HIGHLIGHT:FULDA INTERNATIONAL AUTUMN SCHOOL

Highlights from Fulda International Autumn School 2025

This year's Fulda International Autumn School, which took place from 24^th to 28^th November 2025, brought together a diverse group of researchers, doctoral candidates, students and international experts for an inspiring week of exchange, collaboration, and interdisciplinary learning. Under the theme "The Future of Applied Social Sciences", participants explored how research can navigate global complexities as well as contribute to meaningful societal transformation.

The Fulda International Autumn School, organized by Norina Fischer, Prof. Eva Gerharz and Prof. Kirsten Nazarkiewicz from the Fulda Graduate Centre of Social Sciences - and supported by the SaFe research initiative and SUNY Cortland- provided a dynamic environment for reflection, dialogue, and hands-on methodological experimentation.

Day 1: Opening & First Keynote

The Fulda International Autumn School began with a guided walking tour through Fulda's historic city centre, offering participants the opportunity to discover the landmarks while getting to know one another in an informal setting. Later, participants were warmly welcomed by Eva Gerharz and Norina Fischer, who officially opened the week and introduced the program.

The first keynote on Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production: Opportunities and Challenges was held by Petra Dannecker (University of Vienna). Here, she emphasised the growing importance of research approaches that bridge academic and societal perspective, setting the tone for the day ahead.

Deepening Research Through Workshops

A core element of the Fulda International Autumn School was the opportunity to engage in three parallel workshops, which were running throughout the week:

In this workshop, focused on translating academic findings into socially relevant interventions, participants identified the ways in which their individual research projects are relevant in non-academic arenas. They mapped the practical and organisational landscapes that impact/are impacted by their research, and learned different writing approaches to make their work accessible to broad audiences.

Let's imagine a utopian future. How can we create it through research; through the method of science fiction? Participants of this workshop dealt with these interesting questions and even more interesting results. Research is more than a linear process and - by using creativity and openness - it can give some interesting yet unexpected results.

This workshop allowed participants to approach innovative ways of learning and knowing through more than just textual methods. They worked with the kit that the research group "Multimodal Appreciation and Evaluation" developed, activated the Kit in order to work with the research projects of the participants and identified, discussed challenges as well as new values and collaborations.

Critical Perspective on Society, Knowledge & Practice Through Keynotes

Each afternoon at the Fulda International Autumn School featured a (hybrid) keynote offering fresh insight into current central debates in applied social sciences:

Interactive Plenaries & Film Screening

Interactive plenary sessions complemented the keynotes by creating space for collective reflection and creative exchange:

Cultural boundaries blur, virtual and physical spaces merge, and interculturality and digitalisation form our everyday world. In this interactive session, participants learned the importance of werking in an inclusive and conscious research environment and, most importantly, how to create it. People's engagement requires some skills and thanks to Luisa Conti's session, participants gained the practical tools to navigate diversity, build trust across distance, and foster collaboration beyond cultural and digital boundaries.

Participants also took part in a movie night featuring Kichobaki: What Remains? introduced by filmmaker and anthropologist Judith Albrecht. The movie, an example of multimodal ethnographic anthropology, explored what it means to engage with a country's colonial past (Tanzania), the scars left by its former occupier (Germany), and the ways in which local communities can play a central role in presenting and shaping ethnographic knowledge.

Final Day: Synthesis & Looking Ahead

The closing day of the Fulda International Autumn School offered an opportunity to bring together the week's insights during the summary sessions. Here workshop groups presented their results and reflected on methodological, conceptual, and practical challenges encountered throughout the week.

The final panel discussion "Navigating Complexities: Applied Sciences for the Future" encouraged participants to think critically about the place of social sciences in times of global transformation. The Fulda International Autumn School concluded with a networking lunch, where participants connected in a more informal setting.

Since some years, the Fulda International Autumn School has served as a vital and inspiring platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, academic exchange, and professional development. This year's edition highlighted the importance of exploring new methods, transdisciplinary dialogue, and socially relevant research - further strengthening Fulda University of Applied Sciences' role as a hub for innovative applied social sciences.

The organisers wish to thank all speakers, participants, and partners who contributed to an extremely enriching and inspiring week!