IWM - Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen

24/09/2026

On 4 September 2026, Michael David-Fox delivered his inaugural address as rector of the Institute for Human Sciences.

In a wide-ranging speech, David-Fox reflected on what he calls the “new 21st-century crisis of liberalism” and argued that the humanities and social sciences have a vital role to play in confronting the challenges of war, authoritarianism, climate change, and artificial intelligence.

Read the full text of the speech on our website:
https://www.iwm.at/news/michael-david-fox-the-crisis-of-the-human-sciences-and-lessons-of-the-past

Photo Credit: Klaus Ranger

24/09/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening event of this year’s Vienna Humanities Festival!

The festival continues tonight at 8.30 pm at Das MuTh with acclaimed essayist and author Pankaj Mishra, in conversation with German-Austrian novelist Daniel Kehlmann.

Registration is still possible:
https://lnkd.in/dqdsKGy5

23/09/2026

Important Announcement: Change of venue & time for the event featuring none other than Pankaj Mishra and Daniel Kehlmann. The good news is that registration is now open again. Come and join us! www.humanitiesfestival.at/mishra

Drawing on his extensive work on Western imperialism and the Global South, acclaimed essayist and author PANKAJ MISHRA will unpack the complex narratives, historical blind spots, and moral urgencies surrounding the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Centered on his recently published book, The World After ...

22/09/2026

Congratulations to IWM Rector Michael David-Fox, who has been awarded the 2026 Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) for his book "Crucibles of Power: Smolensk Under Stalinist and N**i Rule", published by Harvard University Press.

22/09/2026

The Vienna Humanities Festival opens its ninth edition tomorrow, once again putting critical reflection and open debate center stage.

The festival weekend will unfold at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where 20 panel discussions bring together historians, philosophers, political theorists, sociologists, economists, biologists, and writers for two days of public debate. No registration is required.

Among Sunday’s conversations, Bojan Pancevski will revisit the Nord Stream conspiracy in conversation with Nataliya Gumenyuk.

Explore the full weekend program here:
https://www.humanitiesfestival.at/programm-2026

18/09/2026

Join us next week for a discussion with James C. O’Brien, Europe’s Futures alumnus of the IWM and ERSTE Foundation, and ECFR's José Ignacio Torreblanca, in conversation with Europe’s Futures alumna Ivana Dragičević, on Europe’s attempts to regulate Big Tech and how geopolitics, local politics, digital infrastructure, and the political economy of AI are reshaping the debate.

Register here:
https://www.iwm.at/event/trends-in-regulating-big-tech-geopolitics-local-politics-and-money

17/09/2026

This September, some of the world's most compelling intellectuals gather in Vienna as part of the IWM Month of Ideas. Among them are scholars and authors whose books have received significant international acclaim, won major awards, and stimulated key public debates.

We have compiled a small selection of these celebrated publications. They all illustrate the diversity, richness, and originality of the topics to be discussed in during the Month of Ideas. Especially in an environment where people are spending less and less time reading, we invite you to go against the grain—to read these books and let them serve as a source of inspiration:
https://www.iwm.at/news/the-month-of-ideas-in-books

16/09/2026

The IWM is proud to announce the first cohort of the newly established Facing the Future program, which brings together leading historians, political theorists, economists, sociologists, and policy experts. From 22 to 28 September, four public debates and a roundtable will kick off the fellowship year and probe into the program's core themes, marking a highlight within the IWM Month of Ideas.

The program is run in strategic partnership with ERSTE Foundation and builds on the legacy of Europe's Futures, which brought together leading thinkers from across Europe and beyond between 2018 and August 2026.

https://www.iwm.at/news/facing-the-future-introducing-the-first-cohort-of-fellows

15/09/2026

We are pleased to announce that historian and political thinker Anton Jäger will be joining us at the Vienna Humanities Festival to deliver a keynote lecture, following the unfortunate cancelation by Peter Sloterdijk.

Anton Jäger’s latest book Hyperpolitics—a term he borrowed from Sloterdijk—has changed our understanding of today’s politics. He will speak at Wien Museum on 25 September, followed by a conversation with IWM Permanent Fellow Ivan Krastev.

Learn more here:
https://www.humanitiesfestival.at/jäger

14/09/2026

On Wednesday, IWM Permanent Fellow Marta Bucholc will offer a different perspective on the debate around democratic resilience, exploring how illiberal democracy possesses a resilience of its own and the challenges and pitfalls involved in dismantling it.

Registration is still possible:
https://www.iwm.at/event/how-resilient-is-illiberal-democracy