Panelists: 
Heiko Hausendorf (Universität Zürich)
Claudia Müller-Birn (Freie Universität Berlin)
Paula-Irene Villa Braslavsky (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) 

Moderators: 
Matthias Hüning & Horst Simon (Freie Universität Berlin)

The event will be held in German.

Communication is more than just conveying contents. In our everyday conversations, we follow certain norms and manners without necessarily being completely aware of doing so. During the last few months, many of us experienced first-hand how our system of verbal communication rules seems to work primarily for direct face-to-face-communication. Using subtle body language, eye-contact, or minimal changes of the speech rate, we signal who is supposed to speak and when, for example. However, when video becomes the medium through which people communicate, conversations frequently get disturbed and misunderstandings arise.

In our panel discussion we want to take a closer look at communication via video. Together with our guests Heiko Hausendorf (linguistics, Universität Zürich), Paula-Irene Villa Braslavsky (sociology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), and Claudia Müller-Birn (computer science, Freie Universität Berlin) we want to reflect on what exactly happens when we (only) communicate via video, in pairs as well as in groups. What difficulties arise? How can these be overcome by changing communication behavior or perhaps using other technical aids? Also, what opportunities does increasing video communication offer for each individual or for society as a whole? What does all that mean for our concept of sociality? How will we shape our human interaction in the future? 

Further Information

An event by Interdisziplinäres Zentrum Europäische Sprachen in cooperation with the Dahlem Humanities Center and the Berlin Science Week.