Research training groups

DFG Research Training Group 1613 "Risk and East Asia"

The Research Training Group (or Graduiertenkolleg) Risk and East Asia was established in October 2009 as an international and English language doctoral college within the Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, with generous support from the German Science Foundation (DFG) and the University of Duisburg-Essen. The Research Training Group cooperates closely with the White Rose East Asia Centre at the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield in the UK.

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Research training group “Precaution, prevision, prediction: managing contingency”

How can contingency be managed through action, and what do people think about the relationship between present thought and action and their uncertain (or believed to be certain) future? The historical dimension of these highly topical questions is the subject of research by the historians at the University of Duisburg-Essen. In their work, they explore and expand on theoretical thinking that is based on a fundamentally new view of contin­gency as one of the characteristics of modernity. This approach is novel in that it shifts the level of analysis away from the beliefs about the future to the level of the active attitudes of actors towards the future and of the options for action these active attitudes make possible. By comparing different cultures and different epochs, the aim is thus to explore the plurality of social horizons of possibility in order to make a meaningful contribution to contemporary discourse on modernity. In keeping with the main areas of research at the Historical Institute in Essen, the doctoral projects will deal with the cultures of Greco-Roman antiquity, medieval and early modern Europe, and the globalized world since the 18^th century.

Through its innovative theoretical approach and diachronic, cross-cultural research design, the research group is able to offer its doctoral candidates training on a high methodological and theoretical level. The specially tailored programme and structured supervision ensure that candidates are successfully guided towards relevant themes and desiderata of research and equally that they achieve their academic qualification and are prepared for the employment market.

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