Research at the Department of History and Cultural Studies

With its diverse range of subjects, the Department of History and Cultural Studies offers a rich and inspiring field of activity for intersubject and interdisciplinary research.

Excellence Competition

In the context of the Excellence Competition, the department has a significant involvement in the excellence cluster “Topoi – The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations” (together with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and the graduate school "Muslim Cultures and Societies”. Professors of the department are likewise committed to the excellence cluster “Languages of Emotion”, the graduate school “Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies” and the “Graduate School of North American Studies”.

Collaborative Research Centres

The outstanding quality of the research is also demonstrated through the establishment of the Collaborative Research Centre of “Aesthetic Experience and the Dissolution of Artistic Limits” (SRA 626) under the direction of Prof. Dr Werner Busch and through participation in three further Collaborative Research Centres.

Projects and Research Units of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)

Likewise, the DFG Research Unit “Self-Narratives in Transcultural Perspective” (DFG Research Unit 530) under the direction of Prof. Dr Claudia Ulbrich is based in this department. Furthermore, the department is involved in the DFG Research Unit “Bild – Schrift – Zahl”. Additionally, numerous projects sponsored by the DFG are represented in the Department of History and Cultural Studies.

Centres and Networks

The research activity of the scientists in the department is also expressed in a range of other projects, initiatives and networks. These include involvement in the Centre for French Studies and the Centre for Italian Studies as well as the Interdisciplinary Centres “for the Study of the Ancient World”, “Social and Cultural History of the Near East” (based in the department), “Middle Ages – Renaissance – Early Modern Times” and “Historical Anthropology” (department involvement).

Up-and-Coming Young Scientists

The department is currently involved in the transatlantic Berlin – New York postgraduate programme “History and Culture of the Metropolises in the 20th Century”, a further postgraduate programme is being planned. Moreover, to encourage up and coming scientists, the institutes of History and Art History have a total of four assistant professorships.