In recent years a series of academic disciplines concerned with cultures of knowledge have been "globalizing", i.e. reacting to globalization with a broadening of their agenda. We speak today of a "global history of science", "world antiquarianism", "world philology", "global art history", as well as of a "global intellectual history", the latter inspired, among others, by Christopher Bayly. Less clear, however, is what this broadening should look like if it is to avoid an accumulative character, merely aggregating numerous national traditions, nor is it clear what difficulties arise from this.
The conference will concentrate on three aspects: (1) Experience with the globalisation of the study of cultures of knowledge and intellectual history, problems, institutional ramifications, and funding. This concerns especially the consequences of reaching one’s own language and cultural barriers, e.g. when dealing with China, India, or the Islamic world and a greater dependence on collaboration with colleagues, co-authorship, and joint-papers at conferences. Methodological concerns need also be addressed: How can one avoid sacrificing the high standards set by an intellectual history concentrating on well-defined and narrow contexts? (2) Unique challenges concerning the globalisation of research into pre-modern history, i.e. in dealing with the period before the acute globalisation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. How are the "entanglements" of this early stage of world-wide interdependence to be analysed? Are post-colonial premises of entangled history really effective here? Are there here differences vis-à-vis the methodological approach to modern history? What is the relation of a “history of concepts” (Begriffsgeschichte) to a social history of ideas, and to the integration of images? How does the broadening of the spatial horizon relate to the broadening of the temporal horizon in the early modern period? (3) The reciprocal interactions between the diverse spheres of a globalised history of knowledge. How do the different broadening endeavours in varied fields like philology, art history, history of science, or history of philosophy relate to each other? Does a “global history of knowledge” of a kind emerge here or are these rather specific insights in given fields which shed light on research in others? Would a better understanding of “entanglement” afford us greater insight into agents’ individualising experiences? Does the comparison of similar traditions (e.g. antiquarianism in Europe and China or case descriptions as a pattern of thought in different cultures) lend itself for innovative questions about longue durée influences and relativizations?

The number of participants is limited. To register for participation please contact Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow (martin.mulsow@uni-erfurt.de).