Water Infrastructures in the Thuringian Forest - Zones of Contact and Control
6 ECTS, EN / DE, 6-8 students, collaboration with Prof. Dr. Anne Rademacher (TUM, Chair of Sustainable Urban Environments)
How do we shape the waterways that shape us?
Thinking about the future of urban and regional transformation processes is a complex endeavor that requires a combination of spatial, social and scientific knowledge. This seminar offers the chance to be part of an immersive learning experience and gain valuable experience in interdisciplinary collaboration and communication by working with students from the master´s program “Science and Technology Studies” at TUM.
The seminar will focus on the Thuringian Forest and Slate Mountains, an area marked by an extensive system of dams and reservoirs that serve industrial, drinking water, and flood retention functions. At the same time, the Thuringian waterways and forests host popular recreational activities and are connected to an idealized image of the region as a tourist destination. In short, this is a zone in which we seek contact with nature, while also enacting technologies of control. While climate pressures introduce new stresses on regional forests, we will consider the varied ways that social groups seek contact with water, even as the infrastructure used to control it assumes new urgency and importance.
Our primary mode of inquiry will be ethnographic: during a field trip at the beginning of term and throughout the semester, we will develop a comprehensive field notebook, talk to experts on hydrology and forestry and explore a range of ethnographic methodological tools that will broaden our interdisciplinary lens on the region.
KICK-OFF
* First seminar meeting on Wednesday, October 16, 11 am
* Room 027 in the Main Building
FIELD TRIP
* Joint excursion to Bleilochtalsperre in the first week of the semester (October 21-23)
* Conversations with local experts and exploration of the region and its waterways
* Excursions by boat, bike and foot
* Accomodation: SEZ Kloster, recently completed IBA project constructed from local timber
ASSIGNMENT
* Attendance of the field trip
* Field notebook throughout the semester
* Formulate a precise insight or question on the future transformation of the region