Old photo of the formerly new port la Joliette as well as pont transbordeur above the old port of Marseille.

Mediterranean networks, clans and Marseille

For portions of today's society, technological and infrastructural progress such as AI-guided transportation routes and automated subways is indispensable. For others, these developments are unsettling or even frightening. In the past, new infrastructures have often had unforeseeable political, economic and cultural consequences. What impact do they continue to have today?

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Literature that broke the ground for independence

Elise Richter prize for Anne Kraume: The Deutscher Romanistenverband (DRV) recognizes the Konstanz-based literary scholar for her habilitation thesis on the transatlantic connections in the works of fray Servando Teresa de Mier (1763-1827) on the eve of Latin American independence.

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Old photo of a man sittting in one of the first build cars.

People, cars and the elements

It contributed to a whole new perception of nature and yet soon became an environmental problem: How automobility changed people’s relationship to the environment and how this is reflected in American road literature is the subject of the ERC project of literary scholar Timo Müller, professor of American studies at the University of Konstanz.

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Enough water for everyone?

Whether infrastructure such as the supply of water is sustainable and how many people benefit from it depends on more than just technical factors. The decisive role cultural dimensions play in the context of infrastructure is one of the core topics that researchers at the Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) at the University of Konstanz are investigating.

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