Graduate Workshop

“European History Across Boundaries”

Profile

Writing European history calls for the crossing of boundaries and borders. As a dynamic space of communication and transfer, »Europe« transcends states, empires and nations both within the continent itself and in a global world. In recent years historical research has taken up this challenge and has increasingly paid more attention to such transcultural and transnational dynamics bringing forward a reflexive understanding of historical processes. However, this research has also demonstrated the significance of constructing and imagining boundaries in European history.

The Leibniz Institute of European History, an independent research institution in Mainz (Germany), contributes to this new approach from an interdisciplinary perspective. It fosters research on the religious, social, and political dynamics in Europe from the early modern period well into the 20th century and focusses on processes of establishing, coping with and enabling difference.

In October 2016, the Institute is inviting international PhD students to a workshop on European history. We encourage researchers working in this field to present their dissertation projects and to discuss the transcultural and transnational scope of their findings in a stimulating environment.

Requirements

The workshop is open to projects that transcend the confines of the European nation-state from the 16th to the 20th century, including Europe’s relations with the world. Topics that aim to cross and reflect boundaries and borders are of particular interest. Projects can employ a variety of methodical approaches such as comparative studies, the study of transfer processes and entanglements, or the histoire croisée. Discussion at the workshop will be based on precirculated papers (max. 8,000 words, written in English, to be submitted in early September 2016). The papers should reflect on initial archival research and address the practical challenges of writing European history across boundaries and borders. The institute will provide accommodation for the duration of the workshop and contribute to travel expenses within Europe. Proposals should include a short statement on the overall project and the analysed sources (500 words) plus a brief biographical note (including institutional affiliation, thesis supervisors, and contact details). They should be sent to Gregor Feindt – feindt@ieg-mainz.de – by no later than 15 April 2016. For any questions, please contact the organisers.