Center for Uncertainty Studies Blog

© Tessa Gengnagel, Philipp Ottendörfer, Universität Bielefeld.

As 2024 comes to an end, we at CeUS want to take the opportunity to reflect on the year’s many events and look ahead to what awaits us in 2025.

January to July: Art, Awards and Uncertainty Events

2024 on the CeUS blog began with articles featuring the research of historian Christian Wachter. In addition to his interview in the "Meet ..." series, he reported on the conference “ACM Hypertext 2023” The conference centered on the vision of hypertext as a foundational tool for interconnected thinking, embracing complexities and contingencies. It reframed notions of uncertainty not as obstacles but as productive pathways to new perspectives and insights.

In March, CeUS Founding Director Andreas Zick guided visitors through the exhibition "Stellung beziehen: Käthe Kollwitz, Mona Hatoum" at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Due to high demand, the Director of the IKG offered an additional date, where he discussed the relationship of the two featured artists to uncertainty, marginalization, and war.

In June, CeUS member Christina Morina was awarded the Deutscher Sachbuchpreis 2024. Her book "Tausend Aufbrüche" (A Thousand New Beginnings) received Germany’s most prestigious non-fiction award for showing “how a very different understanding of democracy developed in East and West Germany since the 1980s.”

June was a particularly busy month at CeUS. It featured the inspiring Uncertainty Talk, "The Ambivalence of Humanistic Knowledge Production in Times of Digital Upheaval" by Tessa Gengnagel (CCeH), as well as the second Uncertainty Research Afternoon. Among others, Sina Zarrieß presented linguistic research on uncertainty in large language models (LLMs).

In July, we were pleased to interview artist Irina Valkova and discuss her work. Her associated art project, INHABITING UNCERTAINTY, is based on the history of a refugee family from Odessa, whom she sheltered in her atelier for three months at the beginning of the war. Having connected to CeUS through the Uncertainty Lunches, Valkova aims to integrate science, everyday life, and art. We at CeUS are delighted about this collaboration and look forward to expanding it in 2025.

The second Uncertainty Talk of the year explored similar themes. In her talk "Wounds that Don't Heal Easily: Profiling the Language of Uncertainty," Maida Kosatica examined trauma and uncertainty in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the widespread diaspora formed during and after the war from 1992 to 1995. The lively discussion afterward centered on whether to remember violence or move on and leave it behind—a question that remains sadly relevant today.

August to December: Collaborations, New Formats and a Look into the Future

After a well-deserved summer break, the CeUS-supported workshop "Containerisation and Dock Labour: Work, Security, and Intermodal Transport in an Uncertain Setting" kicked off the second half of the year. Led by Klaus Weinhauer, researchers from six countries specializing in history, anthropology, and economics analyzed and discussed the transformation of port work in North America, Europe, and Asia.

In September, CeUS celebrated the launch of the CeUS Pressespiegel. In this blog format Adrian Strothotte highlights the most compelling articles from German newspapers on the topic of uncertainty and its societal implications. The series saw seven iterations in 2024 and will continue to be released every two weeks in 2025. You can read the latest episode here.

In October, the Center for Uncertainty Studies welcomed Ian Scoones to the ZiF in Bielefeld. His presentation on "Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World" (2024) critiqued risk-based approaches to uncertainty. He advocated for learning from local practices, promoting decentralization, and fostering solidarity and care. The talk concluded with a vibrant discussion on modeling, power structures, and how to prevent ignorance within new frameworks for navigating uncertainty.

As seasonal weather conditions in Bielefeld worsened, November brought the third Research Afternoon, featuring diverse research topics: from white-collar crime and the role of uncertainty in cerebral damage rehabilitation to the challenges of capturing uncertainty in complex decision-making. The event offered compelling insights into how uncertainty influences behavior across disciplines. We are excited to continue the series with the Uncertainty & Creativity Afternoon on January 27, 2025.

In addition to the Uncertainty Afternoons, the lunches will continue to provide a space for discussion and networking in 2025. The CeUS team is also thrilled to host further inspiring guests at the Uncertainty Talks and to participate in events like the conference "Building Models of Change in the Sciences and the Humanities: Capturing Dynamic Phenomena", which will take place on March 12–14, 2025, in Bielefeld.

CeUS wishes you happy holidays and a wonderful start to the new year!