Doctoral program

Cultures of knowledge and the arts in the 17th and 18th centuries were conveyed through a variety of communication processes or medialities, which ultimately contributed significantly to the creation, mediation and transmission of meaning. By including the perspective of medialities, questions of ideologies, identities and ideas can be examined, taking into account hybrid and changing conditions of existence within the framework of discourses and networks. It is essential to embed medialities in their historical, cultural, ideological, social and political contexts.

From a methodological perspective, the focus on medialities includes both historical source criticism and digital possibilities in the processing of historical questions. Ultimately, historical research can also be understood as mediated by the media, whereby the perspective of medialities also opens up a methodological-critical element for the reflection of one's own research.

The aim of the doctoral program "Medialities in Historical Contexts" is to offer an interdisciplinary exchange forum for doctoral students at the University of Graz, but also at other university institutions, who work in the core area of knowledge cultures and the arts in the 17th and 18th centuries and/or are interested in dealing with historical topics from the perspective of medialities.