Summer School 2026
Call for Applications
“Terms and Turns of Empire. Interconnecting Concepts and Methods”
| Date | September 7–12, 2026 | |
| Submission Deadline | May 31, 2026 | |
| kontakt@grk2571.uni-freiburg.de | ||
| Guests | Peter Bang (Copenhagen), Julian Go (Chicago), Louis Nana (Tübingen), Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll (Vienna) |
The Summer School “Terms and Turns of Empire. Interconnecting Concepts and Methods” will offer an intensive interdisciplinary methodological forum for critical engagement with the relationship between methods and concepts of ‘empire’ across academic fields and historical periods.
Empires have historically and globally been the most enduring form of political, economic, and cultural domination, to which researchers responded with a multitude of heterogeneous approaches. Regrettably, research on empire often remains divided by disciplinary, temporal and spatial boundaries. This Summer School offers a platform for bringing postgraduate students and established scholars from a variety of backgrounds into dialogue. We will explore how empires – from ancient formations and colonial expansions to contemporary global structures of power and influence – have been conceptualised, differentiated, and examined.
We are looking for applications from doctoral students who deal with empires from all periods and regions in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. We expect an open mind for interdisciplinary dialogue, ideally already indicated by the current research project.
The Summer School will accommodate a maximum of 10 external participants.
The Summer School will be held in English.
The Research Training Group 2571 “Empires” will cover the cost of accommodation (single rooms) at Studienhaus Wiesneck in the Black Forest. Travel costs will be covered up to 200€ with exceptions in special circumstances (e.g. travel from outside of Europe).
Please send your application with the following documents to kontakt@grk2571.uni-freiburg.de until 31 May 2026.
- 1 page motivation letter
- 1 page summary of your current research project with a focus on your conceptualisation of empire and the methods employed
- CV (ca. 2 pages)
Participants will be notified at the beginning of June.
The call for papers can be found below.