HGGS - Us and Them

Alberto Carballo Soca (University of Havana) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - How do group dynamics, social identity, and educational inclusion shape our understanding of the “Us and Them” divide? - How do global inequalities influence access to and research on artificial intelligence? - What can policymakers and educators do to promote a more inclusive digital future? In this episo...

Bahar Akgün (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What is the girih mode, and how has it been interpreted?- How can cognitive science and eye-tracking methods help us understand the experience of Islamic geometric ornament? - What are the promises and challenges of conducting interdisciplinary research?  In this episode, we explore how ornaments shape the ways we...

Dr. Maximilian Jungmann (Heidelberg Center for the Environment, Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What roles do companies, governments, and individuals play in creating a more sustainable future? - What distinguishes sustainable innovation from traditional innovation, and why is management crucial to its success?- How can companies balance economic profitabilit...

Tetyana Kasima (University of Tartu) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - How do literature and urban spaces shape one another? - What are “heterotopic moments of being,” and how can they help us understand city life? - How do literary texts reimagine questions of identity, visibility, and coexistence in urban environments? As human beings, we are all embedded in time and space, but how...

Antoni Lukasik (Warsaw University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What are the limits of understanding within the framework of language in political contexts?- How does Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy reshape our understanding of language and communication?- Can interdisciplinary and empirical approaches improve political communication, particularly in climate policy? In this epi...

Elizaveta Savina (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What are the fundamental differences between first and second language acquisition? - How do implicit and explicit learning processes shape language learning outcomes? - What role does structural priming play in second language acquisition? In this episode, Elizaveta Savina, PhD Student from the Heidelberg Uni...

Prof. Dr. Andreas Freytag (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What role does the G7 play within the broader framework of global governance? - How does the informal structure of the G7 shape international cooperation and policy-making? - What challenges does the G7 face in an evolving multipolar world? In this episode, Prof. Dr. Andreas Freytag from...

Dr. Maureen McGowan, (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - How can peer referral strategies enhance HIV testing and prevention efforts?- What challenges arise when aligning public health research, policy, and local cultural contexts?- What role does qualitative research play in understanding and addressing both local and global challenges? In this episode, Dr. Mau...

Dr. Radmila Mladenova (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - Which stereotypical metanarratives have historically dominated films depicting the Roma community?- How does the contrast between light and darkness function within the visual language of films portraying the Roma community?- How can we critically approach films that depict the Roma community through ster...

Dr. Federico Zilia (University of Milan) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS)-       What role can the circular economy approach play in addressing current environmental challenges?-       How can we distinguish “green innovations” from conventional innovations in the context of increasing concerns about greenwashing?-       In what ways do weather shocks affect the economy of a region? I...

Selin Beyhan (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What coping strategies do characters in post-apocalyptic novels use to deal with the challenges of post-apocalyptic settings?- What emotions do fictional characters display during periods of transition?- What can we learn from characters in post-apocalyptic narratives? In this episode, we are delighted to welcome...

Dr. Philipp Zehmisch (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - How did the partition between Indiaand Pakistan shape the ambivalent enmity between these cultures?- What forms of cultural resilience have developed along the border between India and Pakistan?- How should we approach and make sense of the sensitive issue of “cross-border ethics,” and what key considerati...

Dr. Martin Hofmann (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) In the first episode of the year 2026, Dr. Martin Hofmann from the Department of Intellectual History at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University, introduces the fields of transcultural studies and intellectual history and explains how these disciplines help us understand cultural...

Isabell Eiwan (Faculty of Law, Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What are the possible use cases for AI in criminal proceedings?- What are the limitations of AI indetermining human intentions in criminal proceedings?- What might the use of AI in criminal proceedings imply for human rights? In this episode, Isabell Eiwan from the Faculty of Law at Heidelberg Uni...

Prof. Dr. Connie Hoe and Ezgi Baltacı (German Cancer Research Center) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) -  What should be understood by the concept of “citizen science,” and what distinguishes citizen science from other scientific approaches? -  Why is it important to include the public in the scientific research process?-  What insights does the mapping of tobacco and alcohol retail p...

Alexandre Bretel (Grenoble Alpes University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) - What makes AI ethics distinct from other areas of ethics?- What is required for the “responsible” use of AI?- How can the philosophies of Hans Jonas, GüntherAnders, and Hannah Arendt provide guidance in addressing the challenges of AI? In this episode, Alexandre Bretel from the Grenoble Alpes University an...

PD Dr. Johannes Gerwien (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) What are the functions of “inner speech” within the framework of cognitive science? What role does the linguistic relativism theory play in inner speech and the thinking process? Is language-free cognition even possible? In this episode, PD Dr. Johannes Gerwien discusses the intricate relationship between...

Maximilian Kathan (Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) What is the impact of nationalism and antisemitism in the late Habsburg Monarchy? How did Karl Emil Franzos and Nathan Birnbaum contribute to the (re)construction of Jewish identity? What roles do language and literature play in defining national identity? In this episode, Maximilian Kathan fr...

Nadja Samira Fraenkel (Heidelberg University) in conversation with Sinan Barış Yaşar (HGGS) How does the travel motif shape narratives in third-generation Jewish literature? What are the differences between physical and metaphorical journeys? Can language serve as a space for belonging and identity? In this conversation, Nadja Samira Fraenkel from Heidelberg University discusses her PhD research o...

Conversation with Vanessa Márquez Vargas, Debby Avendaño Sánchez, and Adrián Navia Segovia (University of Los Andes, Venezuela) Language of the Episode: Spanish In this episode, Vanessa Márquez Vargas, Debby Avendaño Sánchez, and Adrián Navia Segovia, all from the University of Los Andes, Venezuela, present a hybrid theme combining text and image, with the goal of showing, from their perspective a...