The concepts of ''Us'' and ''Them'' are deeply embedded in human thought, shaping our perceptions of identity, belonging, and alterity throughout human history. From geopolitical tensions to cultural misunderstandings, the dynamics of ''Us and Them'' resonate across different disciplines, offering a platform to examine the logic of this dichotomy.
The HGGS Podcast Series “Us and Them” aims to provide a new platform for academic exchange and visibility, where guest professors and PhD students discuss topics from their academic work related to our overarching theme, “Us and Them."
Episode 9: Us? Them!: Constructing Identities and Subverting Otherness in a Drag Show in Kyoto
Diamonds Are Forever is not only the title of a James Bond film, but also the name of a drag show in Kyoto.
In today's episode, Marco Del Din, PhD candidate at Heidelberg University and Ca' Foscari University in Venice talks to us about drag queens that transform into monsters, aliens, animals, and freaks.
How do the performers of the oldest and longest-running drag show in Japan construct identities that connect their gender and sexual identities and their art? Find out more by listening to Laura's interview with Marco.
18 Aug 2025
Episode 8: Child Protection, Social Work and Cultural Difference (Interview with Florence Wieder-Kinne (Heidelberg University))
In child protection, "Us and Them" manifests itself in different ways: Social workers and families often encounter each other with different expectations, shaped by institutional structures, biographical experiences, societal narratives and cultural influences. One of the greatest challenges in this context is the encounter with the cultural other. Social workers often interact with families whose cultural backgrounds, norms and value systems are very different from their own.
How can cultural expectations be overcome? In this interview, social anthropologist Florence Wieder-Kinne talks to us about her life as a social worker, her PhD project and how lived experience and theoretical research go hand in hand.
11 Aug 2025
Episode 7: Group Cohesion, Digital Education and AI Literacy: Bridging the Gap Between ‘Us and Them’ in the Digital Age (Interview with Alberto Carballo Soca (University of Havana))
Timeline
00:00 Intro
02:36 Exploring Group Cohesion and Educational Inclusion
17:20 Challanges in the Context of Digital Education
27:22 AI Literacy in the Framework of 'Us and Them'
37:27 Effects of Marathon Running on Academic Life
39:06 Outro
Group Cohesion, Digital Education, and AI Literacy: three distinct topics that come together in this episode through the lens of the "Us and Them" dichotomy. Having dedicated his academic life to these fields, Alberto Carballo Soca from the Faculty of Psychology, University of Havana shares insights from his research and personal experiences, both within the Cuban context and on a global scale. Moving between individual and societal perspectives, this episode of the Podcast Series ‘Us and Them’ explores the challenges and opportunities in the fields of group cohesion, digital education, and AI literacy.
4 Aug 2025
Episode 6: America’s Enemy Images – The Socio-Cognitive Framing of National Identity and Exclusion on Social Media (Interview with Isabella Gomez-O'Keefe (University of Cambridge))
Polarization in the United States did not start when Donald Trump was elected President for the second time in 2024 – but it might be more visible now than ever, largely due to social media: the ‘enemy within,’ the un-American enemy image, has become a common denominator for right-wing politicians and alt-right influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
In this interview, Isabella Gomez O’Keefe (University of Cambridge) explains how foreigners, academia, “woke” activists and left-wing politicians are turned into enemy images in contemporary political debates and on social media.
Tune in if you want to learn more about the banning of books in American schools, the difference between the United States and other countries with regards to political polarization, and the alt-right’s fear of progressive women.
28 Jul 2025
Episode 5: Magical Urbanism: Thresholds, Hybridity, and the Transformative Power of 'Us and Them' in Woolf, Lispector, and Lahiri (Interview with Tetyana Kasima (University of Tartu))
As human beings, we are all embedded in time and space—but how does the space we inhabit shape our perspectives and experiences?
Drawing on her research into Clarice Lispector’s The Besieged City and Virginia Woolf’s Solid Objects, Tetyana Kasima (University of Tartu) joins Sinan from HGGS to explore how literature reflects and reimagines urban life. The conversation touches on the concept of magical urbanism in literature and examines how philosophical concepts intersect with fictional worlds. Tetyana investigates the meaning of city life and the influence of urban environments on individuals, as portrayed in literary texts.
Join us for Episode 5 of the HGGS Podcast Series Us and Them to discover how literature reshapes our understanding of the spaces we live in.
20 Jul 2025
Episode 4: Antigypsyism in German Popular Culture & the Other in Ancient and Medieval Visual Arts (Interview with Dr. Pavel Brunssen & Dr. Tatiana Tereshchenko)
What do ancient and medieval visual arts have in common with modern Antigypsyism in German pop culture? At first glance, these topics seem entirely unrelated — one rooted in the distant past, and the other in urgent contemporary concerns. Yet in today’s episode, Dr. Tereshchenko and Dr. Brunssen open up a surprising conversation between two very different fields of study.
Even though their research topics differ widely in time period and subject matter, both scholars explore how visual culture reflects and reinforces the ways societies define and exclude the Other. Our discussion raises compelling questions about the power of images — whether ancient or modern — to shape public perception, transmit social values, and sometimes determine who belongs and who doesn’t.
Join us for a thought-provoking exchange that bridges disciplines, histories and media forms. You might find that the gap between past and present isn’t quite as wide as it first appears.
12 Jul 2025
Episode 3: The Role of War Posters in the Russo-Ukrainian War: Constructing ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ (Interview with Dr. Liudmyla Pidkuimukha)
When Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, the world was left in shock. In times of war, the dichotomy between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ becomes clearer than ever; and one specific medium in which this is illustrated are war posters. Dr. Liudmyla Pidkuimukha has analyzed more than 2,000 Ukrainian war posters with a special focus on the interplay of visual and verbal elements. In this episode, she talks with Laura from HGGS about the role these posters play to the Ukrainian people, how they function in different media and what differentiates them from posters in other wars.
How do war posters portray the enemy? And how have they changed since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014? Listen to find out in episode 3 of Us and Them.
5 Jul 2025
Episode 2: Saving Strangers – The ‘False Promise’ of Responsibility to Protect (Interview with Professor Richard Caplan (University of Oxford))
In the second episode, we welcome Richard Caplan, Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford.
Sinan from HGGS interviews Professor Caplan, who reflects on the question: Has the Responsibility to Protect, particularly in the context of United Nations peacekeeping operations, amounted to a ‘false promise’?
The conversation explores the historical evolution of the UN’s peacekeeping mandate, the enduring challenges in the execution of peacekeeping operations—including the so-called “Intervention Dilemma” articulated by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan—as well as the rising global influence of nationalist movements on the politics of the UN and the changing role of regional organizations in global peacekeeping efforts. How might international peacekeeping be reimagined for the future?
We sincerely thank Professor Caplan for delivering the keynote lecture at the HGGS Summer Forum “Us and Them” on June 27, and for sharing his expertise and reflections in this podcast episode.
3 Jul 2025
Episode 1: The Trauma Hero in Films about the War on Terror (Interview with Laura Herges (Heidelberg University))
Our first episode introduces our theme “Us and Them” and opens the series with an interview between Sinan and PhD candidate Laura Herges (Heidelberg University): The traumatized war hero has become a well-known film trope. But how does the image of the suffering veteran influence our opinions on wars that happened in real life? Laura, who writes her thesis in American studies, discusses twomovies about the War on Terror: Zero Dark Thirty (2012), which justifies the CIA’s torture of prisoners, and American Sniper (2014), which turns a controversial Navy SEAL into a patriotic martyr-icon. How strongly do films influence our judgement and moral values? Find out in the first episode of “Us and Them.“
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