Scoping the Digital

VolkswagenStiftung Scoping Workshop 
August 12-14, 2025

Scoping the Digital examines interdisciplinary perspectives on the historical dimensions of a central element of the present: the digital. Although being researched in various fields, including the humanities and social sciences, each discipline deals with the digital from different motivations and pursues its own methods. With a focus on history, this workshop develops joint new research fields and perspectives opening up possibilities for grappling with social transformations. The research focuses on three overarching concepts (Brückenkonzepte) that affect every (digital) science and humanities epistemologically: Material, Design and Environment. Objectives of the workshop are: firstly, developing an overview of research approaches to digitality; secondly, designing strategies to create new connections between existing fields; thirdly, expanding the range of research methods with a view to local and global challenges of the 21st century. In addition, the position paper conceptualises institutional funding structures that initiate the interdisciplinary development of overarching concepts.The workshop is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Workshop Leadership:

Prof. Dr. Nathalie Bredella
Architekturtheorie, Institut für Geschichte und Theorie der Architektur, Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH)

Dr. Daniela Zetti
Head of the Archives for Contemporary History, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)

Dr. Arianna Borrelli
Käte-Hamburger-Kolleg “Cultures of Research,” Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH)
 

Moderation: 

Grayson Bailey (LUH), Dr. Ricky Wichum (ETH)

Additional Support:

Thomas Kestler (LMU), Simon Rötsch (TUM), Valene Spence (FU)