About the Institute of Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies
The Institute is comprised of the chair for Sociology (Prof. Dr. Nollmann) and the chair for Sociology of Knowledge (represented by Prof. Dr. Christian Ebner). In addition to the research activities, numerous courses are conducted that meet the needs of both the students of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as the students of other faculties.
The Institute of Sociology views itself as an empirically-operating and interdisciplinary-oriented facility, and has a broad expertise in the development and applications of the methods of social research. Its research includes survey and field research, as well as the analysis of large sets of data.
The Institute keeps contact with internal and external university programs through both its research and its teaching. It maintains research cooperations with five institutes at the KIT (IBP, IES, ITAS, ORL, ZAK). The Institute also maintains an ongoing exchange with Boston University (CURA), Dortmund University of Technology, the University of Duisberg-Essen, and the Society for Innovative Market Research (GIM). Through events, workshops, and conferences, the Institute constantly expands its contact with potential partners and introduces current topics on the theory and practice of social science.
In addition to scientific contributions, the Institute of Sociology brings sociological issues into public light through adult education (for example the Evangelical Academy of Baden and the Catholic Adult Education of the Archdiocese of Freiburg), contributions in press, radio, and television, and lectures at a wide range of non-university events that reflect the broad spectrum of work in the field of sociology.