BGHS.NEWS
First Interdisciplinary Dialogue
BGHS Director Ursula Mense-Petermann (center) at the opening. Photos by Thomas Abel
On Wednesday 12 July a new series of events for interdisciplinary exchange started at the BGHS – the First Interdisciplinary Dialogue. The discussion round was titled Grappling with the Global: The Challenge of Boundaries in Interdisciplinary Perspective.
Prof. Dr. Ursula Mense-Petermann, director of the BGHS, gave a brief introduction to the topic and introduced the discussants. Afterwards everybody of them was asked to describe their own perspectives towards Grappling with the Global related to their own disciplinary backgrounds and research topics.
Prof. Dr. Mathias Albert, Faculty of Sociology
Prof. Mathias Albert represented the Political Sciences. Angelika Epple, Professor of History with particular focus on the History of 19th and 20th Century, Assistant Professor Eleonora Rohland, whose research is about Entangled History in the Americas, 1600–1850 and BGHS guest researcher Alan Lessoff presented different perspectives from history.
Prof. Dr. Angelika Epple, Department of History
Junior Professorin Eleonora Rohland, Department of History.
BGHS Guest researcher and historian Prof. Alan Lessoff (Illinois State University)
Prof. Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka focused on anthropological aspects of the Global and Tobias Werron, Professor of Sociological Theory highlighted some sociological questions within the topic Grappling with the Global.
Prof. Dr. Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka, Faculty of Sociologie
Prof. Dr. Tobias Werron (rechts), Faculty of Sociology
An open interdisciplinary debate and discussion about the Global was the main part of the event. Finally the discussion was opened for questions and comments by the audience.
Interdisciplinary exchange between history and sociology
The participants of the Round Table
Interdisciplinary Colloquia series has started
BGHS doctoral researcher Ina Kiel (center) welcomes all colleagues at the first session of the new series of interdisciplinary colloquia at the BGHS. Photo: Thomas Abel
On 6 July a series of new Interdisciplinary Colloquia started at the BGHS. The Interdisciplinary Colloquium is a specific format exclusively organized for and held by doctoral researchers of the BGHS. Intended as an additional platform to present and get input on research projects, it offers an opportunity to collect feedback and ideas by including different research-backgrounds from history and sociology.
Initiated by the new doctoral researchers and position holders at the BGHS as a regular monthly format by winter-term 2017/18, the debut-summer-session was hosted by historians Ina Kiel and Sisay Megersa Dirirsa.
Guest researcher Andrew Mitchell from Kumamoto University (Japan) was the first to present “Function and failure in the post-Fukushima protest movements: a Luhmannian perspective” one chapter of his dissertation project: “Observing Fukushima: A Case Study of Japanese Nuclear Policy through Luhmann's Social Systems Theory”.
Mitchell uses Luhmann’s System Theory as a theoretic framework to analyze social protest movements in Japan with reference to the environmental issues the country faces after March 2011. The presentation by Andrew Mitchell was followed up by two commentaries by sociologist Edvaldo Moita and historian Stefan Laffin. Finally the other participants had the chance for general questions and remarks.
More details on the next sessions, taking place during the winter-term, will be published in September. For further information and the list of more than forty presentations since 2009 please see:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/bghs/Programm/BGHS_spezifische_Formate/kolloquium
BGHS Annual Seminar 2017
From 13 till 15 July the 9th Annual Seminar to the topic Grappling with the Global: The Challenge of Boundaries in History and Sociology takes place at the BGHS.
The conference highlights and questions contemporary approaches that challenge the ongoing conceptual dominance of the nation state. The conference schedule will revolve around global interconnections, challenges and crises. The contributions and presentations include discussions of the socio-economic implications of globalisation, international migration as well as economic, political and religious entanglements and conflicts.
The programme includes seven panel sessions on specific aspects and notions of the global such as "Global Conflicts", "Global Dimensions of Religion" or "Migration in a Globalising World". Furthermore, three keynotes by Ahmet Öncü (Sabanci University, Istanbul), Saskia Sassen (Columbia University, New York), and Drew Thompson (Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson) – distinguished international researchers – and a presentation by intermedia artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski complete this year's conference.
Everybody who is interested joining the Annual Seminar is cordially invited. Conference venue is the building X at Bielefeld University. The opening event will be on 13 July at 9 p.m. in room X-A2-103. The brochure with the schedule and further information is available at:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/bghs/Programm/Ansem/2017.html
The press release of the Annual Seminar 2017 and further information about the Annual Seminars since 2009 are available at: