Application Deadline: 30 August 2026
Disciplines
Humanities, Social Sciences, Theatre and Performance Studies, Cultural Studies, Natural Sciences, and Engineering
Who Can Apply?
Applications are welcome from master's students, doctoral candidates, and early-career researchers in the relevant disciplines, as well as early-career cultural professionals working in museums, theatres, archives, libraries, and related institutions.
About the Summer School
Violence, power, and war are among the defining challenges of our time. They destabilize political orders, reshape societies, and confront cultural institutions with fundamental questions about their role and responsibility. As armed conflicts in Europe and across the world continue to transform political and cultural realities, the question of how art, culture, and scholarship respond to violence has gained renewed urgency.
The Henry Arnhold Dresden Summer School 2026 examines the role of art and culture in times of violence, power, and war. Can—and should—art and culture respond to violence? Do they document its realities, preserve memory, create spaces for dialogue, or become entangled in political conflict themselves? How do cultural institutions navigate polarization, disinformation, and authoritarian tendencies? What possibilities remain for cultural action in times of crisis?
A particular focus lies on the distinctive capacity of art and culture to make the cultural history of violence visible and to transform it into spaces for public reflection through aesthetic, performative, and expressive forms. The Summer School explores how artistic and cultural practices engage with war and violence across different historical periods, from historical perspectives to the challenges of the present.
Organized in close cooperation with Dresden's leading cultural institutions, the Summer School offers an interdisciplinary and practice-oriented programme for participants from Germany and abroad with a good command of German whose work or research is situated at the intersection of art, politics, and education.
The programme combines academic discussion with first-hand insights into cultural practice. Participants will attend lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and exclusive behind-the-scenes visits to participating institutions. They will visit exhibitions, attend rehearsals, and engage in conversations with curators, artists, and directors of major cultural institutions. Workshops and seminar-style discussions provide opportunities for critical exchange and collaborative reflection on the role of cultural institutions as spaces for dialogue, mediation, democratic engagement, and public reflection in times of crisis.
The Henry Arnhold Dresden Summer School is conceived not only as an academic programme but also as a forum for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration. It invites participants to develop new perspectives on the relationship between violence, power, war, and culture, and to contribute to shaping an open and democratic cultural practice.
Application
To apply, please submit the following documents by 30 August 2026
- a letter of motivation (maximum one page) explaining your interest in the Summer School and addressing the theme „Gewalt. Macht. Krieg – Kunst und Kultur in polarisierten Zeiten“
- a current curriculum vitae.
Please send your application to: hasummerschool@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
Applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the beginning of September 2026.
Fees
The participation fee is €250.
Travel, accommodation, and meals will be covered by the organizers. In exceptional cases, the participation fee may be reduced upon request.