News

Invitation to celebrate the publication of:

Remixing the Hip Hop Narrative: Between Local Expressions and Global Connections (transcript, 2024).
edited by James Barber, Christian Büschges, Dianne Violeta Mausfeld, and Britta Sweers.

We will have a panel discussion and Q&A with the editors and special guest, rapper Tommy Vercetti (Bern), followed by a listening session & discussion, and Aperó.

16 April 2025 | 18:00-20:00h | Forschungspool, Walter Benjamin Kolleg | Muesmattstrasse 45

This workshop seeks to explore the dual nature of port cities as both physical and symbolic points of passage. With presentations on the history of Dakar, Hamburg, Philadelphia, and Tokyo, among others, we will examine how these locations facilitated not only the movement of goods and people but also the shifting dynamics of power, culture, and identity in the last two centuries. 

If you would like to receive the pre-circulated papers, please send an email to agnes.gehbald@unibe.ch 

11 April 2025 | 9.00–18.15 | Mittelstrasse 43 | Room 220

Maxym Butkevych's remarkable journey from Kyiv Maidan to Russian captivity – and back

Tuesday, 25 March | 12:15-13:45h | Room F021, Unitobler | internal university event for students
Co-moderation: Carmen Scheide and Cécile Druey, Institute of History

Guest lecture by Prof. Dr Nathalie Clayer, (Paris) on ‘Islam in the (post-)Ottoman Balkans; Dynamics, Diversities, and Social Impacts’ on Monday, 31 March 2025, 16:15 in the main building H4, lecture hall 201

Are you about to change from a bachelor's to a master's degree program and still have a lot of questions? We will inform you on site and online on March 18-20.

→ sign up

With the help of the AI tool www.wondercraft.ai, Andreas Berger developed a short podcast to introduce his research on early modern amulet culture and practical knowledge (Obedient Matter and Powerful Bundles: Amulet Culture and Practical Knowledge in Early Modern Europe). His goal was to explore how AI can assist in reflecting on his ongoing research and translating it into a more accessible format.

The script of the podcast emerged through several stages: Andreas Berger uploaded a detailed research plan (c. 10,000 words) to Wondercraft, instructing it to generate a five-minute podcast in the style of an interview and in a friendly and amusing tone. The AI-generated script served as a foundation, which he then extensively edited to refine the content, adjust the tone, and ensure accuracy. The final script is thus a somewhat playful yet collaborative effort, combining AI-generated material with his own creative and scholarly input.

This article argues that interest in Jewish epigraphy aligned with Renaissance humanism earlier than thought. In Basel, scholars studied medieval Jewish headstones in city walls, translating and innovating Hebrew epitaphs. This sparked a new appreciation for Jewish realia and humanist commemoration.

Sixteenth Century Journal 56/1 (2025), 3–22.

→ Article

Between Local Expressions and Global Connections

Although hip hop is a global genre, its history and impact have not yet been sufficiently studied. This volume examines hip hop's struggles with race, gender, place, and commercialization, offering new theoretical perspectives for scholars, students, and public debates on identity politics.

by James Barber / Christian Büschges / Dianne Violeta Mausfeld / Britta Sweers (eds.)
transcript | September 2024

→ to the publication

University of Bern, October 3 & 4, 2024, Mittelstrasse 43, Room 220

For more information or to sign up please contact: João Ribeiro Marinho (joao.ribeiro@unibe.ch) & Carlos Olano (carlos.olano@unibe.ch)

Thursday & Friday, 20-21 June 2024
University of Bern, Institute of History
International Workshop, organised by Debora Heim and Nadir Weber

→ Conference report by Amélie Jaggi

Yvonne Schüpbach has been elected to the editorial team of the Working Paper Series gender<ed> thoughts. The series, which is anchored at the Göttingen Center for Gender Studies (GCG), offers young researchers in gender and queer studies a platform for publishing their research findings. gender<ed> thoughts promotes an inter- and transdisciplinary discourse on current issues in gender studies and reflects on the social significance of gender in everyday life.

University of Bern, Institute of History
12-13 September 2024
Mittelstrasse 43 | Seminarraum 216
Organised by: Derya Bozat, Philipp Horn, Christiane Hoth, Rea Vogt

University of Bern, Institute of History
Thursday & Friday, 5-6 September 2024
Mittelstrasse 43 | Room 228
Organised by: Jan Haugner and Nadir Weber

The article by Yvonne Schüpbach, "Negotiating the Space between East and West: Sport and Gender Politics in Swiss Women's Artistic Gymnastics in the Cold War Era," analyses the complex gender and sport politics in Swiss women's artistic gymnastics during the Cold War when sport became a symbolic arena in the competition between the superpowers East and West. The article offers insights into international sporting dynamics by analysing the intertwining of gender politics and sporting developments and shows how Switzerland oscillated between rejection and adaptation, offering new insights into the historical dynamics of international sport.

→ Publication

International conference on 2 and 3 September 2024 at the University of Bern. For reasons of space, please register at moritz.vonbrescius@unibe.ch

Richard Warren, Niklaus Bartlome and Noémie Wellinger (Volcanic Impacts on Climate, Environment and Society (VICES) research group) won the 1st place poster prize at the Data Science for the Sciences conference here in Bern (11-12 April, 2024).

The poster was titled “Bridging History and Climate Science - ClimeApp: Data processing tool for the ModE-RA Global Climate Reanalaysis” and was presented by Richard Warren.

Prof. Karina V. Korostelina (Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School For Peace And Conflict Resolution, George Mason University)
Moderation: Dr. habil. Carmen Scheide, University of Bern

Thursday, 27.06.2024 │ 17.00-18.30 h
Room F -123 | Unitobler | Lerchenweg 36, Bern | University of Bern
Contact: oksana.myshlovska@unibe.ch

Thematically, the workshop will focus on the environmental and social aspects of Alpine hydropower and its infrastructures after 1880. In addition, the workshop will open a new chapter in the energy history of the Alps and contribute to the current debates on environmental justice and sustainable energy regimes.

27 September 2024
Uni Mittelstrasse, Mittelstrasse 43, seminar room 216

→ Further information
→ Programme

Between Multilateralism and Unilateralism

The publication discusses the conflicts and crises in the former Soviet space from a historical perspective and reconstructs the often - contradictory approaches of public actors in Russia on how to deal with them. Notably, it inquires whether the actions suggested follow a “multilateral” approach—one based on pluralist decisions and international law—or, on the opposite, a “unilateral” one—concentrating exclusively on Russia’s own national interests, to the detriment of commonly agreed-on international rules. The case of Georgia, from the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the “Five-Day War” in August 2008, serves as an example illustrating Russian approaches to conflict management.

By Cécile Druey, 2024

The 8th Colloquium on Crime and Criminal Justice in the Early Modern and Modern Periods

In the era of Cultural History, Criminal History has become an acknowledged subdiscipline of international historiography. Apart from well-established subject matters the conference wants to explore new perspectives and approaches. We are looking forward to inspiring presentations and lively debates.

University of Bern | Uni Mittelstrasse | Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern | Room 124

Four researchers, four photos, four projects. On 02 May, the Department of Modern History at the University of Bern literally provides an insight into its ongoing research projects. Four researchers present their projects, each using a photograph that is relevant to their subject. The aim is to create a common visual ground for mutual exchange and fruitful debates.

Thursday 2 May 2024, 9h00-12h00
Mittelstrasse 43, room 128

In his just-released book, Manfredi Zanin provides a new insight into the development of Roman imperialism in the second century BCE by highlighting the decisive impact of ‹Prominenzrollen›, individual interests, personal relationships with foreign elites, participation in diplomatic legations, expertise, and family traditions. At the same time, the work radically challenges the viability of approaches stemming from modern international relations theories in the study of the ancient world.

→ Publication

Christopher Kloeble in conversation with Moritz von Brescius, Moderator: Nikhil Rao

6 April 2024 | 4pm | Goethe-Institut Boston

→ read more

ClimeApp – created by Richard Warren and Niklaus Bartlome, co-developed by Noémie Wellinger – is a web-based data processing tool for the ModE-RA Global Climate Reanalysis, covering the period from 1421 to 2008 C.E. The app integrates this dataset, that offers a global paleo-reanalysis of temperature, precipitation, and pressure with monthly resolution, allowing visualization as maps or time series. Additionally, ClimeApp provides access to the ModE-Sim climate simulations and the ModE-RAclim sensitivity experiment, enabling researchers to distinguish external forcing from internal climate variability. With ClimeApp users can compare the three ModE-datasets with historical data (e.g. harvest yields, mortality) or climate-related data (e.g. TSI, CO_2, SAOD) using composite, correlation, and regression functions. The app is designed for easy use by both climatologists and historians, aiming to integrate climate data into historical research.

→ ClimeApp
→ ModE-RA Global Climate Reanalysis

The world food crisis (1972–1975) gave rise to new development concepts. To eradicate world hunger, small peasants were supposed to use ‘modern’ inputs like high-yielding seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation. This would turn subsistence producers into business owners, transform rural areas, invigorate national economies and the crisis-stricken world economy and thus stabilize capitalism.

By Prof. Dr. Christian Gerlach | 626 Pages | Published February 14, 2024 by Routledge

→ Publication

In June 2024, the Professorship of Modern History will organise the third Sandbjerg Summer School in Global History together with colleagues from Aarhus, Oslo, Paris Cité, Tübingen and King's College London. It is aimed at PhD students from Modern, Contemporary and Area Studies who are working on a global history topic.

The Summer School will take place from 19 to 22 June 2024 at Sandbjerg Estates in southern Denmark. Applications can be submitted on this page until 15 March 2024.

→ Application

You can find more information about the Summer School here:

→ www.summerschool-globalhistory.net