IWM - Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen

02/06/2026

In cooperation with the Embassy of Canada to Austria and the Center for Digital Safety & Security at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, we recently welcomed Ronald Deibert, founder and director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, for a conversation on the global surveillance industry and the rising challenges of AI-enabled subversion, Dark PR, and advertising intelligence.

Moderated by IWM Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow Ivan Krastev, the discussion drew on Deibert's latest book "Chasing Shadows" and explored the threats facing journalists, activists, and public-interest research organizations in an age of digital surveillance.

Watch the full recording on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/live/w2JN9vtXdUE?si=fj2M_u88CPEn9tiR

© Johannes Hloch

01/06/2026

This month, four new fellows join the IWM.

Their research spans the legacies of war, upheaval, and political transformation, the history of the search for the secret of language, the future of knowledge institutions, and the use of religious rhetoric in political discourse.

Learn more about what they will be working on during their time at the Institute:
https://www.iwm.at/news/new-fellows-joining-the-iwm-in-june

27/05/2026

Philosophy, theater, and jazz at this year’s Tischner Debate in Kraków, organized within the framework of former IWM Visiting Fellow Piotr Augustyniak's “Think Hub”.

IWM Permanent Fellow Ludger Hagedorn delivered a lecture on the idea of solidarity and its interconnections with the final days of life of the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka, who coined the iconic slogan “Solidarity of the Shaken.” The Czech writer Radka Denemarková and Polish philosopher Tadeusz Gadacz joined the debate as part of a panel discussion moderated by Piotr Augustyniak.

Read the full post-event report here: https://www.iwm.at/news/solidarity-of-the-shaken-impressions-from-the-2026-tischner-debate

In cooperation with the Teatr w Krakowie - im. Juliusza Słowackiego. Funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

© Bartłomiej Domagała

22/05/2026

In the current conjuncture, can the spatial histories of authoritarian haunting grounds illuminate the present?

Join us next week for our Monthly Lecture with Katharyne Mitchell on the spatial history of Tempelhof Field in Berlin.

Register here:
https://www.iwm.at/event/the-haunting-grounds-of-authoritarianism

21/05/2026

Is the Holocaust history, or is it memory?

In an event organized in cooperation with the Sigmund Freud Museum, IWM Lesia Ukraїnka Permanent Fellow Timothy Snyder explored how the details of individual experience can open broader perspectives on the causes of the mass murder of Europe’s Jews.

Framing the Holocaust as both a historical event and a field of remembrance, the event reflected on how narratives are shaped, preserved, and interpreted across generations and underscored the importance of testimonies and archival collections not only as evidence, but as a vital lens through which broader historical meanings emerge.

The talk was followed by a discussion with current Documenting Ukraine Archival Fellow Stephen Naron.

A recording of the event is now available on our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/GN8as1fQ-HM?si=FJaEZkqms8sMggvr

© eSeL.at - Lorenz Seidler

15/05/2026

“This is the hour of Europe — but do the Europeans even know it?”

On 13 May, renowned historian and author Anne Applebaum delivered this year’s Speech to Europe, reflecting on the multiple challenges Europe faces but also reminding us of the enormous potential it possesses.

The “Speech to Europe” is jointly organized by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), ERSTE Foundationation, and the Wiener Festwochen in cooperation with the Jüdisches Museum Wien. Each year, it is held around Europe Day at the historic Judenplatz in Vienna.

The full speech transcript is now available in English and German on our website, alongside the video recording of the event:
https://www.iwm.at/news/a-speech-to-europe-2026-anne-applebaum-on-the-european-moment

Photo Credit: ERSTE Stiftung/APA-Fotoservice/Tanzer

12/05/2026

How are digital technologies reshaping migration governance - and with what consequences for migrants’ lives?

IWM Permanent Fellow Ayşe Çağlar and former visiting fellows Paolo Novak and Giorgia Donà served as guest editors of the recently published International Migration special issue Digitized Migration: Entangled and Uneven Landscapes.

The themes explored in this issue emerged from the Digitized Migrants Conference, a collaborative effort between the IWM, Calcutta Research Group, and Migration Research Center (MiReKoç) within the framework of the IWM's Europe-Asia Research Platform on Forced Migration.

Explore the issue here:

Click on the article title to read more.

08/05/2026

In today's ceremonial address at the Austrian Federal Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt Österreich), Ivan Krastev reflects on what it means for Europeans today to consider themselves the children of May 8th, 1945 – an appeal to remain hopeful.

Read the full address:
https://www.iwm.at/news/all-europeans-are-children-of-8-may-1945

07/05/2026

The IWM is now on Instagram!
Follow along:
https://www.instagram.com/iwm_vienna/

05/05/2026

We are now accepting applications for the 2026 Documenting Ukraine grant cycle.

Ukrainian scholars, filmmakers, journalists, archivists and librarians, writers and poets, and artists and photographers are welcome to apply for one-time grants of EUR 5,000 to support their work documenting the events of the Russo-Ukrainian War or reflecting on their own personal experiences.

Application deadline: 31 May 2026

Learn more here:
https://www.iwm.at/documenting-ukraine/apply