Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Chair of Early Modern European History

Lecture Series, Round Tables, and Discussions

Round Table Series "Fundamental Questions of History"

In light of the ever-increasing complexity and diversity of History as an academic discipline, this series of round tables organized by Rüdiger Graf (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam), Matthias Pohlig (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), and Ulrike Schaper (Freie Universität Berlin) examines fundamental questions shared by all those who undertake historical research. Because similar problems surface time and again in historians' everyday practice, this series aims at engaging interested practitioners in systematic discussions which bring together abstract theoretical reflections and the concrete practice of our craft.

Recordings of the introductory statements of each session are vaialable from zeitgeschichte|online.

Dates:

18.01.2024,

5–7 pm

 Part X: Was können Historiker*innen, was andere nicht können? (What can historians do that others cannot?)

26.04.2024,

5–7 pm

 Part IX: Beschreiben, Erzählen, Argumentieren, Analysieren (Describing, Narrating, Arguing, Analyzing, more)

07.07.2023,

5–7 pm

 Part VIII: Kann man aus der Geschichte lernen? (Can we learn from history?, more)

05.05.2023,

5–7 pm

 Part VII: Wozu brauchen Historiker:innen Theorie? (For what purpose do historians need theory?, more)

06.02.2023,

5–7 pm

 Part VI: Wie bestimmt die Distanz zum Untersuchungsgegenstand den Forschungsprozess? (How does distance from the object of research shape the research process?, more)

28.11.2022,

5–7 pm

 Part V: Wie findet und formuliert man eine gute historische Frage? (How do we find and formulate good historical questions?, more)

04.07.2022,

5–7 pm

 Part IV: Gibt es angesichts der Pluralisierung der Geschichtswissenschaften (noch) eine Geschichte im Singular und (wie) kann man sie darstellen? (Given the plurality of historical studies, is there (still) one history in the singular and (how) can we present it?, more)

09.05.2022,

5–7 pm

 Part III: Wie politisch kann, soll und muss Geschichtsschreibung sein? (How political can, should, and must the writing of history be?, more)

21.01.2022,

5–7 pm

 Part II: Was ist eigentlich die historische Methode? Was bedeutet Vetorecht der Quellen? (What is the historical method? And what does the "veto of the sources" mean?, more)

29.11.2021,

5–7 pm

 Part I: Nach welchen Kriterien bestimmen wir die Relevanz historischer Forschung? Kann man Erkenntnisinteressen hierarchisieren? (By what criteria do we determine the relevance of historical research? Can (and should) we discriminate between different research interests?, more)

 

Lecture Series "Die Grenzen des Sozialen: Kommunikation mit nicht-menschlichen Akteuren in der Vormoderne" (The boundaries of society: Communication with non-human actors in the pre-modern era, 19.04.2021–05.07.2021)

From an interdisciplinary perspective, the lecture series examines when, under what conditions and how people communicated with non-human actors in the pre-modern era. How was this communication organized? What semantics and practices, what linguistic, discursive and visual means were used to constitute it? What media and framings did it utilize? Were there disputes about whether and with which non-human actors it was possible to communicate and how? (more)