Podcast: Travelling Concepts on Air
Travelling Concepts on Air is a podcast series that explores the promise and ideal of interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity is increasingly projected as an objective goal within academia, framed as something that both encourages and facilitates collaboration across fields and disciplines.
In this podcast series, dr. Tessa Diphoorn and dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh, both member of the Utrecht Young Academy, question some of these underlying assumptions by focusing on the idea of travelling concepts. Travelling concepts refers to concepts that ‘travel’ across disciplines and often act as the focal point for interdisciplinary efforts. With this podcast series, they are interested in posing the following questions:
- Why and how do concepts travel across disciplines?
- How do concepts change across disciplines?
- Why do particular concepts travel when others don’t?
- What are the benefits and limitations of travelling concepts?
- Do such concepts allow scholars to ‘speak’ across disciplines?
Tessa and Brianne address these questions by organizing monthly sessions wherein guest speakers will unpack various concepts, such as sustainability, war or citizenship, delineate how they are used in their disciplines, and discuss what this entails for interdisciplinary scholarship. Each session is thus centered around a particular concept. The organisers will host and interview two scholars per session, who each use a particular concept in a specific (and often different) way.
Listen to the trailer to get a first impression. Season 2 of the podcast series promises a great line-up of travelling concepts, including: sea level, surveillance, equilibrium, youth, and many more.
Travelling Concepts on Air Season 2:
Episode 1: Sea level
Episode 2: Surveillance
Episode 3: Equilibrium
Episode 4: Security & Student podcasts
Episode 5: Facts
Episode 6: Sovereignty
Episode 7: Queer
Episode 8: Violence
Episode 9: Youth
Travelling Concepts on Air Season 1:
In this introductory episode Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss how this podcast came into being and the idea behind "Travelling Concepts". In addition to sharing how they met, they discuss what the notion of travelling concepts entails by providing examples from their own research and what they hope to achieve.
They also ask themselves questions such as: are concepts getting richer when they travel? Do they enhace interdisciplinarity or do they cause confusion? And why do some concepts travel while others don't? While they don't provide an immediate answer to these questions, they give an idea on what kind of questions this podcast is interested in and what they expect from future episodes.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast.
Literature list and further reading
On Travelling Concepts:
Bal, Mieke and Marx-MacDonald, Sherry. 2002. 'Travelling Concepts in the Humanities: A Rough Guide' , University of Toronto Press.
On Travelling:
Baer, Susanne.2013. ‘Traveling Concepts: Substantive Equality on the Road’, 46 Tulsa Law Review 59.
Risse, Thomas. 2017. Domestic Politics and Norm Diffusion in International Relations: Idea Do Not Float Freely, Routledge.
On Transformation:
Degener, Theresia. 2016. ‘Disability in a Human Rights Context’, 5 Laws 35.
Fredman, Sandra; Kuosmanen, Jaakko and Campbell, Meghan. 2016. ‘Transformative Equality: Making the Sustainable Development Goals Work for Women’, 30 Ethics and International Affairs 177.
Gready, Paul and Robins, Simon. 2014. ‘From Transitional to Transformative Justice: A New Agenda for Practice’, 8 The International Journal of Transitional Justice 339.
McGonigle Leyh, Brianne and Fraser, Julie. 2019. ‘Transformative Reparations: Changing the Game or More of the Same? external link’, 8 Cambridge International Law Journal39.
On Sovereignty:
Bonilla, Yarimar. 2017. “Unsettling Sovereignty.” Cultural Anthropology 32(3): 330-339.
Buur, Lars. 2006. “Reordering Society: Vigilantism and Expressions of Sovereignty in Port Elizabeth’s Townships.” Development and Change 37 (4): 735-757.
Bryant, Rebecca and Madeline Reeves, eds. 2020. Sovereign Longings: Anthropological Perspectives on Political Agency. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Hansen, Thomas B., and Finn Stepputat. 2006. “Sovereignty Revisited.” Annual Review of Anthropology 35: 295–315.
Humphrey, Caroline. 2007. “Sovereignty.” In A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics, ed. D. Nugent and J. Vincent. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 418-426.
Ong, Aihwa. 2000. “Graduated Sovereignty in South-East Asia.” Theory Culture and Society 17 (4): 55-75.
Oosterbaan, Martijn and Wil Pansters. 2015. “Introduction: Sovereignty and Social Contestation. Between Violence and Alternative Sociocultural Orders.” Conflict andSociety 1: 125-128.
Sieder, Rachel. 2011. “Contested Sovereignties: Indigenous Law, Violence and State Effects in Postwar Guatemala.” Critique of Anthropology 31(3): 161–184.
In this episode Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh invite Dr. Katharine Fortin (Assistant Professor at Utrecht University's Netherlands Institute of Human Rights - SIM) and Prof. Dr. Jolle Demmers (Full Professor at Utrecht University's Center for Conflict Studies) to discuss the concept of 'war'. How does each one of them go about using the concept war in their work? What do they expect from 'war' as an academic concept and what kind of future do they see for it? Are there similarities or differences in the usage of this concept in each of their disciplines?
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast.
Literature list and further reading
Barkawi, Tarek and Brighton, Shane. 2011. ‘Powers of War: Fighting, Knowledge, and Critique’, International Political Sociology, Volume 5, Issue 2, June 2011, Pages 126–143.
Chamayou, Grégoire. 2015. 'Drone Theory', Penguin Books Ltd.
Jabri, Vivienne. 1996. 'Discourses on Violence: Conflict Analysis Reconsidered', Manchester University Press.
Modirzadeh, Naz K. 2020. ‘Cut These Words: Passion and International Law of War Scholarship’. 61 Harvard International Law Journal 1
In this episode Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh are joined by Dr. Nikkie Wiegink and Dr. Joost Vervoort to discuss the concept of ‘sustainability’. Dr. Wiegink is Assistant Professor Utrecht University’s Department of Cultural Anthropology and Dr. Vervoort is Assistant Professor in the Environmental Governance Group at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development.
Some of the concepts discussed in this episode are sustainability, sustainable development, and sustainable development goals (SDGs). How do these concepts play a role in their work? Do they use or approach the concept similarly or do they differ?
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
Literature list and further reading
Fry, Stephen. 2018. Mythos: the Greek Myths Retold. Penguin Books.
Maggs, David, and John Robinson. 2020. Sustainability in an Imaginary World: Art and the Question of Agenc, Routledge.
Tsing, Anna L. 2017. "A threat to Holocene resurgence is a threat to livability." The anthropology of sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2017, pages 51-65.
Wiegink, Nikkie. 2020. Former Guerrillas in Mozambique. University of Pennsylvania Press.
ZA/UM. 2019. Disco Elysium. Videogame
In this episode Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘time’ together with Dr. João Trabucho Alexandre and Dr. Susanne Knittel. Dr. Trabucho Alexandre is a Sedimentary Geologist and Assistant Professor of Geosciences at Utrecht University, while Dr. Knittel is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Utrecht University.
In their inspiring and discipline-bridging discussion, the guests discuss how time they encountered the different notions of ‘time’ in their respective research and how the concept travels between their fields.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
Literature list and further reading
Bjornerud, Marcia. 2018. Timefulness. How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Frisch, Max. 1979. Man in the Holocene, translated by Geoffrey Skelton. Dalkey Archive Press.
Gould, Stephen Jay. 1987. Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle. Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McPhee, John. October 20, 1980. “I-Basin and Range. Annals of the Former World.” New Yorker. October 20, 1980, page 68.
Powers, Richard. 2018. The Overstory. W. W. Norton.
Proulx, Annie. 2016. Barkskins. 4th Estate.
In this episode, Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘Civil Society’ together with Prof. dr. Antoine Buyse and Dr. Chris van der Borgh. Prof. Antoine Buyse is professor in Human Rights in Multidisciplinary Perspective and is director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM). Dr. Chris van der Borgh is assistant professor at the Centre of Conflict Studies at Utrecht University and is specialized in conflict analysis, political development, and international conflict resolution.
In this episode, they discuss what the concept of ‘Civil Society’ means, how the concept has developed, travelled, and what the opportunities and challenges are of using this concept in and outside academia. The role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in civil societies is central to the discussion, as well as the notion of ‘Civic Space’.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
Literature list and further reading
Borgh, Chris van der, and Carolijn Terwindt. 2014. NGOs under Pressure in Partial Democracies. Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Edwards, Michael. 2019. Civil Society, 4th edition. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Keane, John. 2020. The New Despotism: Imagining the End of Democracy. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Putnam, Robert D., and Robert Leonardi. 1994. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
In this episode, Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘Heritage’ together with Dr. Markus Balkenhol and Drs. Theo Pronk. Dr. Markus Balkenhol is an anthropologist at the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam. Drs. Theo Pronk is a historian at the School of History, Culture and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
How has the meaning and usage of the concept of heritage developed over time? How do the hosts and guests use the concept of heritage in their work? Are there differences in their approach or do they concur? How to make sense of the current societal and academic debates concerning heritage? These are just some of the questions asked in this episode.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
Literature list and further reading
Balkenhol, Markus. 2021. ‘Tracing Slavery: The Politics of Atlantic Memory in The Netherlands’, New York: Berghahn Books.
Balkenhol, Makrus, Ernst van den Hemel, and Irene Stengs. 2020. ‘The Secular Sacred: Emotions of Belonging and the Perils of Nation and Religion’, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Balkenhol, Markus, Ruy Llera Blanes, and Ramon Sarró. 2019. ‘Atlantic Perspectives: Places, Spirits and Heritage’, New York: Berghahn Books.
Imagine IC. 2021. ‘Erfgoed Up to Date’, retrieved Feb. 18 2021 (https://imagineic.nl/).
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek. 2013. ‘Heritage Dynamics: Politics of Authentication and Aesthetics of Persuasion in Brazil, Ghana, South Africa and the Netherlands’, Retrieved Feb. 18, 2021 (https://www.nwo.nl/projecten/312-99-104-0).
Stichting Verborgen Stad. 2021. ‘5D projecten, Retrieved Feb. 18, 2021 (https://www.stichtingverborgenstad.nl/projecten/).
Vereniging Oud-Dordrecht. 2018. ‘Oud-Dordrecht’, retrieved Feb. 18, 2021 (https://www.oud-dordrecht.nl/).
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. ‘Mapping Slavery NL’, retrieved Feb. 18, 2021 (https://mappingslavery.nl/en/).
In this episode, Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘Agency’ together with Dr. Annemarie Kalis and Dr. Julie Fraser. Dr. Kalis is Associate Professor of theoretical philosophy at Utrecht University, while Dr. Fraser is Assistant Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University.
In this episode they examine the concept of ‘agency’ and how it has developed over time. The hosts discuss how they respectively use the concept of agency and whether there are differences/similarities in their approach.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
Literature list and further reading
Barker, Roger. 1968. ‘Ecological Psychology: Concepts and methods for studying the environment of human behavior’, CA: Stanford University Press.
Godfrey-Smith, Peter. 2016. ‘Other minds: the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness’, William Collins.
Fraser, Julie. 2018. ‘Every Organ of Society’ - Exploring the Role of Social Institutions in the Effective Implementation of International Human Rights Law’, Utrecht University, Dissertation.
Fraser, Julie. 2020. ‘Social Institutions and International Human Rights Law Implementation – Every Organ of Society’, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
In the eighth episode of the podcast series Travelling Concepts on Air, Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘Legitimacy together with Dr. Amy Nivette and Dr. Niels Terpstra. Amy Nivette is Assistant Professor at the Sociology Department at Utrecht University. She is specialized in the areas of violence & crime and is particularly interested in police legitimacy. Niels Terpstra is Assistant Professor at the Utrecht University School of Governance and a policy advisor at USG Consultancy. His research focuses on questions of governance, legitimacy, security, various forms of violence, insurgency, terrorism, and international relations.
In this episode they examine the concept of ‘legitimacy’ and how it has developed over time. The hosts discuss how they respectively use the concept of legitimacy and whether there are differences/similarities in their approach.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
In this episode, Dr. Tessa Diphoorn and Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of Transformation together with Johan Schot and Joost de Laat. Johan Schot is Professor of Global History and Sustainability Transitions at the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges. He is Director of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC). Joost de Laat holds the Chair of Global Economic Challenges at the Utrecht School of Economics and is currently also directing the Utrecht Centre for Global Challenges.
In this episode they examine the concept of ‘transformation' and how it has developed over time. The hosts discuss how they respectively use the concept of transformation and whether there are differences/similarities in their approach. In addition to this, they discuss how we can transform society to meet the many challenges of the future, and the role that academia plays in such transitions.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
In this episode, dr. Tessa Diphoorn and dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh discuss the concept of ‘Diplomacy’ together with dr. Lorena De Vita and dr. David Henig.
Dr. Lorena De Vita is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations at Utrecht University. As a researcher she mainly focuses on various ways of cooperation in international politics. Lorena De Vita is also the coordinator of the MA International Relations in Historical Perspective and won the 2020 Teacher Prize for 'creating a learning environment where debate and exchange are central'. Dr. David Henig is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Utrecht University. He mainly wants to understand how people remake their lifeworlds after dramatic societal ruptures. In his research, he focuses on – among other things: conflict and co-existence; violence and memory; Muslim politics; and secularism and sovereignty.
In this episode they examine the concept of ‘Diplomacy’ and how it has developed over time. The hosts discuss how they respectively use the concept of diplomacy and whether there are differences/similarities in their approach. In addition to this, they discuss how the disciplines of International Relations and Anthropology can reinforce each other when using the concept of ‘Diplomacy’.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!
