About the project

Philanthropy, endowments, giving and collecting play a central role in social cohesion, in orientation to the common good and the preservation of cultural heritage. The common good and cultural heritage must not be equated with social integration, but should also be viewed in terms of tension and conflict, and not only in the Western European context of our time. However, corresponding theoretical models are almost exclusively oriented to this context.

Further Information

Philanthropy, Giving & Collecting - A Timeless Cultural and Social Practice?

Public lecture series

As part of the research project, an interdisciplinary lecture series will be offered at University of Heidelberg in the summer semester of 2021. The series of lectures is open to the public and will be held in cooperation with the Metropolitan Region Rhine-Neckar. Together with experts from the participating disciplines at University of Heidelberg and selected guests from national and international research and practice, the topic of philanthropy, donations, and collections in the longue durée will be examined from different perspectives and questions from the project context will be discussed.

Why do people in different cultures and eras donate, give and collect? For what kind of purposes and with what kind of goals? Under which social, cultural, economic and power conditions and in which forms can this happen? Is this good or bad for a society? These and other questions will be explored in an exchange between academia and practice. The guests selected for the series of events from national and international research and practice will provide insights into European and non-European cultures. The lecture series will take place online or in hybrid form on the following dates.