about aset

Mission Statement

ASET gGmbH is a philanthropic, charitable entity with the goal of supporting comparative research in the humanities including linguistics, with a strong focus on advancing a greater understanding of the history of ‘science’¹, arts and material cultures. ASET gGmbH’s primary objective is to develop and support advanced scholarly research programs, promoting the knowledge, appreciation and greater understanding of the arts and material cultures of the civilizations and peoples who spoke² any branches of the Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) and Semitic family language groups.³ This includes the corresponding civilizations, cultures and people who have come into contact with them through trade, commerce as well as other forms of contact.⁴ The main objective of ASET gGmbH is thus to focus on the advancement of scholarship and academic research within a Higher Education framework and within the major fields of comparative research in the humanities and visual arts, contributing to a greater understanding of the trans-cultural diffusion of human knowledge, ‘science’⁵ and linguistics.⁶

1 The term ‘science’ here refers to all fields of human knowledge and learning, including the natural and physical sciences and philosophy.

2 Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) is widely considered as one of the founding fathers of twentieth-century linguistics. His works have laid the foundation for many significant developments in modern and current linguistics scholarships. Emeritus Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Oxford and Honorary Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Roy Harris summarizes Saussure’s contribution to linguistics and his views of the importance of linguistics to the evolution and development of human civilizations, and the resultant byproducts and impacts on the arts and material cultures, as follows: "Language is no longer regarded as peripheral to our grasp of the world we live in, but as central to it. Words are not mere vocal labels or communicational adjuncts superimposed upon an already given order of things. They are collective products of social interaction, essential instruments through which human beings constitute and articulate their world. This typically twentieth-century view of language has profoundly influenced developments throughout the whole range of human sciences. It is particularly marked in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology."

3 According to Ethnologue Statistical Summaries, the Indo-European or Indo-Germanic languages are spoken today by almost three billion native speakers, the largest number by far for any recognized language family. See here.

4 The history of trade routes, such as those forming the legendary Silk Roads, the Jade Road, Royal Road described by Herodotus in the fifth century, the Amber Road or the Fur Road, are bound to provide fertile grounds for future studies and inquiries. See ASET Monographic Program 2.0 (VIEW).

5 See note 1.

6 As defined through ASET gGmbH’s statutes.

As a non-profit entity the primary goal of ASET gGmbH is to design, develop and support educational and academic programs – at graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels – through an interdisciplinary approach, with a strong focus on comparative studies and comparative research, particularly through Higher Education. The major fields of scholarly and academic research that will form the basis of this interdisciplinary research are: Archaeology, Materials Science, Conservation Science, History of Science, History of Art, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Economic history, including Commercial and Trade History and Philology. ASET gGmbH, its CEO, directors and assignees will actively facilitate, encourage and provide the means for initiating, developing, and supporting collaborative research projects and programs, including educational ones, not only across the aforementioned major fields of research, but in any other relevant disciplines that will contribute via educational and academic means to the primary objective of ASET gGmbH as well as to the provisions described within § 52 AO – the code governing the charitable purposes (gemeinnützige Zwecke) under the law of the Federal Republic of Germany.⁷

7 Abgabenordnung (AO) in the version of 1.10.2002 (BGBl. 2002 I S. 3866; 2003 I S. 61), last amendments of 18.12.2013 (BGBl. 2013 I S. 4318) with the title of charitable purposes: "Gemeinnützige Zwecke".