Dr. Niklas Barth

Winter Semester 2020/21

Niklas Barth is Research Assistant and Postdoc at the Institute for Sociology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He studied sociology (Dipl.-Soz.) at LMU Munich. In 2019 he received his Ph.D. with a thesis on how society can be systematically understood as mediality. His research focuses on media and social theory, thanatology and medical sociology.

In his habilitation project, Niklas Barth examines forms and functions of tactful communication. From a systems-theoretical perspective, tactful communication can be determined as a communication technique that regulates the relationship between proximity and distance. His research focusses on conceptual-genealogical studies on the semantic field of tact, tactility and tactics as well as on media-theoretical analyses of the media infrastructure of communication ideals. Moreover, it connects meta-theoretical inquiries to the relationship of closeness and distance within theory itself with empirical case studies on forms and functions of tactful communication.

During his stay as a Junior Researcher in Residence at the Center for Advanced Studies he will investigate as part of the DFG project "On 'Good' Dying. Constellations of actors, differences in perspective, normative Patterns" the communicative forms and functions of tactful communication in organized palliative care settings.

Visiting Fellows

• Prof. Dr. Clemens Albrecht
  (Universität Bonn)
• PD Dr. Bettina Hitzer
  (Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPI), Berlin)

Events

• Lunch Talk – "Klugheitslehren der Sterbebegleitung? Ideale und Strategien der Kommunikation" | Respondent: Prof. Dr. Clemens Albrecht (Bonn/CAS Fellow)
  (Winter Semester 2020/21)
• Lunch Talk – "Die Genese der Offenheit und der Wandel der Hoffnung. Sterben im 20. Jahrhundert" | Speaker: PD Dr. Bettina Hitzer (Max Planck Institute for Human Development/CAS Fellow) | Chair: Dr. Niklas Barth (LMU)
  (Winter Semester 2020/21)