Humanities

Communication Science draws on anthropological, sociological, linguistic and philosophical research findings to create its own distinct models and applications. The cognitive interest lies in the core of interpersonal communication and the conditions for achieving it. The perception that language is the most sophisticated and socially most effective means of communication in today’s highly differentiated society is also of vital importance. Key research projects at the Institute of Communication Science between 2008 and 2010 explored the use of telecommunication for hospitalised children and their parents, teachers and friends and attempted to develop a transferable model for socially optimised telecommunication for isolated young patients in hospitals (Professor H. Walter Schmitz; funded by external sponsors including Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft). Professor Jo Reichertz is conducting research into the role of media as actors in inner security, intercultural communication among Indian and German flight attendants, and decision culture in organisations. The projects are funded by the DFG. In 2010, Professor Jens Loenhoff was appointed member of the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts, to which twenty-seven Nobel Prize laureates and the current Pope belong.