Cosmopolitan Communication Studies
Renowned and young scholars in German communication studies are campaigning for more cosmopolitan communication studies and its "deep internationalisation".
In a network funded by the DFG, these ideas are being advanced through a mapping of the research and teaching landscape in communication studies in Germany, several workshops, and a handbook. The network has a funding period from July 2021 to June 2024.
If you are interested in joining the network, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Impressions from the Network
About the Network
- Hanan Badr (University of Salzburg)
- Markus Behmer (Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg)
- Susanne Fengler (Technical University Dortmund)
- Anke Fiedler (University of Greifswald)
- Anne Grüne (University of Erfurt)
- Kai Hafez (University of Erfurt)
- Oliver Hahn (University of Passau)
- Kefa Hamidi (Leipzig University)
- Thomas Hanitzsch (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
- Christine Horz-Ishak (Cologne University of Applied Sciences)
- Beate Illg (Jade University of Applied Sciences)
- Anna Litvinenko (Freie Universität Berlin)
- Martin Löffelholz (Ilmenau University of Technology)
- Melanie Radue (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg)
- Carola Richter (Freie Universität Berlin)
- Barbara Thomaß (Ruhr University Bochum, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | HBI)
- Awais Ahmad (University of Passau)
- Ömer Alkin (University of Erfurt)
- Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz (University of Greifswald)
- Daniel Bellingradt (Univeristy of Erlangen-Nürnberg)
- Lisa Bolz (University of Paris Sorbonne)
- Regina Cazzamatta (University of Erfurt)
- Otávio Daros (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul)
- Ines Drefs (Technical University Dortmund)
- Thomas Eckerl (University of Passau)
- Mandy Fox (University of Passau)
- Lukas Kick (University of Passau)
- David Castro Lotero (University of Passau)
- Judith Pies (Stuttgart Media University)
- Aynur Sarisakaloglu (Ilmenau University of Technology)
- Florian Stalph (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
- Jeannine Teichert (Paderborn University)
On March 13 2024 was a preconference of the DGPuK Annual Conference with the theme "Internationalizing German Communication Studies: learning from the world" in Erfurt. This conference was jointly organized by the DGPuK's division "International and Intercultural Communication" and the DFG network "Cosmopolitan Communication Studies", which advocates for a "deep internationalization". The conference included two roundtables featuring international experts.
Please find more information here.
On 16. and 17. November 2023 was a conference with the theme "Out of the Comfort Zone: Challenges of Communication Studies in the Age of New Global Realities" in Berlin-Dahlem. This conference was jointly organized by the DGPuK's division "International and Intercultural Communication" and the DFG network "Cosmopolitan Communication Studies", which advocates for a "deep internationalization". The conference therefore included several windows: 1) panels with conference presentations, 2) a PhD students' workshop, and 3) public panel discussions.
Please find more information here.
This paper presents and discusses the results of a comprehensive survey and several document analyses on personnel and research structures as well as teaching programs in German communication studies regarding their “deep internationalization” or cosmopolitan orientation. By this, we mean a comprehensive recognition and integration of global diversity into knowledge production. We measure this through the content and spatial dimension of the research and teaching output of professors, as well as the teaching and research staff linked to them. The findings show that German communication studies is lagging a truly cosmopolitan knowledge production. Against the backdrop of the relevance of global values, global knowledge, and global governance, however, the study also points out potentials and discusses higher education policy measures that could advance the internationalization of German communication studies.
You can find the paper here (only available in German).
With the position paper, the network members explain the deficits and approaches to solutions in German communication science (also published in Publizistik 3/2020). You can find the paper here (only available in German).
Interview on European Journalism Observatory (EJO) (02 April 2024): Wie kosmopolitisch ist die deutsche Kommunikationswissenschaft? Lehren aus dem DFG-Netzwerk.
The contact person and coordinator of the DFG Network is Prof. Dr. Carola Richter (FU Berlin): carola.richter@fu-berlin.de
Student assistant: My Nguyen
