Cultures of Knowledge – Teaching Cooperation at TU Berlin and UdK Berlin

Fritz Eisel: Der Mensch bezwingt den Kosmos (Glasmosaik, Rechenzentrum Potsdam, 1972) Photo: Hans-Christian von Herrmann

In winter semester 17/ 18, a new form of teaching cooperation was getting underway between the Masters programme in “History and Culture of Science and Technology” at the Technical University (TU) Berlin and the UdK Berlin, which had been continued in winter semester 18/ 19. Professors from different faculties and departments of the UdK Berlin will provided students from the TU Berlin insights into their fields of research and work and thus contributed to further productive exchange between the two universities in the area of teaching. Since the summer semester, this exchange has not only continued, but also expanded, because the Studium Genrale opens a selection of seminars at the TU Berlin for students of the UdK Berlin.

Questions and Content

The “Cultures of Knowledge” specialisation in the MA programme on “History and Culture of Science and Technology” at the TU Berlin treats science and technology as decisive factors, by way of which the historically changing relationship of the human being to him- or herself, to life and to nature as a whole is continually taking on new forms. Dealing with literature and art in this context facilitates insight into the constitutive significance of cultural practices such as writing, reading, collecting, arranging, and calculating. The production, storage and circulation of knowledge amidst the transition from books and libraries to globally-networked workplaces and databases merits particular interest. Most recently, the question is also constantly being raised of how the human sciences, which emerged in the 19th century, are able to position themselves in the neighbourhood of natural and technical sciences under the completely changed conditions of a digital culture of knowledge. The teaching cooperation between the TU Berlin and the UdK Berlin will, in particular, focus attention on contemporary phenomena and developments and contribute to the development of capacities for describing present and future life in artificial, scientifically- and technologically-produced, environments. 

Target Group

The courses offered by the professors of the UdK Berlin in the framework of the MA programme on “History and Culture of Science and Technology” were directed at students of the TU Berlin. At the same time, students of the UdK had the possibility of participating in the courses of the MA programme.

The offered lectures covered a variety of exciting topics:

Support by the Hybrid Plattform

Support and Communication.