Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen

The Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM, Institute for Human Sciences) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences based in Vienna, Austria.

History and core idea

The IWM was founded in 1982 by the Polish philosopher Krzysztof Michalski who was Rector of the Institute until his death in February 2013. It is committed to broaching new and often contested topics of social relevance, thus contributing to debates on a wide range of political, social, economic, and cultural issues. Since its inception, the IWM has promoted international exchange and dialogue among scholars and intellectuals from different fields, societies, and cultures, most notably from Eastern and Western Europe. This exchange has increasingly included researchers from North America, from South-Eastern Europe and from former Soviet states.

Structure and Program

The IWM is sustained by a community of scholars consisting of Permanent Fellows, Visiting Fellows and Junior Visiting Fellows.

Permanent Fellows of the IWM are: Cornelia Klinger, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tübingen (Germany); János Mátyás Kovács, Member of the Institute of Economics at the Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest (Hungary); Ivan Krastev, Chair of the Board at the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia (Bulgaria); Krzysztof Michalski, Professor of Philosophy at Boston University (U.S.A.) and University of Warsaw (Poland); Klaus Nellen, Managing Editor of Transit – Europäische Revue; Timothy D. Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University (U.S.A.); and Charles Taylor, Professor emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University, Montreal (Canada).

Research at the Institute is currently focused on six fields:

• Sources of Inequality
• Cultures and Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe
• The Future of Democracy
• United Europe – Divided Memory
• Religion and Secularism
• The Philosophical Work of Jan Patocka

During each year the IWM hosts about 50 fellows and guests, including scholars as well as journalists and translators, who are awarded with fellowships to pursue their individual research while working at the Institute.

The IWM regularly organizes lectures, debates, and conferences for a broad public, as well as developing policy-oriented programs. The results of this work are published in monographs, articles, and translations, as well as in the biannual journal Transit-Europäische Revue and the magazine IWMpost.

The IWM is registered as a non-profit organization. It receives core funding from the Austrian government and the City of Vienna. Its projects and activities are supported by international foundations and sponsors.

Collaborations

The IWM collaborates with a number of other institutions:

• Center for Urban History of East Central Europe

External links

• Homepage of the Institute