About the event

When we think of a scientist, we picture men like Newton, Darwin, Einstein, who revolutionized the way we see and interact with the world. Using cold hard numbers, experiments, and empirical methods, these “great thinkers” promised to uncover the truth about life, the universe and everything. Since the Enlightenment, scientists stood for rationality and objectivity, for being able to float above things, detached and thus able to deliver neutral analyses.

Until recently, European societies considered it absurd that anyone who was not male, white, and Christian had the capacity to fit into this role. They delegated women and people of colour to auxiliary tasks, like preparing pharmaceutical ingredients, doing the legwork at archaeological sites, or conducting “routine” calculations for the moon landing, in short, clearing the path for the great thinkers to look at the bigger picture.

In a guided tour, PhD students Johannes Heß and Tobias Klee invite visitors to contemplate the ways in which gender and race were constructed and made usable. Who was allowed to produce knowledge and how were other forms of knowledge production excluded? How could (and can) white male scientists of the West create the categories that make them the final arbiters of knowledge? Together with the visitors, the two will interrogate the way something becomes science when it is done by the “correct” person—and a menial task when done by others.

Language: This event will be in German.

Admission: 5 EUR / 2,50 EUR reduced

Please book your ticket in advance online or at the box office in the foyer.

Dates and ticket bookings for the coming month will be released at the end of the previous month. Tickets are available from end of September.

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Speakers

Johannes Heß has an M.A. in Political Science and researches on gendered national identities. As a project doctoral student in the SCRIPTS project “Gender, Borders, Memory”, he investigates how gender structures the inclusion and exclusion of nations.

Tobias Klee has an M.A. in History. His research as a project doctoral student in the SCRIPTS project “Gender, Borders, Memory”, focuses on the influence of gender on the construction of Catalan national identity

Attending the Event

• Attendance on site: Events at the Humboldt Lab are open to all. To attend the event on-site, please book a ticket here.
• Pandemic regulations: Currently, there are no pandemic regulations. Feel free to wear a mask. Please come vaccinated.
• Access: The Humboldt Lab is located inside of the Humboldt Forum, 1st floor. Lifts are available.
• Public Transport: You can reach Humboldt Forum via U Museumsinsel (1 min walk) which is served by Underground Line 5 or via the next larger station S/U Alexanderplatz (15 min walk) which is served by several S/U and regional trains. The closest bus stops are Lustgarten (Lines 100, 300) and Berliner Schloss (147) which are located right next to the building. Disabled parking spaces are located south of the Forum at Schlossplatz.