New Colonial History

Colonial history has changed profoundly in the past 20 years due to the influences of Postcolonial Studies and the analytical perspectives of “histoire croisée”, of interconnectedness and transfer. In addition to aspects of cultural and knowledge history, the focus hereby lies on the reconstruction of an intertwined, reciprocal history of the West and the Global South as well as the influences of colonial structures, discourses and ideas in European societies. International History at the University of Trier is involved in this research field with important empirical and conceptual research contributions. Geographically speaking, our research deals with the colonial history of Africa (Klemens Wedekind), North America (Ursula Lehmkuhl, Hanno Scheerer, Lisa Schaub, Thomas Schira), Australia and New Zealand (Eva Bischoff, Haureh Hussein). From a transnational reflexive point of view, we look at the entanglements of German colonial policy on societal, cultural and social levels during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic (Eva Bischoff, Stefan Dixius).

Colonial history also plays an important role in teaching: We regularly contribute to the curricula of the interdisciplinary certificate in "Interdisciplinary Gender Studies" as well as the master's minor in "Intercultural Gender Studies". Since December 2012, Eva Bischoff is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Center for Postcolonial und Gender Studies (CePoG) at Trier University.