IWM - Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen

12/09/2026

Quinn Slobodian, author of "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed", will kick off the festival weekend at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien. In conversation with Financial Times literary editor Frederick Studemann, he’ll discuss Muskism as a new political and economic ideology shaping the 21st century.

Which panel are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

Find the full weekend program here:
https://www.humanitiesfestival.at/programm-2026

08/09/2026

Since 2011, Prague-based artist David Böhm has produced daily drawings as a way of capturing snapshots of his impressions and ideas. We have selected some of Böhm’s most characteristic daily drawings for exhibition at the IWM, which will be presented on the staircase of the Institute.

The exhibition will be unveiled on 14 September in the presence of the artist, with opening remarks by IWM Permanent Fellow Ludger Hagedorn, followed by a reception with w**e and cheese.

Register here:
https://www.iwm.at/event/one-thing-two-meanings

08/09/2026

The IWM Month of Ideas continues: Tomorrow, Tymofii Brik, rector of the Kyiv School of Economics and national coordinator of the European Social Survey in Ukraine, and Kirill Rogov, political scientist and founder and director of the online expertise, policy and research network Re:Russia, will enter into a conversation to examine how public opinion matters for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s resistance to it.

Register here:
https://www.iwm.at/event/how-does-public-opinion-matter-in-the-russo-ukrainian-war

07/09/2026

September brings not only a packed program of events as part of the IWM’s first-ever Month of Ideas, but also 16 new fellows joining the Institute.

Get to know them all on our website:
https://www.iwm.at/news/new-fellows-joining-the-iwm-in-september-0

03/09/2026

Tomorrow evening, historian Michael David-Fox, the IWM's incoming fourth rector, will deliver his inaugural lecture on the crisis of the humanities and social sciences, opening the Month of Ideas.

David-Fox examines the perfect storm of interconnected challenges at the heart of this crisis and takes his own discipline, history, as a concrete illustration of how this crisis can be both studied and addressed.

While the event itself is by invitation only, everyone is welcome to join us via livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/live/t53Pv690kX0

02/09/2026

From 23 to 27 September, the Vienna Humanities Festival once again gathers leading intellectuals in the city for a week of open debate, critical reflection, and fresh perspectives. This year's edition, which marks the culmination of the IWM's first-ever Month of Ideas, is a call to reclaim agency amid chaos and uncertainty.

The full festival program is now available:
https://www.humanitiesfestival.at

In 2026, the Vienna Humanities Festival is organized by the IWM and Time to Talk (TTT) in cooperation with ERSTE Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the City of Vienna (Stadt Wien), the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien), Ö1 Intro, the Volkstheater Wien, the Wien Museum, TU Wien, and the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue.

© Klaus Ranger

27/08/2026

Vienna was once a cradle of ideas that shaped the world. Devoted to reviving this spirit of intellectual inquiry, the IWM will kick off the new academic year with a densely packed program of events dedicated to critical reflection, candid and open discussion, and, above all, the exploration of new perspectives:
https://www.iwm.at/news/time-for-ideas-vienna

27/08/2026

We warmly congratulate Lea Ypi on being awarded the 2026 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought!

Ypi most recently joined the IWM as a Europe’s Futures Fellow and delivered the 2025 Speech to Europe, reflecting on migration, citizenship, and democracy in Europe.

Revisit her speech here:
https://youtu.be/0RPWchPsGPA?si=18Wkt2qhjOjatAy4

17/08/2026

Why does religious language reappear in societies that understand themselves as thoroughly secular, and what does its return reveal about crisis and the limits of the modern public sphere?

Reflecting on a recent conference held at the IWM, Clemena Antonova, research director of the Institute’s World in Pieces Program, and Arundhati Virmani (EHESS Marseille) weigh in on some of the key arguments that emerged from the discussions:

Clemena Antonova: I would like to start with a general question: what ideas that came out of the conference sounded promising to you, and what avenues of thought were opened that, in your opinion, deserve to be explored further?