Annual Conference of the Forum Transregionale Studien and the Max Weber Stiftung – Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland

Epochal divisions and concepts such as “antiquity”, “postmodernity” and many others are more than mere tools used pragmatically to arrange school curricula or museum collections. The use of these concepts carries particular imaginations and meanings for the discursive construction of nations and communities. Many contemporary categories and periodisations have their roots in 19th-century Europe. As part of the colonial encounter they have been translated into new “temporal authenticities” in Africa, Asia and the Americas, as well as in Europe. The conference brings together scholars of various disciplines and countries with the purpose to uncover some of the dynamics behind particular cultural and historical uses of periodisation schemes, as concepts for ordering the past, and thus to reconsider these terminologies.  

Please see the attached flyer for the conference program. For more information, please also consult the TRAFO Blog.

The conference is convened by Thomas Maissen (Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris), Barbara Mittler (Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies) and Pierre Monnet (Institut franco-allemand de sciences historique et sociales). It is part of the strategic cooperation between the Forum Transregionale Studien and the Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im  Ausland. The event is organized in cooperation with the Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris, the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies at Heidelberg University, the Institut franco-allemand de sciences historiques et sociales the Einstein Center Chronoi, the Graduate School Global Intellectual History at Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Institut français Berlin. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).