillars of interdisciplinary teaching, cultural studies research and public scholarship. This was achieved by merging the young Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies and the traditional Studium Generale. As part of this, new formats such as the Karlsruhe Talks, the symposium as part of the European Culture Days (EKT), University - later KIT in the Town Hall and the Colloquium Fundamentale were successfully established or continued. ZAK has thus stimulated current discussions and promoted interdisciplinary dialog at KIT, in the Karlsruhe region and at national and international level.

Research projects such as "InsideScience - Public Science in Collaborative Research Centers", "Key Qualifications at Technical Universities" and "FutureWork" offered the opportunity to develop research from a cultural science and sociological perspective with many contributors from numerous disciplines and specialist cultures and to communicate this to the public of public science. The ZAK was also involved in the development and co-design of networks such as the Anna Lindh Foundation and Campusradio Karlsruhe.

As part of the Studium Generale, the interdisciplinary key qualifications and the additional qualifications, such as the accompanying studies in Applied Cultural Studies, the accompanying studies in Sustainable Development and the ZAK certificates, Karlsruhe students had the opportunity to broaden their academic and personal horizons.

When Prof. Dr. Senja Post took up her professorship for science communication at the Institute for Technology Futures at KIT, she became head of ZAK on August 1, 2021.

In 1989, the Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK) was founded with the participation of the Departments of Architecture, Sociology, Philosophy/Philosophy of Technology, Computer Science, Literature/Medieval Studies/Intercultural German Studies, Economics and Art Studies. It had an interdisciplinary focus and was not directly assigned to a specific faculty, but was subordinate to the Rectorate due to its interfaculty orientation. After the office was established, Caroline Y. Robertson was appointed Managing Director of the Institute.

In accordance with the Institute's objective of promoting interdisciplinary cooperation in teaching and research, integrating practice more closely into teaching and expanding the professional orientation, the accompanying course in Applied Cultural Studies was institutionalized at the IAK in 1990, which was offered to students at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) for the first time in the winter semester of 1990/91.

The third objective formulated when the institute was founded - the development of public science as a bridge between the city/region of Karlsruhe, science and society - was worked on just as intensively. Public Science aims to make complex scientific topics accessible to an interested public through symposia and lectures.

As early as 1992, the IAK organized interdisciplinary symposia within the framework of the City of Karlsruhe, which were aimed at an internal and external university audience. Shortly afterwards, the area of public science was expanded with the conception and implementation of the first Karlsruhe Talks, which have been held every February since 1997. This made the Institute one of the first to develop new concepts for public science outside the university.

Based on this, the area of public science was continuously expanded through various series of events, such as KIT im Rathaus (since 2002), the Colloquium Fundamentale (since winter semester 2002/03) and the International Forum (since winter semester 2004/05).

In 1996, an endowed guest professorship was established by the Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg in recognition of the IAK's achievements. The first holder of the endowed guest professorship was the cultural scientist and cultural politician Prof. Dr. Hermann Glaser. He was followed by Prof. Dr. Olaf Schwencke and Prof. Dr. Matthias Karmasin.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the IAK in 1999, a detailed publication was produced, which can be found in the KIT library and contains further information on the years 1989-1999:
Interfakultatives Institut für Angewandte Kulturwissenschaft, Universität Karlsruhe (TH), 1989 - 1999; Zehn Jahre interdisziplinäre Institutsarbeit [Ed.: Caroline Y. Robertson-Wensauer]

The last big step was taken in July 2002: by merging the Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK) and Studium Generale, the ZAK | Centre for Cultural and Gerneral Studies was created as a central institution of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) in its current form. The ZAK, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha, continues the objectives of the IAK and the Studium Generale and is constantly expanding its position as a mediator between science and society as well as between the sciences.

See also: Evaluation of the ZAK 2005 (pdf)

 

The Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK) was founded in 1983 on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Bernd Thum (Media Studies) and Prof. Dr. Götz Großklaus (Literature and Media Studies).

On this basis, the circle around the two initiators expanded rapidly. In 1984, Prof. Dr. Ottokar Uhl and Dr. Wolfgang Hartmann (Faculty of Architecture), Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Klein and Prof. Dr. Fuad Kandil (Institute of Sociology), Prof. Dr. Ernst Oldemeyer (Institute of Philosophy) and Caroline Y. Robertson, then a doctoral student at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, joined them. Shortly afterwards, further professors joined the dynamic and interdisciplinary group: Prof. Dr. Hans Lenk (Philosophy), Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schäfers (Sociology) and Prof. Dr. Detlef Schmid (Computer Science); furthermore Prof. Dr. Helmut Spinner (then head of the Studium Generale) and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rolf Funck, who researched the cross-references between culture and business.

It was felt that the tension between culture and technology, the problem of the cultural conditionality of technology as well as the technological conditionality of culture and its relationship to cultural heritage as its foundation, should play a special role at a technical university. The subject of discourse and interdisciplinary research should therefore primarily be the effects of new technologies and media on cultural development and perception processes as well as the dialog about one's own value orientations.

The objective of establishing an interdisciplinary institute based on the Research Centre for Applied Cultural Studies soon emerged, which would deal with culture across as broad a spectrum as possible. A central point on the way to this interdisciplinary institute was the international conference organized by the members of an "Institute in Foundation" in 1988 entitled "Technisch - industrielle Welt in der Vielfalt der Kulturen. Foundations and Development Processes" organized by members of an "Institute in Foundation" in 1988 as part of the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1997) proclaimed by UNESCO.

 

Finally, in 1989, the Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK) was officially founded.

 

The Studium Generale was founded at the Fridericiana in Karlsruhe in the winter semester of 1949/50. The efforts to introduce general education courses thus led to the establishment of an official university institution. After the Second World War, lessons had to be learned from the dictatorship of National Socialism. The declared intention and primary task of Studium Generale was therefore to contribute to critical self-reflection at universities and to provide guidance in the young constitutional democracy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

However, Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809-1863) is regarded as the mastermind and founding father of the promotion of general education at Karlsruhe University. He was Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of Karlsruhe Polytechnic from 1857 to 1863. It was thanks to him that scientific and mathematical methods were introduced into mechanical engineering, which had previously been based on manual and empirical methods. However, Redtenbacher was equally committed to the expansion of general education subjects, which were intended to ensure a broad humanistic education for engineers. He called for the introduction of philosophy, history, literature, economics, political science and law.

Following the institutionalization of the Studium Generale at the University of Karlsruhe, the historian Prof. Dr. Walther Peter Fuchs took over as director in 1953. After a visit to American universities in 1952, he was convinced that the Studium Generale should be strengthened and introduced into the curriculum as a module. However, he was unable to push through this conviction and retired from office at the end of 1959.

The philosopher Prof. Dr. Simon Moser then took over as director of the Studium Generale. He had already dealt with the political and social consequences of technological development in the 1950s - a focus that played an important role in the Studium Generale with the involvement of many professors. In the 1970s, there were several professors at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences who dealt with the connections and interrelationships between technological development and society. These included in particular the philosophers Prof. Dr. Hans Lenk, Prof. Dr. Ernst Oldemeyer, Prof. Dr. Günter Ropohl, the sociologist Prof. Dr. Hans Linde and later Prof. Dr. Helmut Spinner as well as the literature and media scholar Prof. Dr. Götz Großklaus.

From the winter semester of 1972/73, the Studium Generale in Karlsruhe finally became a central university institution which, according to §1 of the statutes, was to "serve the current and future-oriented self-reflection of the university".

Fundamental, interdisciplinary and science-oriented dialogues were at the heart of the course, with a two-pillar model serving as orientation. On the one hand, the background of philosophy and other disciplines of reflection and, on the other, the reference to the subject-specific science were taken into account. The main focus of the institution was the examination of current development trends in technology, nature and science. This allowed research content to be examined from various scientific perspectives at the primarily technically oriented university.

As a central institution, the Studium Generale now took over the coordination of the courses offered and run by the faculties, thus integrating them into a range of courses that offered all students and interested parties a variety of opportunities for academic debate beyond the subject of study.

Interdisciplinary studies, open access to courses offered by all faculties and public science in dialog with a non-university environment - these opportunities were thus offered at the University of Karlsruhe at a very early stage and established as permanent institutions within the framework of a comprehensive range of courses.

From 1972 to 1979, Prof. Dr. Günter Ropohl was Managing Director of Studium Generale. From 1977, he took over the management of the Studium Generale on a full-time basis until 1981, and on an interim basis until 1987. He was followed in office by the philosopher Prof. Dr. Helmut Spinner, who was appointed to a professorship with the denomination Technology and Society/Philosophy of Technology in 1987 and was appointed Director of Studium Generale.

He headed the institution until 2002 and deepened the structure of the work program. This consisted of three pillars, which included the Colloquium Fundamentale and Academic Hour events already introduced by Prof. Dr. Simon Moser - which are continued today as part of the "KIT in the Town Hall" event - as well as other special events. This program established a scientific discourse between the University of Karlsruhe and the non-university public. The Studium Generale course catalog consisted of numerous technical and artistic courses, language courses and thematic special events, with a particular focus on teaching important key skills.

On July 5, 2002, the Studium Generale was continued in a new form on the basis of a Senate resolution. The Interfaculty Institute for Applied Cultural Studies (IAK), which had existed since 1989, and Studium Generale merged institutionally to form theHistory of the General Studies from 1949 to today. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha, a new, central institution was created at the University of Karlsruhe. The founding of the ZAK was celebrated at the opening of the 7th Karlsruhe Talks on February 14, 2003. Two institutions at the University of Karlsruhe, which had already existed independently of each other for many years but had always maintained a continuous exchange, were now linked together.

Further information can be found in the publication: Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (ed.), 60 Jahre Studium Generale und 20 Jahre Angewandte Kulturwissenschaft : Entstehung - Dokumente - Konzeptionen (Problemkreise der Angewandten Kulturwissenschaft, Heft 15).