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, itdeveloped 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 Welcome to the Anthropocene: The Earth in Our Hands (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 Visions 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 beyond its original size and reach as it evolved into a major research hub at LMU through the targeted development of international third-party-funded projects, at times hosting more than 20 research and training projects simultaneously. The establishment of a Chair in Environmental Humanities in 2023 secured the continuation of its graduate training and research activities and placed the RCC on a permanent institutional footing. Professor Sonja Dümpelmann, a landscape historian and previously a tenured full professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was appointed to the chair and joined Christof Mauch as co-director. She will assume the directorship in October 2026 and lead the center into its next phase of development.
Watch the RCC image film to learn more about the center:
