Universität Bonn

BCDSS

Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
  • About Us
  • Research
  • Publications
  • Academic Programs
  • Newsroom
  • Resources of Power Exhibition
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
  • About Us Our Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn aims to overcome the binary opposition of "slavery versus freedom". It is a research cluster within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. Our cluster of excellence is a joint project of researchers from sociological and anthropological theory, archaeology, Asian and Islamic Studies, religious studies, as well as, theology and German medieval literature, and history. We propose "asymmetrical dependency" as a new key concept including all forms of bondage across time and space.
  • Research In spite of the diverse forms that human bondage and coercion have taken over time, academic debates in the modern West have primarily focused on the most extreme one: slavery, and in particular, the trans-Atlantic experience of slavery which was closely entangled with the creation of the modern West. It still continues to inform our notions of what freedom and a lack of freedom mean. "Slavery" and "freedom" are ideologically charged terms. We will therefore use a more neutral terminology, and so move beyond the binary opposition of "slavery versus freedom" by suggesting "asymmetrical dependency" – or, more precisely, "strong asymmetrical dependency" as a new key concept, which includes debt bondage, convict labor, tributary labor, servitude, serfdom, and domestic work as well as forms of wage labor and various types of patronage.
  • Publications The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies has different publication series: Monographs and edited volumes aimed at the scientific community, BCDSS Discussion Papers are articles reporting on research results from current projects. They are usually subsequently published in scholarly journals. BCDSS Working Papers report on preliminary research results or contribute to current debates. In addition, we offer you our quarterly newsletter and our cluster magazine DEPENDENT. Both publications provide information about the work of the cluster and give an insight into events and our research projects. sehepunkte is an interdisciplinary review journal and presents not only an ever-changing repertoire of reviews but also discussions of both monographs and edited collections in fields such as the history of medicine, law and art.
  • Academic Programs Our cluster of excellence provides a graduate school and a fellow program. Three professorships that are implemented by the University specifically for the cluster complement the expertise of the Principal Investigators. A Center for Digital Humanities and our global research network are the most important measures that disseminate the cluster's research results.
  • Newsroom During the semester the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies offers a variety of events around our research topics. Here you can find an overview of all our events. These are conferences, workshops, seminars, panel discussions or our Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture Series.
  • Resources of Power Exhibition
About Us
  • About Us Our Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn aims to overcome the binary opposition of "slavery versus freedom". It is a research cluster within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. Our cluster of excellence is a joint project of researchers from sociological and anthropological theory, archaeology, Asian and Islamic Studies, religious studies, as well as, theology and German medieval literature, and history. We propose "asymmetrical dependency" as a new key concept including all forms of bondage across time and space.
  • Overview
  • People Get to know our team of principal investigators, of research group leaders and doctoral students, of visiting fellows, associated and affiliated researchers and our managment unit.
  • Boards and Committes
  • Third Mission
  • Network
People
  • People Get to know our team of principal investigators, of research group leaders and doctoral students, of visiting fellows, associated and affiliated researchers and our managment unit.
  • Principal Investigators The members of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies represent a unique set of disciplines specializing in non-European premodern societies. They have worked with a wide range of societies.
  • BCDSS Professors
  • Investigators The members of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies represent a unique set of disciplines specializing in non-European premodern societies. They have worked with a wide range of societies.
  • Faculty The Faculty of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies consists of four Spokespersons, BCDSS Professors, Research Associates, Research Group Leaders and Doctoral Candidates.
  • Fellows and Guest Researchers Visiting Fellows and Guest Researchers join the Heinz Heinen Kolleg for Advanced Studies (HHK)
  • Affiliated Researchers Affiliated Researchers of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies contribute actively to the scientific output of the Center.
  • Management The Management Unit (MU) coordinates the central activities of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies including the management of administrative services, budgeting and accounting, as well as media and public relations. In addition, the MU is involved in the recruitment and promotion of young scientists and the organization of academic and non-academic relations. The services of the MU support the everyday work of researchers as well as national and international collaborators.
  • Alumni Find more information about the Alumni of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies.
Principal Investigators
  • Principal Investigators The members of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies represent a unique set of disciplines specializing in non-European premodern societies. They have worked with a wide range of societies.
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Antweiler Prof. Dr. Christoph Antweiler is Principal Investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Aust
  • Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher is Principal Investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Jan H. Bemmann Prof. Dr. Jan H. Bemmann is Principal Investigator at the BCDSS
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Bentz Prof. Dr. Martin Bentz is principal investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berges Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berges is a principal investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Elke Brüggen
  • Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann is speaker of the BCDSS
  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Duve
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Nikolai Grube
  • Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich
  • Prof. Dr. Julia A. B. Hegewald
  • Prof. Dr. Wolfram Kinzig
  • Prof. Dr. Ludwig D. Morenz
  • Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack
  • Prof. Dr. Judith Pfeiffer
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Schermaier
  • Prof. Dr. Winfried Schmitz
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Schwermann
  • Prof. Dr. Peter Schwieger
  • Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stichweh
  • Prof. Dr. Konrad Vössing
  • Prof. Dr. Bethany J. Walker
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Max Paul Zeuske
  • Prof. Dr. Reinhard Zöllner
BCDSS Professors
  • BCDSS Professors
  • Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Claudia Jarzebowski Prof. Dr. Claudia Jarzebowski is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Witzenrath
Investigators
  • Investigators The members of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies represent a unique set of disciplines specializing in non-European premodern societies. They have worked with a wide range of societies.
  • Dr. Dennis Mario Beck Dr. Dennis Mario Back is an Investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Béla Bodó
  • Prof. Dr. Jan Dietrich Jan Dietrich is an investigator at the BCDSS
  • Prof. Dr. Lewis Doney
  • Prof. Dr. Sabine Feist
  • Prof. Dr. Kristina Großmann
  • Prof. Dr. Adrian Hermann Principal Investigator
  • PD Dr. Dorothea Heuschert-Laage PD Dr. Dorothea Heuschert-Laage is an investigator at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Hornung Principal Investigator
  • Dr. Anna Kollatz
  • Dr. Petra Linscheid
  • Prof. Dr. Hermut Löhr Principal Investigator
  • Prof. Dr. Birgit Münch Principal Investigator
  • Prof. Dr. Markus Saur Principal Investigator
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Jochen Sautermeister Principal Investigator
  • Dr. Gül Şen
  • Dr. Veruschka Wagner
Faculty
  • Faculty The Faculty of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies consists of four Spokespersons, BCDSS Professors, Research Associates, Research Group Leaders and Doctoral Candidates.
  • BCDSS Professorships
  • Research Group Leaders
  • Postdoctoral Researchers
  • Doctoral Candidates
BCDSS Professorships
  • BCDSS Professorships
  • Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Claudia Jarzebowski Prof. Dr. Claudia Jarzebowski is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink is Clusterprofessor at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Witzenrath
Research Group Leaders
  • Research Group Leaders
  • Dr. Mariana Armond Dias Paes Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Claude Chevaleyre Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Christian Giuseppe De Vito Principal Investigator and Founding Member
  • Dr. Lisa Hellman Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Sinah Kloß Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Christian Mader Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Hanne Østhus Research Group Leader
  • Dr. Jutta Wimmler Dr. Jutta Wimmler is research group leader at the BCDSS
  • Dr. Julia Winnebeck Dr. Julia Winnebeck is a research group leader at the BCDSS.
Postdoctoral Researchers
  • Postdoctoral Researchers
  • Dr. Vitali Bartash Vitali Bartash is a postdoctoral researcher at the BCDSS.
  • Dr. James M. Harland
  • Dr. Emma Kalb Postdoctoral Researcher at the BCDSS
  • Dr. Josef Köstlbauer
  • Dr. Jennifer Leetsch Researcher Profil
  • Eva Marie Lehner Dr. Eva Marie Lehner ist postdoctoral researcher at the BCDSS.
  • Dr. Viola Müller Postdoc
  • Dr. Elena Smolarz BCDSS Research Associate
Doctoral Candidates
  • Doctoral Candidates
  • Malik Ade Malik Ade is doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Boluwatife Akinro Doctoral Candidate
  • Turkana Allahverdiyeva Doctoral Candidate
  • Anas Ansar Doctoral Candidate
  • Dita Auziņa Doctoral Candidate
  • Maja E. Baum Maja E. Baum is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Bahar Bayraktaroğlu Bahar Bayraktaroğlu is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Joseph Biggerstaff Joseph Biggerstaff is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Giulia Cappucci Giulia Cappucci is doctoral candiate athe BCDSS.
  • Claire Conrad Doctoral Candidate
  • Juelma Da Conceição Gomes De Matos De Ngãla Doctoral Candidate
  • Maysa Espíndola Souza Doctoral Candidate
  • Adam Fagbore Doctoral Candidate
  • Katja Girr Katja Girr is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Magnus Goffin Doctoral Candidate
  • Zeynep Y. Gökce Doctoral Candidate
  • Paul Graf Doctoral Candidate
  • Nolwenn Guedeau Nolwenn Guedeau is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Honey Hammer Doctoral Candidate
  • Henriette von Harnier Henriette von Harnier is a doctoral researcher at the BCDSS.
  • Clara Hedtrich Doctoral Candidate
  • Samuel Huckleberry Samuel Huckleberry is a doctoral candidate.
  • Ayesha Hussain Doctoral Candidate
  • Luvena Kopp
  • Susana Macías Pascua Doctoral Candidate
  • Ricardo Márquez García Doctoral Candidate
  • Danitza L. Márquez Ramírez Doctoral Candidate
  • Stanislav Mohylnyi Doctoral Candidate
  • Lena Muders Lena Muders is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS
  • Lisa Phongsavath Lisa Phongsavath is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Jahfar Shareef Pokkanali Doctoral Candidate
  • David Ponwitz Doctoral Candidate
  • Alexander Rothenberg Doctoral Candidate
  • Christine Mae Sarito Doctoral Candidate
  • Julia Schmidt Julia Schmidt is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Nabhojeet Sen Doctoral Candidate
  • David Smith David Smith is a doctoral candidate at the BCDSS.
  • Taynã Tagliati Souza Doctoral Candidate
  • Laurie Venters Doctoral Candidate
  • Tamia Viteri Toledo Doctoral Candidate
  • Lukas Wissel Doctoral Candidate
  • Patrick Zeidler Doctoral Candidate
Fellows and Guest Researchers
  • Fellows and Guest Researchers Visiting Fellows and Guest Researchers join the Heinz Heinen Kolleg for Advanced Studies (HHK)
  • International Fellows Get an overview of the current international fellows at the Heinz Heinen Kolleg for Advanced Studies (HHK).
  • Guest Researchers Learn more about the current guest researchers at the BCDSS.
  • Internal Fellows Internal Fellows at the Heinz Heinen Kolleg for Advanced Studies (HHK).
International Fellows
  • International Fellows Get an overview of the current international fellows at the Heinz Heinen Kolleg for Advanced Studies (HHK).
  • Dr. David Beresford-Jones
  • André Luís Bezerra Ferreira
  • Chiriac Bogdan
  • Dr. Klara Boyer-Rossol
  • Dr. John F. Chuchiak
  • Dr. Frank J. Cirillo Dr. Frank J. Cirillo is a fellow at the BCDSS
  • Ruth Ennis Ruth Ennis is fellow at the BCDSS
  • Mònica Ginés-Blasi
  • Lori De Lucia
  • Prof. Dr. Ludolf Pelizaeus
  • Dr. Claudia Rauhut
  • Chioma Daisy Onyige
  • Prof. Dr. Boudewijn Sirks Prof. Dr. Boudewijn Sirks is a fellow at the BCDSS.
  • Anne Vater Anne Vater is Ph.D. candidate at the BCDSS
  • Dr. Fırat Yaşa
Guest Researchers
  • Guest Researchers Learn more about the current guest researchers at the BCDSS.
  • Prof. Dr. Paulo Cruz Terra
  • Prof. Dr. Frank Perlin
Affiliated Researchers
  • Affiliated Researchers Affiliated Researchers of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies contribute actively to the scientific output of the Center.
  • Prof. Dr. Manuel Barcia
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Ebner
  • Dr. Alain El Youssef
  • Prof. Dr. Roberto Hofmeister Pich
  • Dr. Caroline Laske
  • Dr. Paola Revilla Orías
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrike Schmieder
Management
  • Management The Management Unit (MU) coordinates the central activities of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies including the management of administrative services, budgeting and accounting, as well as media and public relations. In addition, the MU is involved in the recruitment and promotion of young scientists and the organization of academic and non-academic relations. The services of the MU support the everyday work of researchers as well as national and international collaborators.
  • Managing Director
  • Head of Research and Study
  • Press and PR Manager
  • Project Assistant
  • Translator and Academic Editor
  • Publications Manager
  • eTeaching Coordinator
  • Event Coordinator
  • Team Assistant
Alumni
  • Alumni Find more information about the Alumni of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies.
  • Prof. Dr. Andrew H. Apter
  • Prof. Dr. Stefan Brink
  • Prof. Dr. Trevor Burnard
  • Dr. Fabrizio Filioli Uranio
  • Prof. Dr. Jane Hathaway
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Hutter
  • Dr. Royce Mahawatte
  • Dr. Lotte Pelckmans
  • Prof. Dr. Serena Tolino
Third Mission
  • Third Mission
  • Equal Opportunities & Diversity We celebrate diversity and gender equality. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment and fair treatment for all our members. We attach great importance to fostering a multinational community.
  • Sustainability The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies is committed to raising awareness for sustainability and environmentally-friendly behavior. By implementing a sustainability strategy, we can make a contribution to the protection of our climate.
Research
  • Research In spite of the diverse forms that human bondage and coercion have taken over time, academic debates in the modern West have primarily focused on the most extreme one: slavery, and in particular, the trans-Atlantic experience of slavery which was closely entangled with the creation of the modern West. It still continues to inform our notions of what freedom and a lack of freedom mean. "Slavery" and "freedom" are ideologically charged terms. We will therefore use a more neutral terminology, and so move beyond the binary opposition of "slavery versus freedom" by suggesting "asymmetrical dependency" – or, more precisely, "strong asymmetrical dependency" as a new key concept, which includes debt bondage, convict labor, tributary labor, servitude, serfdom, and domestic work as well as forms of wage labor and various types of patronage.
  • Research Areas
  • Research Groups
  • Working Groups
  • Third-Party Funded Projects Connected to the BCDSS and Its Members Third-Party Funded Projects Connected to the BCDSS and Its Members
  • Slavery Digital Humanities Slavery Digital Humanities – Websites, Databases, Digital Archives and Collections
Research Areas
  • Research Areas
  • Research Area A: Semantics – Lexical Fields – Narratives In Research Area A, we approach the phenomenon of slavery and other types of strong asymmetrical dependencies from three methodologically and theoretically distinct perspectives: (1) Semantics, (2) Lexical Fields and (3) Narratives.
  • Research Area B: Embodied Dependencies In Research Area B, we approach the phenomenon of slavery and other types of strong asymmetrical dependencies by taking into consideration a pre-colonial perspective. We aim at establishing archaeology, art history, and object-based anthropology on an equal level with other disciplines of the humanities that focus on written sources
  • Research Area C: Institutions, Norms and Practices Dependency is created at the crossroads of norms and related institutions and practices. In this context, the central fields of study in Research Area C are legislation and legal practice, establishing norms and social practice, as well as literacy and orality.
  • Research Area D: Labor and Spatiality Research Area D no longer adopts European free wage labor as the standard labor relation of modernity. Instead of this approach it takes all forms of labor into account in equal measure: "free" and "unfree" forms of labor, productive and reproductive labor, capitalist and non-capitalist labor relations – in both Western and non-Western societies, from within and beyond European (colonial) history.
  • Research Area E: Gender (and Intersectionality) Research Area E focuses specifically on asymmetrical power relationships as reflected in gender relations and gender orders. The "gendering of the history of asymmetrical dependencies" makes it possible to discern differences and complementary structures in the experience of bonded and oppressed men and women, as well as of gender-conforming and -nonconforming individuals.
Research Groups
  • Research Groups
  • The Archaeology of Dependency (ArchDepth): Resources, Power and Status Differentiation
  • Beyond Slavery: Dependency in Asian History
  • Coerced Circulation of Knowledge
  • The Concept of Slavery in African History
  • Law and the Creation of Dependency in the Ibero-Atlantic
  • Marking Power: Embodied Dependencies, Haptic Regimes and Body Modification
  • Punishment, Labor and Dependency
  • Structures of Dependency in the Late Antique and Early Medieval Western Church
Publications
  • Publications The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies has different publication series: Monographs and edited volumes aimed at the scientific community, BCDSS Discussion Papers are articles reporting on research results from current projects. They are usually subsequently published in scholarly journals. BCDSS Working Papers report on preliminary research results or contribute to current debates. In addition, we offer you our quarterly newsletter and our cluster magazine DEPENDENT. Both publications provide information about the work of the cluster and give an insight into events and our research projects. sehepunkte is an interdisciplinary review journal and presents not only an ever-changing repertoire of reviews but also discussions of both monographs and edited collections in fields such as the history of medicine, law and art.
  • BCDSS's Publishing Series
  • Monographs and Edited Volumes by BCDSS members
  • Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
  • Contributions to Edited Volumes
  • Sehepunkte
  • Cluster Magazine "DEPENDENT"
BCDSS's Publishing Series
  • BCDSS's Publishing Series
  • BCDSS Book Series "Beyond Slavery and Freedom" The BCDSS Books Series "Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Asymmetrical Dependencies in Pre-Modern Societies"
  • Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture Series The Cluster has established a lecture series in the memory of Joseph C. Miller
  • BCDSS Working Papers The Working Paper Series is conceptualized as "works in progress".
  • BCDSS Concept Papers The Concept Paper Series is conceptualized as "living papers";
Academic Programs
  • Academic Programs Our cluster of excellence provides a graduate school and a fellow program. Three professorships that are implemented by the University specifically for the cluster complement the expertise of the Principal Investigators. A Center for Digital Humanities and our global research network are the most important measures that disseminate the cluster's research results.
  • MA Programs
  • Doctoral Program at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
  • Heinz Heinen Fellowship Program
MA Programs
  • MA Programs
  • Two-Year Master "Dependency and Slavery Studies"
  • One-Year Master "Slavery Studies"
  • Frequently Asked Questions Please find frequently asked questions to the application process here. The FAQs usually refer to both programs, unless otherwise stated.
  • News & Information Master Programs of BCDSS - Guidelines
  • Evaluation As part of our quality management, we regularly evaluate the courses of our MA programs “Dependency and Slavery Studies“ and “Slavery Studies“ since the winter term 2020/21 resp. the winter term 2021/22.
Newsroom
  • Newsroom During the semester the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies offers a variety of events around our research topics. Here you can find an overview of all our events. These are conferences, workshops, seminars, panel discussions or our Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture Series.
  • Upcoming Events
  • News
  • Cluster Magazine "DEPENDENT"
  • BCDSS Newsletter
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  2. Newsroom
  3. Upcoming Events

January

Lecture series
Monday, 31.01.2022 16:15

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Caroline Wallis

February

Lecture series
Monday, 14.02.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Tommaso Beggio

March

Lecture series
Monday, 07.03.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Johannes Michael Rainer
Lecture series
Monday, 21.03.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Johannes Auenmüller
Monday, 28.03.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Peter Gemeinhardt

April

Lecture series
Monday, 04.04.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Christine Walker
Lecture series
Monday, 11.04.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Nabil Matar
Lecture series
Monday, 25.04.2022 16:00

Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Juan Lewis
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