Understanding in international perspective

Europe is big and the world is wide. No reason not to meet up. At the end of September, the BGHS hosted a good part of the world for a week during the face-to-face part of the Blended Intensive Programme "Understanding - The Researchers' Perspectives and Knowledge Production". Understanding requires proximity, which is why 20 doctoral researchers and ten supervisors from the universities of Bologna (Italy), Helsinki (Finland), Jaén (Spain), Örebro (Sweden), Paris (France), Tel Aviv (Israel) and, last but not least, Bielefeld travelled thousands of kilometres to come together and discuss their different academic perspectives.

Grafik: Ruth Ayaß

The programme included a two-day research retreat at which the doctoral researchers presented their research projects and discussed them with the other participants, a one-day workshop on the topic of "Good Scientific Practice" and a visit to the Historisches Museum Bielefeld followed by a reflection session.

The research retreat format in particular was once again received with great enthusiasm. The doctoral researchers had prepared short texts about their research work in advance, which were read by all participants. An excellent basis for the discussions of the projects, which took place in two interdisciplinary groups.

Photo: Mariza Mathis

There was no standard format for the texts to be submitted; all participants had to find the best solution for the presentation of their projects themselves. The people from Bielefeld are familiar with this. However, some of the guests found this strange at first and would have liked more guidance. In the end, however, everyone agreed that it was precisely this openness that facilitated and encouraged reflection on the different perspectives. The small scale of the format and the constructive exchange created a safe and friendly atmosphere for the discussions. One guest commented: "It was most helpful as it provided the opportunity to receive new questions ..." And as we know, it is sometimes more important to ask the right questions than to have an answer for everything.

 Photo: Mariza Mathis

The doctoral representatives of the BGHS in particular provided a lively evening programme: a city tour to Sparrenburg Castle, dinner in the Brauhaus, a pub crawl and, last but not least, karaoke in the Irish Pub - there were plenty of opportunities to get to know each other and make new contacts. And so, at the end of the week, everyone was highly satisfied.

Photo: Mariza Mathis

The Blended Intensive Programme, which is funded by Erasmus+, is not over yet. From October to December, there were and still are various online formats, such as a methods class, a theory class and a workshop on scholarly argumentation. And thus further opportunities to find out more about that which seems so natural and yet is anything but self-evident: scientific understanding.

There will also be more on scientific understanding at the Interdisciplinary Dialogue as part of the event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the BGHS on 21 November 2023.