Session Abstract

The “institute” is a mysterious occupant of a learned biome otherwise dominated by “Departments”  and “Schools.” This roundtable will suggest ways in which a conversation about history’s relation to other disciplines needs to take into consideration the work of institutes because of their inter-disciplinary orientation. Many institutes exist precisely in order to overcome or side-step disciplinary constraints, and the programs of many institutes reflect themes difficult for individuals or departments to tackle. Institutes and institute-making have a history, and this history reflects different national traditions of scholarly practice. At a time when collaborative, project-based research in the humanities is a higher priority, and when the kinds of questions asked cross many knowledge boundaries, is there now more scope for institutes? In particular, do institutes for cultural history, already inter-disciplinary, stand to benefit from this changed set of priorities, and in what ways?

The five participants in this roundtable bring a wide range of experience and different institutional, disciplinary, and national perspectives to this set of questions. Peter N. Miller will offer a brief history of research institutes and focus in particular on their role in the history of cultural history. Gerhard Wolf will discuss the specific contours and possibilities of an “art-historical cultural history” in the context of a global art history. Thomas Gaehtgens will comment on the way the institute mediates between academic and non-academic, such as museum, scholarship. Simon Goldhill will discuss the particular intertwining of institute-sponsored scholarship and the training of young scholars. Mariët Westermann, as Chair and Commentator, will discuss the potential for institutes to drive new approaches and foster new perspectives in humanities education and research.