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Call for Applications: Balzan-FRIAS Masterclass

The International Balzan Foundation (Milan/Zurich) funds a programme supporting early career researchers in Global History as part of the Balzan-FRIAS Project in Global History (directed by Jürgen Osterhammel and Stefanie Gänger). The Balzan-FRIAS Masterclasses bring together renowned experts and early career researchers, offering high-level discussions in the field of Global History. Applications are open to PhD students and postdocs, preferably in the early stages of their projects.

The topic of the next Masterclass (25-26 July 2025) will be:

Contact

For further details please contact

juergen.osterhammel@frias.uni-freiburg.de

Key Concepts in Global History

Lecture and Masterclass with Sebastian Conrad (Freie Universität Berlin)

Application Deadline: 15 March 2025

Programme

Friday, 25 July 2025

14:00: Workshop: Thumbnail presentations of individual research projects

16:15: The Balzan-FRIAS Lecture:

Professor Dr. Sebastian Conrad  (Freie Universität Berlin):

Writing Global History after Eurocentrism: Concepts and Narratives

The public lecture and the – non-public – workshop address an audience with an interest in the theory of global and transnational history and, furthermore, the role of historical studies in the present time of crisis.

Saturday, 26 July 2025

8:15 to 13:00: Masterclass / Workshop with Professor Dr. Sebastian Conrad

The workshop builds upon a recent publication originating from the Balzan-FRIAS project:

Stefanie Gänger / Jürgen Osterhammel (eds): Rethinking Global History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2024. Available Open Access

Inspired by Sebastian Conrad’s What Is Global History? (2016), this book is a critical study of several central concepts in Global History at present. We encourage participants in the workshop to add to and continue our discussions in the light of their own research experience, by suggesting and discussing additional ‘key concepts’, such as ‘network’, ‘connectivity’, ‘the local’, or ‘context’ (etc.).

How to Apply

PhD students and postdocs (the latter preferably in the early stages of their project) interested in the programme should send their applications, including a CV (briefly outlining their current research project) and a short statement proposing a specific concept for discussion, to Professor Jürgen Osterhammel (juergen.osterhammel@frias.uni-freiburg.de) by 15 March 2025. Please also indicate an article from a journal or a book that would give substance to “your” concept and could be included in the compulsory reading for the workshop.

Accommodation costs (one night, on special application two nights) and travel expenses to and from Freiburg will be covered by the Balzan-FRIAS programme.