Prof. Dr. Sigrid Quack
Professor for Sociology with focus on Comparative Sociology
Currently: Managing Director, Centre for Global Cooperation Research
Acting Professor: Vert. Prof. Dr. Jenny Preunkert
Sigrid Quack, a sociologist with an interdisciplinary orientation, is broadly interested in the preconditions, actors and effects of the development of transnational institutions. Her research focuses on the constitution of epistemic and governance authority in cases of institution building characterized by the participation of private and civil society actors. She also studies the interplay of intended and emergent processes of institutionalization. Recent projects investigate the social and organizational practices that actors use to cope with regulatory uncertainties arising from the polycentric nature of transnational governance. Examples are projects on the organization of creative processes in the music and pharmaceutical industries in relation to intellectual property regulation; patterns of occupational mobility between NGOs in transnational labor markets; and recursive processes between rule-setting and the implementation of transnational standards and legal norms.
Teaching
The teaching of this research group focuses predominantly on Comparative and Transnational Sociology, in addition to more general seminars. This specialization, which Bachelor and Master students can choose in the course of their studies, offers lecture courses and seminars on the social implications of globalization. Other contributors to this specialization include Professors Anja Weiß, Karen Shire and Flemming Christiansen and their teams, as well as the Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ).
Specialization courses in comparative and transnational sociology (Content follows) in the Bachelor and Master programs prepare students for professional fields, (content follows) where the analytical and methodological competences of sociologists „looking outside of the (national) box“ and thinking in global connections are demanded and appreciated. Students can prepare for these jobs by choosing internships and problem-oriented research seminars in which they become familiar with the practical application of comparative and transnational perspectives to specific research topics. An International Summer School on Global and Transnational Sociology, which is open to Bachelor students in their 6th semester each summer, offers opportunities for exchange and mutual learning with students from other German universities, our American partner Lehigh University, and other countries. Furthermore, students can choose comparative and transnational topics for their Bachelor and Master theses (content follows) which are intensively supervised in thesis colloquia.