Call for applications for the Funding Programmes “Democracy” and “Lost Cities” – Gerda Henkel Foundation

 

The Gerda Henkel Foundation has launched two new international funding programmes. They are designed to be interdisciplinary and address post-doctoral researchers based at a university and working in the area of the humanities and social sciences. The deadline for submissions for both programmes is *31 October 2018*.

 

With its *”Democracy as Utopia, Experience and Threat”* initiative the Foundation is responding to recent experiences that democracy is not a given. The rule of law, the separation of powers, freedom of opinion, and a commitment to the common good have been relativized and limited. Funding is offered to research scholars who wish to investigate the social order from ancient times until today (https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/democracy).

 

The second funding programme is on shrinking and entirely abandoned cities, so-called _Lost Cities_. Current transformation processes in various parts of the world mean that many of these _Lost Cities_ are emerging. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is not a new one and has been a widespread hallmark of urban history since the emergence of urban culture. The initiative *”_Lost Cities_. Perception of and living with abandoned cities in the cultures of the world”* invites research scholars to conduct projects on the multifaceted dimensions of _Lost Cities_ (https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/lostcities).