TransHumanities / ESSCS Summer Schools
About
TransHumanities hosted at the University of Bern and the European Summer School in Cultural Studies (ESSCS) hosted at the University of Copenhagen are international networks of partner institutions in the field of graduate education. They foster inter- and transdisciplinary academic exchange as well as international networking among doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences. At the core of the consortiums are interdisciplinary summer schools, which serve as platforms for dialogue between disciplines in the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences; between the humanities and other scientific cultures; between academia and the arts; between theory and practice; between academia and society; and between individual and participatory, analytical and engaged forms of research.
TransHumanities and ESSCS aim to establish and sustain discourses, initiatives, and ideas that transcend institutional, sociocultural, regional, linguistic, and disciplinary boundaries. As TransHumanities and the ESSCS exist independently of one another, summer schools and other events may—depending on their thematic fit—be organized jointly for both networks or held separately.
TransHumanities is a partnership between the GSAH and the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at the University of Giessen. TransHumanities is also cooperating with the GSAH’s regular institutional partner, the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Lucerne (GSL). Within the framework of the TransHumanities-partnership, four summer schools have so far taken place in Bern, as well as one summer school in Giessen in 2023.
Since 2024, TransHumanities has been cooperating with the European Summer School in Cultural Studies (ESSCS). The ESSCS is likewise a network-based series of summer schools dedicated to interdisciplinary academic training in cultural studies. It is organized by the doctoral programme Cultural Studies, Literature and the Arts at the University of Copenhagen, the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture at the University of Giessen, the Lisbon Consortium, the Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis Ljubljana, the University of Trondheim, and our Graduate School. The summer schools organized by the ESSCS since 2007 are hosted annually by one of the partner institutions and provide a platform for keynotes (including, where thematically appropriate, representatives of the partner institutions), as well as for 25 to 50 early-career researchers from Europe and beyond. The summer schools are primarily aimed at doctoral candidates and are organized and funded independently by the respective host institutions.
Upcoming Summer Schools
This summer school examines capital, labour, and value beyond economic growth, exploring financialization, platform capitalism, care work, ecological limits, colonial legacies, and digital labour. Through interdisciplinary humanities and social science perspectives, it asks how work and capital are historically shaped, culturally contested, and reimagined for alternative futures.
When: 31 August–4 September 2026
Where: Hotel Seaside, Spiez, Switzerland
News & Events
The Summer School will take place from 31 August to 4 September 2026 at Hotel Seaside in Spiez (Lake of Thun). We anticipate a stimulating topic relevant
Partner TransHumanities
Universität Bern
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Universität Luzern
Partner ESSCS
Team
Institute Middle East and Muslim Societies, University of Bern
Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities (GSAH), University of Bern
Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities (GSAH), University of Bern
