In the framework of his guest professorship, Latour will also hold a graduate seminar at the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne. Representatives of the press, radio and television are cordially invited to attend the press conference with Bruno Latour on 15 June at 6 p.m. Please register in advance.
Bruno Latour, born in 1947 in Beaune, is professor at the renowned university Sciences Po Paris and Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. As a founder of the actor-network theory, Latour counts among the most influential contemporary thinkers in the social sciences and cultural studies, in anthropology as well as the theory and sociology of science. On the basis of numerous case studies, he has explored the rhetorical strategies and technical artefacts that influence the construction of scientific facts in his broad academic oeuvre. Latour maintains that technology and nature as well as the social are connected in a network through the mutual ascription of characteristics and action potential. In his books, he examines the impact of his science theoretical studies on different areas of the social, on religion, anthropology and environmental policy. Among his countless distinctions, including five honorary doctorates, there are numerous research prizes, for example the 2013 Holberg Memorial Prize. In 2013 he held the Gifford Lectures and in 2014 the Tanner Lectures.
With Bruno Latour, for the eleventh time a personage of international renown has accepted the Albertus Magnus Professorship, which was established in 2005. With this guest professorship, the University of Cologne wants to commemorate the medieval universal scholar Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), who headed the studia generalia of the Dominican Order in Cologne in the mid thirteenth century. He is regarded as one of the spiritual and intellectual fathers of the city's university, founded in 1388. Holders of the Albertus Magnus Professorship address questions of universal significance in their research. Their work influences different academic disciplines, but also contemporary public debates. In the past, holders of the Albertus Magnus Professorship have been Arthur C. Danto (2005), Jean-Luc Nancy (2006), Giorgio Agamben (2007), Robert Audi (2008), Philipp Pettit (2009), Enrique Dussel (2010), Noam Chomsky (2011), Martha Nussbaum (2012), John Searle (2013) and Michael Tomasello (2014).
The two lectures that Bruno Latour will hold in the framework of the Albertus Magnus Professorship on 15 and 17 June at the University of Cologne are open to the public. For the seminar "From Networks to Modes of Existence", which will take place on 16 June, prior registration is required under http://www.amp.uni-koeln.de.
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Contact:
Professor Andreas Speer
University of Cologne
Thomas Institute
Phone: +49 221 4702309
Mail: amp-info@uni-koeln.de
Web: http://www.amp.uni-koeln.de
When and where:
Press conference:
Monday, 15 June, 6 p.m.
University of Cologne, main building, Alter Senatssaal
(please register in advance)
First public lecture: "Climate Change: How to Make the Paris Climate Conference Work? An Alternative Procedure"
Monday, 15 June, 7.30 p.m., main building, Aula
Second public lecture: "Politics and Religion. A Reading of Eric Voegelin"
Wednesday, 17 June, 7.30 p.m., main building, Aula
Seminar: "From Networks to Modes of Existence"
Tuesday, 16 June, 2 p.m., main building, Neuer Senatssaal (prior registration required)