Werner Schirmer

At the moment, I’m a parttime professor and senior researcher at BRISPO. Having studied sociology, psychology and political science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich I also earned my PhD with a thesis using a Luhmannian perspective on the communicative construction of security threats in international relations. Additionally, I hold a Swedish Docent title obtained at Uppsala University.

At the VUB I teach courses on classical and contemporary social theory as well as modules on the link between digitalisation and social relations.

My previous research covers topics as diverse as theory of society, security in international politics, (dis)respect in ethnic relations, priority setting in healthcare, inclusion/exclusion, the sociology of social work, and loneliness among older people.

The main focus of my current research is on the FWO-funded SBO-project "Digital ageing: How seniors can appreciate the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of a digitalizing society", (in collaboration with SMIT, BAS and the University of Antwerp). We investigate how the ubiquity of internet, apps and digital devices affects the lives of older people. My personal research interests also cover the impact of new technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and AI on social relations.

Furthermore, I’m interested in sociological theory of all kinds, sociology of technology, sociology of emotions, evolution and anthropology, cognitive sciences and psychology, history and historical sociology. If any of this interests you, drop by and let me know!

Hobbies: I make electronic music and love synthesizers.

Trivia: I’m currently learning Italian on Duolingo

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