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The RCC’s mission is to advance education, research, and international cooperation in the field of the environmental humanities and social sciences. It contributes to public and scholarly debates about future ecological and social challenges. By bringing together scholars from various disciplines and national contexts and making a continuous effort to communicate their research to the wider public, the RCC aims to internationalize and raise the profile of the environmental humanities as a globally significant and growing field. To achieve this, the RCC is committed to supporting the publication of state-of-the-art research in the environmental humanities that bridges national and disciplinary divides.
The center features a number of graduate programs: the structured doctoral program Environment and Society (ProEnviron), the international doctoral school “Rethinking Environment” (IDK) in cooperation with the University of Augsburg, an MA certificate program in environmental studies, and a Master in Environment and Society. The RCC is home to numerous research projects, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the European Research Council (ERC), the Volkswagen Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF), and others. Over the years, between 2009 and 2026, it has hosted rotating groups of international visiting scholars, fellows, and visiting doctoral students. With more than 600 alumni, including former fellows and visiting scholars, the RCC has 300 members in the Society of Fellows, its official alumni association.
While the RCC is based in Munich, Germany, its staff and research community come from all over the world, and the working language is English.
The center’s namesake is the US biologist, nature writer, and environmentalist Rachel Carson (1907–1964), whose work raised awareness worldwide of threats to the environment and human health. Learn more about the life and work of Rachel Carson here.
History
The RCC was founded in 2009 as an Internationales Geisteswissenschaftliches Kolleg—later designated a Käte Hamburger Kolleg—with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Based at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU) from the outset, it developed a close partnership with the Deutsches Museum. This dual foundation was reflected in its leadership: Christof Mauch, Chair in American Cultural History and Transatlantic Relations at LMU, served as director, alongside Helmuth Trischler, then head of research at the Deutsches Museum, who served as co-director. During the Kolleg years (2009–21) in particular, the Museum played a vital role by providing infrastructure and hosting conferences, workshops, and exhibitions, most notably Willkommen im Anthropozän (2014–16), which attracted more than 400,000 visitors.
At the same time, the center became a driving force within the university. It established a structured doctoral program (since 2011), a certificate program (since 2013), and a master’s program (since 2022/23) in environmental studies, while serving as a key partner in three third-party-funded international doctoral schools. Over time, the RCC has built a global alumni network of more than 600 former fellows and visiting scholars; 300 are members of the Society of Fellows, the center’s alumni association.
The RCC also developed an extensive range of public engagement initiatives and publication formats, including public lectures, film events (such as the Green Vision film series, since 2011), book series (with Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, and Berghahn Books), journals and magazines (Perspectives since 2010, Arcadia since 2011, Seeing the Woods since 2012, Springs since 2022, and others), and its digital portal Environment and Society (since 2011), which has reached more than four million individual users worldwide. Altogether, the center has organized close to 3,000 events and numerous training programs including its Environmental Writing Studio (since 2024). Through these sustained scholarly and public activities, the RCC established itself as one of the world’s leading centers in the environmental humanities—an international standing reflected in its Environmental Humanities Library, the largest of its kind in Europe, and in partner institutes across the globe, from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to Tallinn in Estonia and Beijing in China, for which it has frequently served as a model.
Following the conclusion of the Kolleg funding, the center grew well beyond its original size and scope, evolving into a major research hub at LMU through the targeted development of internationally funded research projects. At times, the RCC hosted more than twenty research and training projects simultaneously. The establishment of a Chair in Environmental Humanities in 2023 significantly strengthened the institutional foundation of environmental humanities at LMU research in the field.
With Christof Mauch's retirement in the summer of 2026, the RCC is entering a period of transition. While new leadership structures are still taking shape, the center is well positioned to build on its achievements and continue to develop as a vibrant and internationally connected hub for environmental humanities research.
Jobs
The Rachel Carson Center offers a variety of positions from fellowships for senior scholars to internships. New job postings will be added to this section as they become available.
Student Assistant (m/f/d) Communications and Outreach Associate (PDF, 161 KB)
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