Arts & Humanities Lab

The current developments in the cultural sector show that traditional concepts of art and cultural production are reaching their limits: New players, a changed user behavior, and the demographic change are currently causing radical changes and thus require a new way of thinking. Therefore, the task is to position the arts in a new way in today´s society, and to develop new formats, practices, and distribution channels. The current issues discussed at the Arts & Humanities Lab thus address the structures, economies, and policies in which future curators, urban planners, festival organizers, general managers of theaters, and entrepreneurs in the cultural sector have to act. We therefore understand cultural production and social innovation not as contrasts, but as an inseparable connection. Thus, we put artistic action into a dialogue with socially informed, academic analysis and political considerations.

The lab wants to enhance the theoretical development of the field of cultural production. Our research therefore goes beyond traditional, disciplinary research arrangements and is complemented by artistic methods to gain new perspectives on contemporary issues of cultural production. This takes place within the framework of the artsprogram and the Laboratory for Implicit and Artistic Knowledge (LIKWI).

This understanding of research also informs our teaching: Students work in projects over several months on current, actual problems. We see our study programs as a "stimulation arena" which focuses on creative work at one´s own initiative. Innovative teaching formats and research-oriented contents promote a focused, theoretical reflection on contemporary society. Small groups additionally allow for a close interaction between those teaching and those being taught, and an individual support. The campus of Zeppelin University at Lake Constance offers an ideal environment through creating a concentrated atmosphere.