DRAFT: HCIAS RESEARCH PROGRAM
Research Program
The HCIAS seeks to advance interdisciplinary research on Ibero-America as both a region of study and a source of theoretical innovation for understanding global transformations. Bringing together disciplinary expertise in sociology, political science, linguistics and communication, anthropology, and human geography, the Center investigates how social, cultural, political, ecological, and technological transformations are produced, contested, and experienced across Ibero-American and transregional contexts.
Under the framing topic of Area Studies, Global Challenges and Multiple Transformations, the research program of the HCIAS is structured around three clusters that connect disciplinary strengths with major contemporary challenges, positioning Ibero-America as a key site for comparative inquiry into migration, democracy, and sustainability.
These three HCIAS research clusters are designed to highlight societal complexity and address issues that are increasingly relevant in a global context; have a primary focus on Ibero-America, while also encompassing research on Germany and transregional research as part of a comparative approach; integrate existing strengths and open up new perspectives for cooperation within the University; and promote international collaborative research.
HCIAS Research Clusters at a glance:
HCIAS Research Cluster 1 I Languages, Cultures and Migrations
HCIAS Research Cluster 2 I Democracy, Participation and Society
HCIAS Research Cluster 3 I Justice, Society and the Environment
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 1: Languages, Cultures and Migrations |
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 1: Languages, Cultures and Migrations |
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Research Line 1 I Language, heritage and communication |
Research Line 2 I Migration, displacement, bordering, and (im)mobilities as drivers of social, political, and cultural transformation |
Principal Investigators HCIAS Research Cluster 1: Prof. Dr. Oscar Loureda, Prof. Dr. Francisco Moreno-Fernández, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Yaatsil Guevara González |
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 2: Democracy, Participation and Society |
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 2: Democracy, Participation and Society |
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Research Line 1 I Political representation, political attitudes, and democratic legitimacy |
Research Line 2 I Democratic backlash and resilience |
Research Line 3 I Social mobilization and resistance |
Principal Investigators HCIAS Research Cluster 2: Prof. Dr. Renata Motta, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Alejandro Ecker |
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 3: Justice, Society and the Environment |
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| HCIAS Research Cluster 3: Justice, Society and the Environment |
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Research Line 1 I Power relations and intersectional inequalities shaping socioecological transformations and societal–nature relations |
Research Line 2 I Decolonial feminist epistemologies, Indigenous and Afro-diasporic knowledge systems. |
Principal Investigators HCIAS Research Cluster 3: Prof. Dr. Renata Motta, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Rosa Lehmann, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Yaatsil Guevara González |