The key dates in run-up to the conference have been
Call for cases 25. July–22. October 2025Call for case participation 12. November–22. December 2025Call for papers (not case-based) 12. November–22. December 2025Registration 15. January–20. February 2026- The conference 25.–27. March 2026 at Ruhr University Bochum
Conference programme
Here is the overview of the three-view programme. Scroll down below for detailed daily programme. You can download the conference booklet here.
Overview
| Wednesday 25. | Thursday 26. | Friday 27. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Case work | Case and student presentations | |
| 09:30 | ↓ | ↓ | |
| 10:00 | Registration opens | ↓ | ⤓ |
| 10:30 | ↓ | ↓ | Paper session 1 |
| 11:00 | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| 11:30 | ↓ | ↓ | ⤓ |
| 12:00 | ⤓ | ↓ | Lunch and Lunch events |
| 12:30 | Welcome address | ↓ | ⤓ |
| 13:00 | Opening keynote | ↓ | Paper session 2 |
| 13:30 | ⤓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| 14:00 | Introduction to the Ruhr Valley | ↓ | ⤓ |
| 14:30 | Coffee, tea and snacks | ↓ | Coffee, tea and snacks |
| 15:00 | Opening panel | ↓ | Closing keynote |
| 15:30 | ↓ | ↓ | ⤓ |
| 16:00 | ↓ | ↓ | Closing remarks |
| 16:30 | ⤓ | ⤓ | ⤓ |
| 17:00 | Coffee, tea and snacks | STS meets archaeology: Workshop visits | |
| 17:30 | stsing e.V. assembly | ↓ | |
| 18:00 | ↓ | Isabelle Stengers documentary | |
| 19:00 | ⤓ | ↓ | |
| 19:30 | Welcome reception: food and drinks | ⤓ | |
| 20:00 | ⤓ | Social event: Food and dance |
Below are detailed programs for Wednesday 25., Thursday 26. and Friday 27.
Wednesday 25. March
| when | where | what |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | HGB | Registation opens |
| 12:30 | HGB 10 | Welcome address |
| 13:00 | HGB 10 | Opening keynote by Anne Pasek from Trent University |
| 14:00 | HGB 10 | Introduction to the Ruhr Valley by Uli Paetzel from Emscher Cooperative Lippe |
| 14:30 | *** | Coffee, tea and snacks |
| 15:00 | HGB 10 | Panel Planetary Entanglements of Science and Technology |
| 17:00 | *** | Coffee, tea and snacks |
| 17:30 | HGB 10 | stsing e.V. General Assembly |
| 19:30 | *** | Opening Reception: Pizza and drinks |
Registration opens at 10:00 to welcome you to the Before Ruins conference.
The program starts with opening keynote of Before Ruins given by Anne Pasek from Trent University. Following the address, Uli Paetzel, the director of the Emscher Cooperative Lippe will present on socio‑ecological transitions in the Ruhr region.
Continuing the first day of the conference, after the opening and a break, we host the panel Planetary Entanglements of Science and Technology with Tina Asmussen (Early Modern Mining History at Ruhr University Bochum, and head of the mining history research department at the German Mining Museum), Sandra Maß (International History at Ruhr University Bochum), Jörg Niewöhner (Department of Science, Technology and Society at Technical University of Munich), and Katia Schwerzmann (Department of Media Studies at Ruhr University Bochum).
After the General Assembly of the stsing e.V., the first day will ends with a welcome reception with food and drinks.
Coffee, tea and snacks will be available through the day.
Thursday 26. March
| when | where | what |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | per case | Case work |
| 17:00 | Haus der Archäologien | STS meets archaeology |
| 18:00 | Haus der Archäologien | Screening of Isabelle Stengers. Building hope on the edge of the abyss |
| 20:00 | Rotunde | Music and food |
The second day is focused on the cases working in parallel, some on campus and others off-campus.
Later in the afternoon we get a demonstration of the archeological workshops at the Haus der Archäologien, adjacent to the German Mining Museum. The workshop at the Haus der Archäologien ("House of Archaeologies") is a practice-oriented study and research space. By way of specialised technical equipment archaeologists conduct experimental investigations into the production and processing of various raw materials and other materials objects of archaeological research. The experiments gives rise to new technical questions and insights into materials science and contribute to the expansion and critical review of archaeological research. In the specially equipped workshops, students furthermore learn how to work with various materials – such as clay, stone, metals and pigments – and can experiment with their processing, treatment and production before entering actually archaeological fields. By working directly with the materials, students gain a deeper understanding of manufacturing processes, craft techniques and the properties of materials and raw materials. We cordially invite you to visit our workshop at the Haus der Archäologien. We will present our current experimental work and, together with the students involved, provide insights into the practical experiences, challenges and insights of archaeology‘s experimental work practices.
Drinks and snack will be served at Haus der Archäologien.
The German premiere screening of Fabrizio Terranova's 2023 film Isabelle Stengers: Building hope on the edge of the abyss at the same location follows. Fabrizio Terranova is well known in the STS community for his fabulous 2016 documentary of Donna Haraway. He has now made a just as thought provoking documentary about Isabelle Stengers, which we are most honored to screen the German premiere: In a setting where a mysterious house and a magical forest intertwine, the turbulent Belgian philosopher Isabelle Stengers will unfold the thread of her thought, which is now recognized worldwide. A thought filled with resistance to the established order, with fierce stubbornness to give back its vigor to democracy, and with narratives that obstinately recompose a common world. A thought whose goal is to produce knowledge that excludes no one. The film will therefore take the form of a small manual of unblinding, with an astonishing form accessible to all, in order to manufacture, together, hope on the edge of the abyss!
The day concludes with a festive Before Ruins social event with music and food at Rotunde Bochum in the city center near Bermuda3eck.
Coffee, tea and snacks will be available through the day.
Friday 27. March
| when | where | what |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Case and student presentations | |
| 10:30 | Paper session 1 | |
| GABF 509 | Before Repair | |
| GABF 511 | Artful Conviviality | |
| GABF 514 | Knowing and Being | |
| GABF 516 | Working group Capacious Relations | |
| 12:00 | GB 03 | Lunch and Lunch events |
| GABF 509 | STS in times of crisis and war | |
| GABF 511 | Up to Date in STS working group | |
| Book launch/Wunderkammer | ||
| 13:00 | Paper session 2 | |
| GABF 509 | Architecture Time | |
| GABF 511 | Tinkering with Futures | |
| GABF 514 | Post-Industrial Hopes | |
| GABF 516 | Working group Multiplying Data | |
| 14:30 | *** | Coffee, tea and snacks |
| 15:00 | HGB 10 | Closing keynote The vintage, the mouldy and the tarnished: Valuing STS cases in the aftermath by Endre Dányi from University of the Bundeswehr Munich |
| 16:00 | HGB 10 | Closing remarks |
On the third day on campus, the cases will present their work, mixed with student presentations. All the papers are presented in two session before and after the lunch.
Lunch events include STS in times of crisis and war, book launch of Ute Eickelkamp's and Stefan Berger's (eds) Nach der Kohle. Naturgeschichten aus dem Emschertal, and the stsing working group Up do Date in STS.
Finally, Endre Dányi (Sociology of Globalization, University of the Bundeswehr Munich) will close off the conference with a reflection on the collective journey titled The vintage, the mouldy and the tarnished: Valuing STS cases in the aftermath.
Coffee, tea and snacks will be available through the day.
Venues📍
On campus
Buildings HGB and GABF
51.443325, 7.258841
Ruhr University Bochum
Universitätsstraße 150
44801 Bochum
On Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/AdpesnMHSkhVkhsx6
In the city
Haus der Archäologien
Am Bergbaumuseum 31
44791 Bochum
On Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/h1zUXrn3e9WCu6yB6
Rotunde
Am Kulturgleis 3-5
44787 Bochum
On Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mryGZUbxfK9dptVP7