The event will be opened by Dr. Margit Weber, Vice President for Equal Opportunities, Talent Promotion, and Diversity at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
Panel discussion:
Maximilian Grünewald (author and actor)
Alexander Eisenach (resident director at the Residenztheater)
Dr. Sophie Kargruber (Attorney at Law, Beukelmann | Müller | Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB law firm)
Dr. Regina Schidel (Institute for Political Science, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main)
Moderator: Dr. Nicolai v. Maltitz (LMU Munich)
Maximilian Grünewald (Artist, actor, researcher)
© Maximilian Grünewald
"The stories of the Anthropocene deal with the intertwining of what previously appeared to us as separate: culture and nature, the animate and the inanimate, the human and the non-human. If you want to bring these stories to the stage, you need a similar intertwining of art and science. Preparing this intertwining both narratively and structurally is the programme of the new science theatre."
Maximilian Grünewald is an artist/actor, researcher and initiator of transdisciplinary research. In his practice, he focuses on the power of storytelling to narrate intertwined human and non-human situations. He combines his training as an actor with his interest in philosophy and science theory, thus questioning common job profiles in art and science. His artistic research is dedicated to theatre that responds to the climate crisis and addresses epistemological questions.
Dr. Sophie Kargruber (Lawyer, BM-Partner)
© Sophie Kargruber
"Humans and animals share a common habitat. We should therefore recognise that we live in a community with animals. The goal of this community must be a harmonious human-animal relationship that takes into account the interests of both humans and animals in an appropriate manner."
Sophie Kargruber studied law at LMU Munich, specialising in criminal justice, criminal defence and prevention. She wrote her doctoral thesis on ‘The Dignity of Animals’ and, as a research assistant at the chair of Prof. Dr. Helmut Satzger, dealt with criminal (constitutional) issues in the context of climate and environmental protection, among other things. Sophie Kargruber has been working as a criminal defence lawyer since April 2025.
Dr. Regina Schidel (Philosopher, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a. M.)
© David Ausserhofer
"When we think of sustainability, we first think of nature and our natural environment. But the term implies much more than that. Building sustainable relationships on this planet also requires us to consider interpersonal relationships and their contingencies. Social and ecological factors must always be considered together. Sustainability thus proves to be a challenge to a fragile bio-social network of relationships."
Regina Schidel is an academic advisor at the Department of Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Her research focuses on human dignity, human rights, epistemic injustice, the marginalisation of people with disabilities and questions of relationality. Her new book, Disability and Society: Ableism from a Sociological Perspective, will be published by Suhrkamp stw in December this year.