Melbourne - Potsdam Minor Cosmopolitanisms Joint PhD

Be immersed in an authentic cross-cultural research experience with two top research universities

The Melbourne - Potsdam Minor Cosmopolitanisms Joint PhD program is an international collaboration between The University of Melbourne, Australia, and the RTG Minor Cosmopolitanisms, Faculty of Arts of the University of Potsdam, Germany.

Derived from the Greek word kosmopolitēs (‘citizen of the world’), cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings should be a part of a single global community, regardless of their cultural or political affiliation.

Research into minor cosmopolitanisms examines critical, artistic as well as everyday practices. These projects promote an understanding of cosmopolitanism in the plural; combining visions of justice, peace and conviviality with an ethical commitment to difference.

The joint PhD candidates of the Melbourne-Potsdam Minor Cosmopolitanisms program have the opportunity to collaborate closely on impactful research projects within a talented cohort. They are mentored by global experts, gain experience working in diverse cultures and research environments, and access resources and facilities at both universities.

Our partner: University of Potsdam

Founded in 1991, the University of Potsdam is a young, vibrant, and modern research university located in Potsdam, Germany. Potsdam is the largest university in the German state of Brandenburg. The university offers a broad range of research and coursework programs in the fields of arts and humanities, economics and social sciences, law, natural sciences, and digital engineering. True to its spirit as a leading young university, Potsdam is notable for its support of start-ups, innovation, and the transfer of knowledge and technology via the Potsdam Transfer institution.

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Project Spotlight

Experimentations in Bodily Desire and Textual Aesthetics

Queerness in modernist texts is often masked and hidden by both formal - and informal - experimentation that accompanies the unconscious (de)representation of sexuality that such texts produce. This research project examines transgressive modernist textual practices in response to fictional representations of queer sites of nonnormative, or “slippery” desire within city/urban spaces such as bars, nightclubs, and alleyways.

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Meet our academic lead

Professor Chris Healy is the academic lead of the Melbourne Potsdam Minor Cosmopolitanisms Joint PhD. Professor Healy has been researching and publishing on the relationships between historical and cultural studies for more than two decades. His national and international reputation as a leading scholar in this field has been achieved through an extensive body of published work, including two single-author monographs, five co-edited books (one in-press) and more than 40 book chapters and articles in refereed journal.

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First published on 2 September 2022.


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