Profile

Dr. Michael Braun

Dr. Michael Braun

Research Fellow

Theaterwissenschaft
Strohsackpassage
Nikolaistraße 10, Room 4.59
04109 Leipzig

Phone: +49 341 97 - 30410
Fax: +49 341 97 - 30409

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Website

Abstract

Micha Braun is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Theatre Studies and Co-Director of the Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT) at Leipzig University. His main research areas are strategies and practices of repetition, narration and remembrance in the performative arts, with a key focus on Central and Eastern Europe, as well as media for the appropriation of the past. Since January 2020 he is Vice President of the International Brecht Society (IBS).

Micha earned his MA in Theatre Studies and Political Science in Leipzig, before he went for a while into film production business at Intuit Pictures Berlin. A four year-stipendiary at the DFG Graduate School »Critical Junctures of Globalisation« got him back to Leipzig, where in 2011 he finished his dissertation thesis on a practice of history and storytelling in Peter Greenaway’s artwork.

Since May 2020 he serves as the Assistant Equal Opportunity Officer for the Faculty of History, Arts and Regional Studies at Leipzig University.

Professional career

  • since 05/2020
    Second Equal Opportunity Officer of the Faculty of History, Arts and Regional Studies
  • since 11/2016
    Research Associate at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University; Academic Coordinator, since Mar 2024 Co-Director of the Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT)
  • 08/2016 - 12/2016
    Project Associate at the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) (part-time)
  • 08/2015 - 12/2016
    Research Associate in the DFG-funded project »Das Theater der Wiederholung« at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University (led by G. Heeg)
  • 09/2014 - 07/2016
    Teaching Assignments at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University
  • 05/2013 - 03/2014
    Lecturer (stand-in) at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University
  • 10/2010 - 03/2011
    Lecturer (stand-in) at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University
  • 01/2005 - 04/2012
    Research Assistant with Teaching Assignments at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University
  • 10/2004 - 06/2006
    Assistant to the CEO at Intuit Pictures Film Productions Berlin

Education

  • 04/2006 - 09/2010
    Doctoral Student at the Faculty for History, Art and Oriental Studies at Leipzig University; Stipdendiary of the DFG Graduate School 1261 »Critical Junctures of Glolbalization« at the Research Academy Leipzig
  • 10/1997 - 09/2004
    M.A. studies in Theatre and Political Science at Leipzig and Vienna Universities

Panel Memberships

  • since 01/2020
    Member and Vice President of the International Brecht Society (IBS)
  • since 01/2016
    Member of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT)
  • since 01/2012
    Member of the German-speaking Society for Theatre Studies (gtw)

Research Areas

  • Practices of Repetition, Narration and Remembrance in the Visual and Performance Arts of the 20th and 21st Century with a Special Focus on Central and Eastern Europe
  • Theatre as a Cultural and Social Practice of Crisis Management
  • Theatre and Theatricality as Spaces of Knowledge since the 17th Century
  • Media of Approximation to the Past (Archive, Document, Fake) in Theatre, Performance and Visual Art
  • Relations of Artistic and Historiographic Practice

  • Echoes from the Archive. Practices of Repetition and Recurrence in the Visual and Performance Arts of Central and Eastern Europe, 1975–present
    Braun, Michael
    Duration: 01/2014 – ongoing
    Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    show details
  • Das Theater der Wiederholung: Zum Verhältnis von Theater und Geschichte im Theaterhistorismus und in der gegenwärtigen Praxis des künstlerischen Re-enactments.
    Heeg, Günther
    Duration: 01/2013 – 12/2017
    Funded by: DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
    Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    show details
  • Theatrale Subversion oder (negative) Affirmation? Historisch-mediale Praktiken zum Umgang mit Transformationserfahrungen
    Braun, Michael
    Duration: 03/2015 – ongoing
    Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    show details
  • The Practice of Echo. On Reverberation in the Arts, Theatre and History
    Darian, Veronika
    Duration: 10/2012 – 12/2013
    Funded by: Fördergesellschaften; Stiftungen Inland
    Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    show details
  • Tactics of Moving Across. Coping Strategies and Transcultural Potentials in the Theatre Avant-Gardes of Central and Eastern Europe, 1918–1939
    Braun, Michael
    Duration: 09/2022 – ongoing
    Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Theaterwissenschaft; Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT)
    show details

more projects

  • Braun, M.
    Vom Hantieren mit Geschichte. Gestische Praktiken der ‚Umwendung‘ populistischer Diskurse in Jakel/Kuhns ‚RescEU‘ und Kelemen/Pálinkás’ ‚Magyar akác‘
    In: Darian, V.; de Smit, P. (Eds.)
    Gestische Forschung. Praktiken und Perspektiven. Berlin: Neofelis Verlag. 2020. pp. 216–235.
    ISBN: 978-3-95808-246-5
    show details
  • Braun, M.
    »The world cannot function in the long run without Surrealism.« Manifeste und Manifestationen neo-avantgardistischer Aktionskunst in Polen und der Sowjetunion nach 1975
    In: Schneider, K.; Dogramaci, B. (Eds.)
    »Clear the Air«. Künstlermanifeste in Choreographie, Performance Art und bildender Kunst seit den 1960er Jahren. Bielefeld: Transcript. 2017. pp. 193–211.
    ISBN: 978-3-8376-3640-6
    show details
  • Braun, M.
    Back from the Future: Theatre and Performance in Central Eastern Europe Beyond the Anthropocene, 1920-Today
    Art + media. 2022. pp. 149–159.
    show details
  • Avneri, I.; Braun, M.; Kaynar, G.; Rokem, F.; Wessendorf, M. (Eds.)
    Bertolt Brecht in Dark Times: Racism, Political Oppression, and Dictatorship
    The Brecht-Yearbook / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch. 2024. 49.
    ISBN: 9781640141865
    show details
  • Braun, M.
    Raise Your Voice!? German Artists’ Protest Campaign #allesdichtmachen and the Question of Freedom of Expression During the Pandemic
    In: Burzyńska, A. R.; Niziołek, G.; Kościelniak, M.; Kwaśniewska-Mikuła, M. (Eds.)
    Autocenzura i cenzura. Nowe Ujęcia. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego. 2024. pp. 391–403.
    ISBN: 978-83-233-7533-3
    show details

more publications

  • Andere Stipendien/Forschungspreise: Postdoktoranden-Forschungsstipendium
    Braun, Michael (Institut für Theaterwissenschaft)
    awarded in 2014 by Deutsches Polen Institut Darmstadt.
    show details
  • Andere Stipendien/Forschungspreise: Promotions-Stipendium (4 Jahre)
    Braun, Michael (Theaterwissenschaft)
    awarded in 2006 by DFG-Graduiertenkolleg »Bruchzonen der Globalisierung« an der Research Academy Leipzig.
    show details
  • Herausgeberschaft: Member of the Editorial Board of the Brecht Yearbook / Brecht-Jahrbuch
    Braun, Michael (Theaterwissenschaft)
    awarded in 2024 by International Brecht Society.
    show details
  • Andere Ehrungen: Vizepräsident der / Vice President of the International Brecht Society (IBS)
    Braun, Michael (Theaterwissenschaft)
    awarded in 2019 by International Brecht Society (IBS).
    show details

more awards

  • Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    Das transkulturelle Theater. Tradition und Transkulturalität im japanischen, koreanischen und deutschen Gegenwartstheater
    Start Date of Collaboration: 01/09/2016
    Involved persons: Hirata, Eiichiro; Jang, Eun-Soo; Lee, Wonhyeon; Braun, Michael; Hensel, Andrea; Wölfl, Helena
    show details
  • Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    Interdisciplinary Studies in Performance
    Start Date of Collaboration: 01/01/2014
    Involved persons: Kocur, Miroslaw; Heeg, Günther; Braun, Michael
    show details
  • Theaterwissenschaft; Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    Deutsch-australische Forschungskooperation zu Theater und Internationalisierung
    Start Date of Collaboration: 01/04/2019
    External participating organisations: Macquarie University Sydney (Sydney, Australia)
    Involved persons: Heeg, Günther; Garde, Ulrike; Braun, Michael
    show details

more cooperations

  • Wissenschaftlich-künstlerisches Symposium
    Die Praxis der/des Echo. Vom Widerhall in den Künsten, dem Theater und der Geschichte
    Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
    Event Organiser: Darian, Veronika; Braun, Michael; Bindernagel, Jeanne
    07/03/2013 – 09/03/2013
    show details
  • Internationales Symposium
    Brecht unter Fremden / Brecht Among Strangers
    Theaterwissenschaft; Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT)
    Event Organiser: Heeg, Günther; Darian, Veronika; Primavesi, Patrick; Braun, Michael; Vaßen, Florian; Hirata, Eiichiro; Wehren, Michael; Brockmann, Stephen M.
    19/06/2019 – 23/06/2019
    show details
  • Fachgesellschaftskongress
    Offene Räume - 16. Kongress der Gesellschaft für Theaterwissenschaft
    Theaterwissenschaft; Institut für Theaterwissenschaft; Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT)
    Event Organiser: Primavesi, Patrick; Braun, Michael; Darian, Veronika; Gruß, Melanie; Rekatzky, Ingo; Schleiner, Torben; Richter, Christiane; Schulze-Fellmann, Janine
    11/06/2024 – 14/06/2024
    show details
  • Öffentlicher Workshop für Early Career Researcher
    Baustelle Brecht: Praktiken der Platznahme bei Brecht & Co. / Working with Brecht: Practices of Placement in Brecht & Co.
    Theaterwissenschaft
    Event Organiser: Braun, Michael
    29/11/2023 – 30/11/2023
    show details

more events

I have been teaching regularly in an academic context for twenty years and in a civil society context since 2013. My early experience has been that projects which are transdisciplinary and cooperative and which are developed and realised jointly by teachers and students have particularly sustainable results. In my teaching, I therefore prefer formats that both convey basic theatre studies core competences and areas of intersection with practices of the diverse arts and other disciplines.

In terms of content, my teaching areas range from introductory historical and methodological perspectives on theatre as a cultural and social practice, to performative aspects in film, visual art and everyday life in modernity and late modernity, practices of memory and the arrangement of knowledge and experience since the 17th century, to utopian potentials of the artistic (neo) avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe.

In all courses, whether undergraduate, graduate or in cooperative teaching-learning projects with external partner institutions, I practice both myself and the students in dealing with interdisciplinary perspectives that are research-based and at the same time oriented towards current societal issues and related to application.

  • Course Topics from the Last Years (Selection)

    • Retro/topia? Verhandlungen von Vergangenheit und Gegenwart im Theater und den Künsten nach dem ›Ende der Geschichte‹
    • Das Prinzip ›Osten‹. Perspektiven auf Kultur, Raum und Theater
    • Wendegeschichten erzählen. Theater als Medium von Erinnerung, Trauer und Reflexion
    • Dramentheorien im Kontext – Vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart
    • Bewältigungsstrategien und utopische Potenziale in den mittel- und osteuropäischen (Theater-)Avantgarden
    • Peter Greenaways transmediale Film- (und Theater-)studien

    • Beispiele neoavantgardistischer Aktions- und Performance-Kunst aus dem Osten Europas
    • Raumformen und Raumerfahrung in Theater und Film
    • Erinnerung und Wiederkehr in Theorie und (theatraler) Praxis der Neuzeit
    • Bühnen des Wissens. Experimentelle Repräsentationen von Wissen seit der Frühen Neuzeit
    • Zur Frage von Öffentlichkeit(en) und Kunst in der europäischen (Post)Moderne
    • Echos aus den Archiven. Zur Praxis der Archivarbeit in den performativen und visuellen Künsten