International Workshop
11-12. July 2018
From ancient time, the people has seen patterns in the night sky, which they named constellations. They were useful for the orientation of the sailors or in prediction of the seasonal river floodings. Where are we nowadays? The fields of Literature and Astronomy have in common the patterns of the beginning and creation of the world.
We will discuss how the patterns of these two fields have evolved through the history and if they are going to change in the far future.
Nothing seems to be further from the civil society than the lonely astronomer in a remote observatory. The contacts between artists, writers, philosophers and scientists, however, have played an important role in the development of civil societies. In Serbian history, the friendship between the physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla and the poet Laza Kostić has become an iconic example for this dialogue. This workshop will bring together young scientists from the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, The Slavonic Institute University of Cologne and The Faculty of Philology University of Belgrad to discuss the different roles that the sciences and the humanities can play in the formation of civil societies. Scholars and Students from each university will present examples from history and present astronomy influenced philosophers, musicians, writers, intellectuals. Two keynote presentations will introduce the participants to the research at Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade and the Max Planck Institut highlighting the research skills analyzing philosophical and artistic reception and asking for the possibilities to transfer these skills into social engagement.
The Program
Place: Alter Senat Saal, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923 Cologne
Organizers: Dragana Grbić and Kamelia Spassova (още…)