IGPP - Departement for Cultural Studies and Social Research

News and Events

Newly published:

Gerhard Mayer & Michael Schetsche (2011). N gleich 1. Methodik und Methodologie anomalistischer Einzelfallstudien. Mit einem Beitrag von Wolfgang Fach

[N Equals 1. Methods and Methodology of Anomalistic Single Case Studies. With a contribution by Wolfgang Fach]

Single case studies have a long tradition in the sciences, and, in some disciplines, they were at the beginning of scientific research in general. This especially applies to anomalistics and its predecessors. It is time to address the importance of single case studies in the context of anomalistic research from a methodological perspective. This volume provides a critical summary of approaches to research, its methods, and the problematic issues of single case studies using diverse areas of investigation (hauntings, UFOs, cryptozoology, and crop circles). It also documents the extensive reports of two methodologically generic single case studies carried out at the IGPP in Freiburg over the last decade, which are published here for the first time. The first case is about the investigation of an – in several aspects – extraordinary photographed anomaly, the second one is about the reconstruction of incidents of haunting in a hotel in the Black Forest in Germany. Additional compact case reports complete the volume.

Andreas Anton (2011) Unwirkliche Wirklichkeiten. Zur Wissenssoziologie von Verschwörungstheorien

[Unreal realities - An approach to conspiracy theories based on the sociology of knowledge]

Volume 9 of the monograph series "Crossing frontiers"
René Gründer (2010). Blótgemeinschaften – Eine Religionsethnografie des ‚germanischen Neuheidentums’
[Blót-communities – A religious ethnography of “germanic neopaganism”]

People who engage in a revival of pre-Christian religions as “religious Pagans”, enter border areas of what is socially acceptable (at least in contemporary Germany). Accusations of escapism, irrationality, belief in magic and right-wing extremism determine the discourse on “neo-pagans” (especially in German-speaking countries). However, little is known about their actual rituals, group structures and religious worlds of meaning. As a result of several years of field-research, this book provides the first differentiated and at the same time well informed insight into the construction logic and functionality of contemporary Asatru-religion from the perspective of the sociology of religion and the sociology of knowledge.

Redactional Supervision of a Special Issue of the Journal "Transpersonale Psychologie und Psychotherapie" "What heals? Salutary approaches in medicine and psychotherapy" (together with Prof. Dr. Edith Zundel)

Imaging and Brain Functions	Cultural Studies and Social Research	Theory and Data Analysis
Empirical and Analytical Psychophysics	Clinical and Physiological Psychology	Cultural and Historical Studies