Events - Conference/Workshop

The purpose of this workshop is to explore the relationship between lost documents and archives and Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies (SADs) in post-Roman Europe and the Mediterranean through uniting the research of the BCDSS with the international working group on 'Lost Documents and Archives in the Middle Ages.' Both research groups take as a working hypothesis that archives of SADs privilege records of those in power and aim to investigate how we can use "evidence of absence" as historical evidence. The exchange will focus on the question of lost documents and non-elites, asking 1) how patterns of loss shape our evidence of non-elites, and 2) how those patterns may nonetheless contribute to our understanding of non-elites, especially those under the heaviest conditions of dependence.

For centuries, slavery constituted a fundamental component of Ottoman society, shaping households, labor regimes, political structures, and social hierarchies across the empire. Yet recent scholarship has increasingly emphasized that slavery in the Ottoman world cannot be understood as a singular institution. Rather, enslaved and dependent individuals experienced diverse forms of unfreedom that varied according to gender, legal status, occupation, religion, geographic setting, and access to social networks. These differences challenge binary distinctions between freedom and slavery and call for a more nuanced understanding of dependency and agency in Ottoman history. The conference Ottoman Slaveries and Typologies of Unfreedom brings together scholars from different disciplines to examine the plurality of Ottoman slaveries and related forms of dependency.

"From palaeocolonialism to postcolonialism: Narratives on Violence and Trauma” with a distinct focus on Africa through the ages". This trauma-informed, interdisciplinary workshop examines asymmetrical dependencies, material culture, and the evolution of violence in Africa from the Neolithic era (3500 BCE) to the present. Bringing together scholars from across East, West, South, and North Africa, the event explores how historical violence transforms into systemic structures, psychological dislocations, and consumed cultural phenomena—from ancient spectacles to modern true crime. Please register for the event, via events@dependency.uni-bonn.de

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This workshop investigates analogue and digital methods for the analysis of namelessness in historical sources. It is part of the project “The Nameless in History”, funded by the Volkswagenstiftung’s 'Open Up –New Research Spaces for the Humanities and Cultural Studies'. This funding initiative supports researchers in the humanities and cultural studies to 'open up' new areas of research and knowledge by jointly exploring complex and previously unexplored topics. For more information, click the link below.