IWM - Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen

Zur Verstärkung unseres Teams suchen wir ab sofort eine:n Assistent:in des Rektors (25 Std./Woche).
Bewerbungsfrist: 17. Juli 2026
Weitere Informationen zur Stelle:
https://www.iwm.at/jobs/assistentin-des-rektors

Am 16. Juni spricht der australische Historiker Christopher Clark im ORF Radiokulturhaus darüber, wie sich souveräne Entscheidungsstile im Laufe der Zeit gewandelt haben.

Besonders soll es dabei um die Frage gehen, ob und wie diese Geschichte Aufschluss über die politischen Entscheidungskulturen der Gegenwart geben kann.

Zur Anmeldung:
https://www.iwm.at/event/das-moment-der-entscheidung

Anfang Juni 2026 erscheint die Übersetzung des neuen Romans Schokoladenblut der tschechischen Schriftstellerin Radka Denemarková. Er wagt die grandiose Bestandsaufnahme eines 19. Jahrhunderts, das bis in unsere Gegenwart prägend ist.

Denemarková hat die Arbeit an ihrem Buch während ihres Jan Patočka Fellowships am IWM im Frühjahr 2023 beendet. Am 10. Juni 2026 präsentiert die Autorin den Roman bei der Premierenlesung der deutschsprachigen Ausgabe in der Österreichische Gesellschaft für Literatur.

Im Gespräch mit IWM Permanent Fellow Ludger Hagedorn gibt sie Einblicke in die Hintergründe und liest ausgewählte Passagen:
https://www.iwm.at/news/von-schreibenden-und-milliardaren-radka-denemarkova-prasentiert-neuen-roman

In cooperation with the Embassy of Canada to Austria and the Center for Digital Safety & Security at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, we recently welcomed Ronald Deibert, founder and director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, for a conversation on the global surveillance industry and the rising challenges of AI-enabled subversion, Dark PR, and advertising intelligence.

Moderated by IWM Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow Ivan Krastev, the discussion drew on Deibert's latest book "Chasing Shadows" and explored the threats facing journalists, activists, and public-interest research organizations in an age of digital surveillance.

Watch the full recording on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/live/w2JN9vtXdUE?si=fj2M_u88CPEn9tiR

© Johannes Hloch

This month, four new fellows join the IWM.

Their research spans the legacies of war, upheaval, and political transformation, the history of the search for the secret of language, the future of knowledge institutions, and the use of religious rhetoric in political discourse.

Learn more about what they will be working on during their time at the Institute:
https://www.iwm.at/news/new-fellows-joining-the-iwm-in-june

Philosophy, theater, and jazz at this year’s Tischner Debate in Kraków, organized within the framework of former IWM Visiting Fellow Piotr Augustyniak's “Think Hub”.

IWM Permanent Fellow Ludger Hagedorn delivered a lecture on the idea of solidarity and its interconnections with the final days of life of the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka, who coined the iconic slogan “Solidarity of the Shaken.” The Czech writer Radka Denemarková and Polish philosopher Tadeusz Gadacz joined the debate as part of a panel discussion moderated by Piotr Augustyniak.

Read the full post-event report here: https://www.iwm.at/news/solidarity-of-the-shaken-impressions-from-the-2026-tischner-debate

In cooperation with the Teatr w Krakowie - im. Juliusza Słowackiego. Funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

© Bartłomiej Domagała

In the current conjuncture, can the spatial histories of authoritarian haunting grounds illuminate the present?

Join us next week for our Monthly Lecture with Katharyne Mitchell on the spatial history of Tempelhof Field in Berlin.

Register here:
https://www.iwm.at/event/the-haunting-grounds-of-authoritarianism

Is the Holocaust history, or is it memory?

In an event organized in cooperation with the Sigmund Freud Museum, IWM Lesia Ukraїnka Permanent Fellow Timothy Snyder explored how the details of individual experience can open broader perspectives on the causes of the mass murder of Europe’s Jews.

Framing the Holocaust as both a historical event and a field of remembrance, the event reflected on how narratives are shaped, preserved, and interpreted across generations and underscored the importance of testimonies and archival collections not only as evidence, but as a vital lens through which broader historical meanings emerge.

The talk was followed by a discussion with current Documenting Ukraine Archival Fellow Stephen Naron.

A recording of the event is now available on our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/GN8as1fQ-HM?si=FJaEZkqms8sMggvr

© eSeL.at - Lorenz Seidler

“This is the hour of Europe — but do the Europeans even know it?”

On 13 May, renowned historian and author Anne Applebaum delivered this year’s Speech to Europe, reflecting on the multiple challenges Europe faces but also reminding us of the enormous potential it possesses.

The “Speech to Europe” is jointly organized by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), ERSTE Foundationation, and the Wiener Festwochen in cooperation with the Jüdisches Museum Wien. Each year, it is held around Europe Day at the historic Judenplatz in Vienna.

The full speech transcript is now available in English and German on our website, alongside the video recording of the event:
https://www.iwm.at/news/a-speech-to-europe-2026-anne-applebaum-on-the-european-moment

Photo Credit: ERSTE Stiftung/APA-Fotoservice/Tanzer