Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen
The Institute for Human Sciences ( IWM ) is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Vienna. The organization promotes and operates Advanced Studies in the field of humanities and social sciences.
History and Ideas
The IWM was founded in 1982 by the Polish philosopher Krzysztof Michalski, who was Rector of the Institute in 2013 until his death in February. From the outset, the IWM promoted international exchange and dialogue between scientists and intellectuals from different disciplines, societies and cultures - especially between Eastern and Western Europe. This exchange includes increasing a researcher from North America, South East Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Institute puts new, socially relevant and often controversial issues into focus, so as to contribute to political, social and cultural debates.
Structure and program
The IWM sees itself as a community of scholars consisting of Permanent Fellows, Visiting Fellows and Junior Visiting Fellows. Permanent Fellows at the IWM are Cornelia Klinger (Professor of Philosophy, University of Tübingen); János Mátyás Kovács (Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest); Ivan Krastev (Director of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia); Klaus Nellen ( chief editor of Transit - Europäische Revue ); Timothy Snyder (Professor of History, Yale University); Charles Taylor (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal ) and until recently Krzysztof Michalski (Professor of Philosophy, Boston University and University of Warsaw ).
Content, the Institute focuses on six priorities:
- Cultures and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe
- The philosophical of Jan Patočka
- Religion and Secularism
- Causes of inequality
- United Europe - Divided Memory
- The Future of Democracy
Each year the IWM fifty fellowships to scientists, journalists and translators working at the Institute on their projects.
The IWM regularly organizes lectures, debates and conferences for a wide audience and pursuing various practical projects. The results of this work are published in the form of monographs, essays and translations. In addition, the IWM laid the biannual magazine transit. European Revue and the magazine IWMpost.
The association receives funding from the Austrian Federal Government and the City of Vienna. His projects and events are supported by international foundations and other sponsors.