Marsilius Academy 2026 Feel the Heat: Science and Histories of Fever
September 20-25, 2026 in Heidelberg
Application deadline: 14 June 2026
Fever has long been a threatening and inescapable feature of the human condition; as the German poet Friedrich Hebbel noted in 1860, “He who would live must hazard the fever.” For centuries, “fever” denoted a disease marked by various sensations – heat, but also an altered pulse, or delirium. Only from the 1840s onward was fever reduced to quantifiable temperature, and reframed as a symptom of diverse diseases, which from the late 1800s onward came to be associated with specific pathogens. Today, the re-emergence of old and the emergence of new infectious diseases rank among the principal challenges facing humankind. This multidisciplinary summer school brings together perspectives from the life and natural sciences as well as the humanities to re-examine the multifaceted nature of fever.
Topics include epidemics and pandemics of febrile illnesses; their prevention, including vaccines and their societal acceptance (or resistance); the sensory register of fever, including but exceeding heat and temperature, e.g. its production, theorisation, and effects on the body; disease causation, e.g. through pathogens and vectors; and febrile sequelae, post-acute infectious syndromes, and the narratives of sufferers unable to fully recover from febrile infectious diseases. Taken together, these approaches invite a renewed reckoning with fever as both a biological phenomenon and a social and cultural object.
Application: Target group, expectations and participation fee
The Academy is aimed at Master students as well as PhD candidates. A participation fee of 100€ - including room and board - will be charged. Travel costs are to be covered by the participants themselves. Participants are expected to present the current status of their work in a poster session and as a short pitch.
Applications can be submitted online untill 14 June 2026.
Confirmed Speakers
Tabelle
Scientific Committee
Organisation Team
Sponsors and Cooperation Partners
The Marsilius Academy 2026 is a joint venture of Heidelberg University's Marsilius Kolleg with the Cluster of Excellence „SynthImmune“, and the ERC project „FEVER – Global Histories of (a) Disease, 1750-1840“. It is also co-sponsored by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the DFG Priority Programme “Physics of Parasitism” (SPP 2332).
