Franz Vranitzky Chair
The Franz Vranitzky Chair for European Studies is a transdisciplinary professorship at the University of Vienna, based at two institutes: the Institute of Contemporary History and the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies. In having established this chair, the two institutes seek to intensify and sustainably expand their cooperation in teaching and research.
The Franz Vranitzky Chair for European Studies, named after the former Austrian Federal Chancellor, was established jointly by the Bruno Kreisky Forum and the University of Vienna in 2008. At the beginning of the 2014/15 winter semester, the University of Vienna renewed this professorship as part of a cooperation between the department of Historical and Cultural Studies and the department of Social Sciences and in cooperation with the Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna/Berlin/Paris.
The endowed professorship is supported by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (Municipal Department 7), the ERSTE Foundation, the Austrian National Bank and the Rectorate of the University of Vienna.
The Franz Vranitzky Chair for European Studies is held by the historian and communication scientist Rainer Gries. One of the European research projects Rainer Gries plans to initiate within the next few years will deal with cultures of memory in the 20th and 21st centuries in Central and South-Eastern Europe (“Kulturen des Gedächtnisses im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert in Zentral- und Südosteuropa”).