Ein Gespenst geht um … Zur Prekarität und Resilienz der MongolistikInes Stolpe

ASIEN – Nr. 170/171 (2024) pp. 13–29

In this essay, some implications of the alarmingly reduced teaching capacities in Mongolian studies in Germany are discussed. The focus is on possibilities and limits of compensation at the University of Bonn against the background of current dynamics, framework conditions and discrepancies. We have seen the restart of our discipline in 2013 as an opportunity to breathe new life into the subject and accordingly introduced innovative approaches to its further development on many levels, some of which are outlined here as examples with regard to teaching and academic communication. However, no matter how hard we strive for resilience, precarious human resources affect the substance of a subject and erode it from within, as knowledge transfer must inevitably be curtailed when language teaching capacities are reduced to a minimum due to a lack of sustainable funding.

Keywords: Mongolian studies, precariousness of small disciplines, situated knowledge, participatory teaching methods, communities of practice, resilience, sustainability