Higher education Studying slavery
Bonn · New professors and new MA courses at the so-called “Cluster of Excellence” Research Project at Bonn University.
Four new professors for the study of slavery and dependency in the pre-modern era have been appointed at the University of Bonn over the past few months. The appointments were made three years after the institution was given the go-ahead for six “Clusters of Excellence” from the German Research Association in a nationwide competition of universities. Historians Julia Hillner and Claudia Jarzebowski as well as specialist in American Studies Pia Wiegmink have completed the team at the Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS). The historian Christoph Witzenrath is already researching and teaching at the centre.
Together, the four form the core of the cluster, explains cluster spokesperson Professor Stephan Conermann. Not long ago, the NRW science minister Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen paid a visit to the cluster as part of her research trip "#moeglichmacher” (“making things possible”)
Claudia Jarzebowski’s focus is on the global and gender strata of the early modern period. She also researches the history of dependency and slavery as well as the emergence of civic society. Pia Wiegmink is interested in cultural practices and narratives in19th-century American slavery and dependency, as well as related transatlantic entanglement and distribution. Her earlier research projects include investigating US-American literature on the abolition of slavery, especially when written or consumed by women, or when women are victims. Julia Hillner is particularly interested in how family and household structures changed in the period between 300 and 750 AD and how this is reflected in legal norms and practices. Finally, Christoph Witzenrath has been a professor at the BCDSS since 2017. His research focuses on the European steppe and neighbouring areas and on the influence of relations between nomads and settlers as well as the slave trade on social dependencies and political representation. He wants to analyse the structural and cultural aspects of Eurasian communities, which are characterised by a large gap between the state and dependent social groups.
All in all, the cluster aims to enhance our understanding of the concept of slavery, which has until now focussed primarily on European antiquity and early modern North America. These could now be extended to include medieval bondsmen and -women in Europe, forced labourers or Europeans enslaved by North African pirates.
"With its thematic focus, the Excellence Cluster has a nationwide reputation and is an important pillar for the humanities at the University of Bonn," says Rector Michael Hoch. In addition to the content-related work, there will also be support for the next generation of academics, with positions for post-docs and projects. The new professors will teach mainly in the new Master's programmes "Dependency and Slavery Studies" and "Slavery Studies".
Original text: Martin Wein
Translation: Jean Lennox
