As a central cross-cutting theme, public anthropologies brings together sociocultural anthropologists at MLU Halle-Wittenberg who actively contribute to society through socially and politically engaged research and teaching. We foster a transversal and transformative exchange between academia and the many publics of our contemporary world.
What distinguishes us is that we stand for an open and broad approach to this engagement, consciously conceiving Public Anthropology, a branch of sociocultural anthropology and related disciplines that has gained strength in recent years, in the plural – hence public anthropologies. What exactly a Public Anthropology can be, therefore, always arises directly from our respective research with our research partners.
We address a wide range of socially relevant topics from the areas of politics, law and justice, energy, resources and digitalization, and mobility, belonging and care from a variety of anthropological perspectives. We build bridges between university and non-university sectors of our society through a diversity of activities and formats of public-oriented and engaged anthropological work – in the spirit of a shared mission that can be summed up with the words Engage Yourselves!
What is Public Anthropology?
Public Anthropology refers to a socially and politically engaged social and cultural anthropology that addresses the multiple challenges of the present and promotes exchange and collaboration between academia and the public sphere.
Why public anthropologies?
The public anthropologies website provides information about the various and diverse modes of engaged anthropological research and teaching offered by the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at MLU Halle-Wittenberg.
public anthropologies for whom?
public anthropologies is aimed at all interested individuals and groups outside of academia who would like to learn about the topics and methods of engaged anthropological work, as well as students and academics from all disciplines. This website aims to highlight the social relevance of our work both within and outside academia and invites you to engage with us.
How?
In the spirit of Public Anthropology, we incorporate the aspects and formats of our research and teaching presented here into social developments and thus contribute to public debates. The exchange between university and non-university actors and publics is not understood as a one-way process, but rather as a mutual engagement, discussion, and learning from one another.