Coming Up Next...

Afghanistan: The Choices

November 9, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Saxbe Auditorium, Moritz College of Law
Should we bring our troops home, increase their number, stay the course, alter our strategy? A discussion of the way forward for the United States in Afghanistan, with a panel of leading Ohio State experts (Richard Herrmann, Peter Mansoor, John Mueller, and Alam Payind), moderated by Fred Andrle.

Co-sponsored with the Mershon Center for International Security Studies
See more information about the event
More information about this and other upcoming ICRPH events.

Working Groups

The Public Sphere and Modern Social Imaginaries

Led by: Bernd Fischer (Germanic Languages and Literatures) and Alan Beyerchen (History)

The aim of this group's interdisciplinary research initiative is to explore the historical and contemporary significance of the public sphere and modern social imaginaries – the discourses, norms, and ideas shared by members of a given society. The motivation for such an investigation arises from the growing interdependence of different nations, regions, and communities that demands and generates new ways of political, legal, economic, strategic, and cultural forms of cooperation. What kind of public spaces facilitate and what kind of shared imaginaries support such cooperation and how do they emerge? What aspects in society hinder productive communication and interaction? Does productive social cooperation presuppose certain governmental, in particular democratic structures? Answering these and related questions will require the collaboration of a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to social and political sciences, cultural theory, religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, economic theory, linguistics, history, art history, and education.
More information about The Public Sphere and Modern Social Imaginaries

About the Institute

Our Double Mission:
To facilitate emergent research collaborations between humanities faculty and others across the university;
To enable the humanities to act as a significant bridge from the University to the city of Columbus and the broader public culture.

The Institute seeks to be an active forum for exchange among scholars and citizens, both on and off campus, and a place where the University can think creatively about what it does.

Founded in 1997, the Institute is located just east of OSU's main campus, in the George Wells Knight House, originally the home of the first chair of History at Ohio State. ICRPH is underwritten by the College of Humanities, by an Academic Enrichment award from the Office of Academic Affairs, by generous special allocations from the Ohio General Assembly's Urban Initiative Program, and by project grants and gifts.

Maps and Directions.