BGHS.NEWS
Research Retreat 2019 - Report
:: Research Retreat 2019 ::
Report from Vlotho
A weekend, secluded from the academic everyday work, to be able to focus on the presentation and discussion of new doctoral projects: That's the Research Retreat.
The Research Retreat of 2019 took place from 22 to 23 november in Vlotho near Bielefeld. 21 doctoral researchers took the opportunity to present and discuss their dissertation projects. In addition to the new colleagues Prof. Dr. Ursula Mense-Petermann, Prof. Dr. Peter Kramper and Prof. Dr. Oliver Flügel-Martinsen participated in the presentations and discussions of the projects.
The participants of this year's Research Retreat with Peter Kramper, Ursula Mense-Petermann and Oliver Flügel-Martinsen. All Photos: Hannah Grüneberg
The BGHS-specific format serves to network young scientists who have started their doctoral studies this year and to support the development of their projects
The groups are put together in a mixed way: sociologists meet historians and at the same time get to know interdisciplinary approaches, theoretical framing and methods of the other discipline.
We talked with Filip Vukusa about his experience of the Research Retreat:
Filip, how did you experience the Research Retreat?
For me it was a great opportunity to learn more about the projects by colleagues from different disciplines, as well as to get valuable feedback and insight from a new and fresh perspective. It was interesting to see that regardless of the discipline everyone seems to have similar hurdles to overcome at the start.
What was special for you about the Research Retreat?The fact that it takes place on a remote location over a two day period is really important. Just spending additional time together was a bonus in itself.
The open and friendly atmosphere gave everyone a chance not only to discuss their research, but to get to know each other and talk about things that would normally rarely come up in a more formal and time-constrained setting. All in all, it was a really great experience.
The participant's dissertation projects:
- Aziz Mensah (Sociology): The Association between Work-Life Balance and Self-Reported Health among Working. Adults in European Welfare States: A gender and Cross-Country Analysis
- Alice Farneti (Sociology): The Politics against Sexual Violence in Academia: A Qualitative Study of Institutional Continuity and Change in Quebecer Universities
- Moynul Haque (Sociology):Civil Resistance in Bangladesh: A Study on Student Dimension of Protest Movements
- Ngoc Luong (Sociology): Moral Struggles and Politics of Care under Market Socialism: Provision welfare for migrant workers in global factories in Vietnam
- Abdul Rauf (Sociology):Boundary (un)making by youth refugees in urban spaces
- Anass Khayati (Sociology): To see a World in a Grain of Sand: The Geopolitics of Learning at a German Public University
- Valentina Rivera (Sociology): Changes in gender role attitudes and female employment: a comparative study in Chile and Germany
- Aristeidis Myriskos (Sociology): From inclusive to equal European public spheres: bringing the theories of feminism and agonistic pluralism back in
- Sinmi Akin-Aina (Sociology): Claiming ‘gray space’, re-framing rights: Citizenship, Regional Political Intervention, and Urban Refugees in Dar es Salaam
- Filip Vukusa (Geschichte): (Re)Constructing Urban Medieval Social Networks: A Comparative Study of 14th Century Populations of Zadar and Rab
- Zhenwei Wang (Sociology):Patriarchy in Domestic Spaces in Late-Socialist China: An Ethnography on Young Couples’ Family Life during the Festival. Reunions in Yangtze River Delta
- Yueran Tian (Sociology): Restructuring welfare and care: an ethnographic study of vocational training and migrant factory workers in post-socialist China
- Abel Zekarias (Sociology): Migrants’ Remittances and Rural Livelihood: Concomitant considerately? Evidences from the Rural Ethiopia
- Olga Olkheft (History): Re-conception of Russian Avant-Garde art in the context of Cultural Cold War (1960s - 1980s)
- Priska Cimbal (Sociology): Transformation von Handlungsräumen
- Cansu Erdogan (Sociology): Development of Long-Term Care Policies in Turkey: (Inter)national Actors, Policy Diffusion and Translation
- Lisa de Vries (Sociology): Die Arbeitsmarktsituation von Homosexuellen: Benachteiligung und Diskriminierung im Erwerbsverlauf
- Simon Groß (History): Helmut Schelsky und das soziologische Feld der Bundesrepublik
- Anna Grotegut (History): Besteuerung von städtischen Immobilien. Bewertungs- und Vergleichspraktiken in Deutschland und Großbritannien 1870–1950.
- Malin Houben (Sociology): Die gynäkologische Praxis. Eine ethnographische Untersuchung.
- Nele Weiher (Sociology): Zwischen Selbst- und Fremdbestimmung. Zur Identitätsherstellung von Trans* im Rahmen von Flucht.
Further Information about course formats in the BGHS:
Let's talk! Non-academic careers #6
:: Non-academic careers ::
Practitioners in talk #Part 6
Many ways lead out of the BGHS. But where do pathways lead to after the doctorate? In the winter semester we talk to historians and sociologists who have chosen their profession outside the university. Michael Siedenhans spoke to us about his work as editor-in-chief at TERRITORY Content to Results GmbH.
Michael Siedenhans in an interview with Pelé in 2004.
Mr Siedenhans, you are editor-in-chief. Where exactly do you work?
Michael Siedenhans: At TERRITORY Content to Results GmbH in Gütersloh. We are a subsidiary of Gruner+Jahr and Germany's market leader in the field of content marketing. We develop content for a wide variety of channels for companies from very different industries so that they can reach their target groups - business customers, consumers, employees, but also sports fans. Our communication services help companies to convince these customers of their brands, services and products and thus win and retain them as customers. I am currently involved in customer and employee magazines as well as websites for DAX and family companies and NGOs.
What is your job as editor-in-chief like?
Michael Siedenhans: It may surprise you: Above all, it's a lot of teamwork. Together with colleagues from various disciplines such as strategy, conception, project management or graphics, we develop ideas for media and stories. For example, we ask ourselves the question: Which medium is best for our client to reach his customers? The classic print magazine or Facebook and Instagram? We deal with it because our client wants to position his brand better or perhaps differently in order to reach new target groups. For me, this means: developing, writing, organizing - and all in coordination with the various disciplines that are active in our company. So it's a bundle of tasks that you probably don't know in classical journalism.
During the Olympic Games in Vancouver 2010 Michael Siedenhans worked together with today's IOC President Thomas Bach.
What kind of knowledge and skills do you bring to your work as a historian?
Michael Siedenhans: First of all a lot of general education. It is important in order to familiarize oneself with different topics. These can range from the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany to pharmaceutical, logistics or technology topics for Hexal, Deutsche Post or Miele to the fan magazine for "Deutschland sucht den Superstar". As a social historian in particular, you have the advantage of knowing a little about everyday, economic, cultural and political history. You can always draw from this barrel again. Because of this variety of subjects in your studies, you train a quick grasp. I also bring with me a certain curiosity from my studies, which is very important in my job. Last but not least, internationality: the faculty made it possible for me to study in Baltimore for a year. This experience taught me to think outside the box.
What tips do you have for colleagues from sociology or history who are starting a career in your profession?
Michael Siedenhans: First, curiosity about people. It is extremely important. Secondly, openness to completely new things that you never got to know during your studies. This also includes interaction with superiors, colleagues and customers. Thirdly, a large portion of humility. When you come from university, you think: you are the greatest superstar. As a career starter, you should quickly forget that. My next tip: As a freelancer, you should gain your first professional experience for a daily newspaper. Unfortunately, only a few people who are interested in journalism in all its facets do so today. However, as a freelancer at a daily newspaper, you get to know many different people and learn to write for the target group of readers. Another tip: you should like to be on the move. This is not a job for homebodies. Over the past 20 years, I've got to know all five continents. After all, this is not a nine-to-five job either. Of course, there are phases when there is less to do. Then again there are phases when you work ten to twelve hours
Mr Siedenhans, thank you for talking to us.
The talk was conducted by Ulf Ortmann.
You can find the complete conversation as PDF here:
Further information on the project "Non-academic careers":
Desk Exchange 2019 - Report
2019 Doctoral Researcher Desk Exchange
:: Lund / York / Bielefeld ::
From November 4 to 15, 2019, the BGHS and the Department of History host two PhD students at the Desk Exchange with our partner universities Lund and York: Cheng Li from York and Peter Eriksson from the University of Malmö in cooperation with Lund University. In his dissertation project, Cheng Li is studying how Jeremy Bentham became the intellectual leader of British reformers. Peter Eriksson researches integration concepts for foreigners in 20th century Swedish society, focusing empirically on schools.
The theoretical framework and empirical peculiarities of the dissertation projects were discussed in depth in individual discussions with experienced scientists. The available discussion partners were Bettina Brandt, Lars Deile, Kay Junge, Martina Kessel, Jörg van Norden and Willibald Steinmetz. Also the discussions with doctoral students enriched the stay, especially the colloquium organized by the doctoral students Theresa Hornischer and Sisay Megersa, which took place on November 8th. Here, exciting perspectives on content and the methodological approach to the respective dissertation projects were discussed.
Accompanying leisure activities were not neglected either: One highlight was the Sparrenburg excursion on Sunday followed by dinner in a German brewery.
About the program:
The Desk Exchange is part of the trilateral cooperation between the Bielefeld Department of History and the BGHS with the National Graduate School of History at the University of Lund and the PhD Program in History at the University of York. It enables doctoral students from Lund, York and Bielefeld to get to know the other university over a longer period of time, to exchange ideas with local colleagues and to network internationally. During their stays in Lund, York and Bielefeld, participants have the opportunity to attend seminars and present their dissertation projects. In addition, they are given the opportunity to exchange ideas and ideas with teachers at their host university in one-on-one discussions.
The trilateral cooperation of Bielefeld History and BGHS with the National Graduate School of History at Lund University and the PhD Program in History at the University of York promotes the European networking of young scholars and the exchange of various research traditions and theoretical perspectives in history. Since 2016, the partners have also organized an annual International PhD Conference Lund/York/Bielefeld, which takes place alternately at one of the three universities.
The Participants and their Projects:
Peter Eriksson: "Social categories and the integration of foreigners in Swedish society during the 20th century with a particular focus on the link between governmental policy and school practice".
Cheng Li: "Jeremy Bentham and his lawyer friends in changing public attitude towards law reform, 1807-1832".
Other info: