News

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.

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

6 April 2024 | 4pm | Goethe-Institut Boston

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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

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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