Editorial

Prof. Dr. Thomas MaissenActing Director

Dear colleagues and friends,

I am glad to open this newsletter with good news. The Cluster’s second funding period has started successfully. Fifteen Interdisciplinary Research Groups and four Junior Research Groups have been established. In addition, the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies has been founded. This permanent institute will succeed the Cluster in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Graduate Programme continues to evoke great interest. More than 190 students from all over the world submitted their applications for eight scholarships. Also, more than 40 students have started the M.A. Transcultural Studies.

Moreover, I have to inform you about some personnel changes. After five very successful years, we say goodbye to the Cluster’s co-founders Prof. Rudolf G. Wagner and Prof. Madeleine Herren-Oesch. We are profoundly grateful for their tireless efforts and invaluable input. Prof. Wagner continues his work as senior professor and Prof. Herren-Oesch is the new Director of the Europe Institute in Basel. Now, Prof. Barbara Mittler and I appreciate the honour to join Prof. Axel Michaels in managing the Cluster.

The following pages provide you more details about the most important developments of the last months, such as a new digital humanities collaboration and many new publications in the Cluster’s book series.

I hope you all enjoy the read and have a successful spring term!

Best regards

Prof. Dr. Thomas MaissenActing Director

Dr. Alexandra Heidle-ChhatwaniScientific Project Manager

Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”

NEWSlEttEr SPriNG 2013

CoNtENt

News

Second Funding PeriodDigital HumanitiesGraduate Programme

People

New Directorate Scientific Project ManagerHengstberger Prize

Publications

Cluster Book SeriesNew Issue of the E-JournalBooks by Cluster Members

Events

Musical SoiréeConferencesUpcoming Events

NExt iSSuE

date of Publication

Autumn 2013

CoNtaCt

Press office

Dr. Alexander HäntzschelPhone: +49-6221-54-4008E-Mail: press@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.deWeb: www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de

New Projects within and across the research areas

The Cluster’s second funding period has started with many new projects and scholars. Fifteen Interdiciplinary Research Groups have been established. Each group has up to five research projects within or across the research areas. In addition, four Junior Research Groups have been initiated. They focus on topic such as “Transcultural Justice”, “Agrarian Alternatives”, and “Transcultural Dynamics of Pentecostalism”. A fourth group will start in summer in the field of Islamic Studies. In total, more than 50 new scholars moved into the Karl Jaspers Centre.

New digital Humanities Collaboration

Emerging from project B4 “Transcultural Visuality” and HRA expertise, Prof. Christane Brosius, Prof. Barbara Mittler, and other Cluster members co-initiated “Archives of the Everyday” with Leiden University and the University College London. The collaboration will emphasise the digital humanities and open with a workshop from October 31 to November 2, 2013.

opening: German House for research and innovation, New delhi

Prof. Axel Michaels and Dr. Doris Hillger represented Heidelberg University at the ceremonial opening of the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) in New Delhi in October. The DWIH in New Delhi combines German research and funding organisations and businesses operating in India under a single umbrella.

documentaries by Niels Gutschow and axel Michaels

Prof. Niels Gutschow and Prof. Axel Michaels produced a number of documentaries on restoration and rituals in India, Nepal and Japan. The different films examine a wide variety of topics, such as the renewal of Shinto schrines in Japan, the conservation of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, the dynamics of death, and ancestor rituals among the Newars or main events of a Hindu marriage in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Shot by cameraman Christian Bau, some of the films are available on DVD as part of book publications by Harrassowitz.

CarEErS SErviCE

Graduate Programme

The second group of doctoral students completed the Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies (GPTS). The Closing Ceremony for the 16 doctoral students was held in November.

This year, the GPTS attracted more than 190 applicants from 41 countries around the world - including China, India and Iran.

M.a. transcultural Studies

More than 40 students from 12 countries have started the M.A. Transcultural Studies in the winter semester 2012/13. The next application deadline for international students is June 15.

Career day

In December, the Cluster invited young scholars and post-doctoral researchers to its first Career Day. Professionals gave introductions to their respective field of profession, an experienced coach offered job application trainings, and the new post-doctoral researchers of the Cluster were welcomed.

Joint doctoral Programme

Heidelberg University and Tohoku University offer a joint doctoral programme. Initiated by Cluster Professor Harald Fuess, the new programme will enable students to receive a double degree from Heidelberg University and Tohoku University, Japan.

Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” NEWS

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Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” PEoPlE

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New directorate for the Cluster

Prof. Axel Michaels, Prof. Barbara Mittler, and Prof. Thomas Maissen form the Cluster’s new directorate. Prof. Barbara Mittler succeeds Prof. Wagner who stays as senior professor at Heidelberg University. Prof. Thomas Maissen succeeds Prof. Madeleine Herren-Oesch who becomes Director of the Europe Institute at Basel University. The two former directors co-founded and managed the Cluster for more than five years together with Prof. Axel Michaels.

New Scientific Project Manager

Scientific Project Manager Dr. Alexandra Heidle-Chhatwani will leave the Cluster at the end of May. Dr. Heidle-Chhatwani managed the Cluster since 2011 and played a decisive role in the successful application for the second funding period in 2012. Her successor will be announced shortly.

New representative of the Cluster’s Branch office

PD Dr. Elvira Graner has become the new representative of the Cluster’s liasion office in New Delhi, India. The branch office is part of the Heidelberg Center South Asia. Elvira Graner, a former lecturer at the South Asia Institute, succeeds Dr. Doris Hillger who returned to Germany.

innovation Fund for Maran and Stockhammer

The Innovation Fund “FRONTIER” of Heidelberg University is funding a new research project by Prof. Joseph Maran and Dr. Philipp Stockhammer. The project on “Interculturality and Migration in the Southern Levant in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age” will continue the work of the former research project D2 of the Cluster.

Hengstberger Prize for roland Wenzlhuemer

PD Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer has been awarded the Klaus-Georg and Sigrid Hengstberger Prize for Young Scientists at Heidelberg University. He used the prize money to host the conference “Being in Transit - Shipboard Travel and its Role in Nineteeth-Century Globalisation” in April.

FurtHEr NEWS

Melanie trede

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities has appointed Prof. Melanie Trede as full member in the Humanities Class for her outstanding achievements in East Asian Art History.

diamantis Panagiotopoulos

Prof. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos was elected as Speaker of Research Area A and Representative of the Research Area Speakers.

Björn-ole Kamm

Björn-Ole Kamm is the new Graduate Programme Lecturer. He succeeds Dr. Kerstin von Lingen, who became Coordinator of Junior Research Group A16 “Transcultural Justice”.

Johannes Quack

Dr. Johannes Quack has been awarded a prize by the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt for his outstanding dissertation.

Philipp Stockhammer

A photo series documents an excavation project by Cluster Member Dr. Philipp Stockhammer. The images by photographer Victor Brigola give a good impression how archaelogists work, from digging to studying the finds. A photo gallery is available on the Cluster website.

The new directorate of the Cluster during their regular meeting

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Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” PuBliCatioNS

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New Books in the Cluster’s Book Series

The last few months saw the publication of a number of new volumes of the Cluster’s book series “Transcultural Research - Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context”. The series presents peer-reviewed books by members of the Cluster as well as scholars from both historical and em-pirical disciplines.

“Modernity’s Classics” is a new publication edited by Prof. Sarah C. Humphreys and Prof. Rudolf G. Wagner. This book presents critical studies of modern reconfigurations of conceptions of the past, of the ‘classical’, and of national heritage. Its scope is global with focus on China, India, Egypt, Iran, Judaism and the Greco-Roman world and interdisciplinary regarding the fields of textual philology, history of art and architecture, philosophy and gardening.

“Citizenship as Cultural Flow. Structure, Agency and Power”, edited by Prof. Subrata K. Mitra, analyses the roots of citizenship in India and compares the development with the European Union. By delving into a range of sources - among them survey questions, historical documents, political theory, architectural design, and public policy - the book provides a unique analysis of when and why citizenship has taken root in India.

FurtHEr PuBliCatioNS

Books

Barnow, Sven; Balkir, Nazli (ed.). “Cultural Variation in Psychopathology: From Research to Practice”. Cambridge: Hogrefe Publishing. 2013.The publication explores interactions between migration, culture, and psychopathology.

Grüner, Frank; Hohler, Susanne; Urbansky, Sören. “Borders in Imperial Times. Daily Life and Urban Spaces in Northeast Asia”. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag. 2013. The seven articles of this special issue compare and analyse the social history of urban spaces in so-called “border towns” of Northeast Asia, such as Manchuria, Harbin, Dalian and Vladivostok.

E-Journal

The new issue of the e-journal Transcultural Studies is available. It features an enhanced podcast by Neil MacGregor on “Trajectories of Meaning: the Shifting Power of Things”, an article by Subrata Mitra, and a themed section on “The Transcultural Travels of Trends”, including essays by Huang Xuelei and Petra Thiel. This peer-reviewed, open-access journal is committed to promoting the knowledge and research of “transculturality”.

online Bibliography

Visit www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/publications

“The Nation State and Beyond. Governing Globalization Processes in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries” is a new book by Dr. Isabella Löhr and PD Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer. The studies presented here argue that looking at the nation state from the perspective of global entanglements opens the door for its interpretation as a dynamic and multi-layered structure that takes part in globalization processes and plays various and contradictory roles at the same time.

In an age of globalization there is frequent migration across national borders, resulting in a reconsideration of the notion, practice and social institution of national citizenship. Addressing this phenomenon, the new book “Citizenship and Migration in the Era of Globalization. The Flow of Migrants and the Perception of Citizenship in Asia and Europe” by Prof. Markus Pohlmann, Prof. Jonghoe Yang and Dr. Jong-Hee Lee focuses on the exchange between Korea and Germany.

Newsletter Spring 2013

Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” PuBliCatioNS

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New Book on Chinese Cultural revolution

Prof. Barbara Mittler’s new book “A Continuous Revolution – Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture” examines the popularity of propaganda art in modern China, particularly the influence of musical, literary-philosophical and artistic traditions in prior culture-revolutionary times. Prof. Mittler suggests that Cultural Revolution propaganda art was able to build on a tradition of earlier art works.

New Book on the rituals among the Newars

“Getting married” is a new book by Prof. Axel Michaels and Prof. Niels Gutschow. It is the last of three volumes on Hindu- and Buddhist life-cycle rituals among the Newars in Nepal. The three books provide a comprehensive ethno-indological study of all major life-cycle rituals of a certain Hindu and Buddhist community. For the first time, all the major Samskaras have been studied at one place, in one community and in a way that combines fieldwork with philology.

SElECtEd artiClES

Arens, Elisabeth. “Ethnic Variation in Emotion Regulation. Do Cultural Differences End Where Psychopathology Begins?“. In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 44. 2013. 335-351.

Brosius, Christiane. “Love Attacks: Romance, Media Voyeurism and Activism in the Public Domain”. In: Sanjay Srivastava (ed.). Sexuality Studies. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2013. 253-283.

Eisenbeiß, Anja. “Distant Knowledge. Images of Learned Discourse in Saint Augustine’s City of God”. In: Images of Otherness in Medieval and Early Modern Times: Exclusion, Inclusion, Assimilation, edited by Eisenbeiß, Anja; Saurma-Jeltsch, Lieselotte. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag. 2012. 107-117.

Koch, Franziska. “Von China Avantgarde bis Living in Time. Gruppenausstellungen zeitgenössischer chinesischer Kunst in Deutschland seit 1993”. In: Ingo Herklotz, Hubert Locher and Angelika Fricke (eds.), Marburger Jahrbuch 2012, Weimar: VDG. 2013. 257-313.

Mittler, Barbara. “Wider den ‘nationalen Stil’: Individuelles und Internationales in Chinas Neuer Musik”. In: Musik und Kulturelle Identität - Bericht über den XIII. Kongress der Gesellschaft für Musikforschung Weimar 2004. 3 Bde, Band 2: Symposien B, Kassel: Bärenreiter. 2012. 603-607.

New Book on telegraphy in the 19th Century

In his new book “Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World. The Telegraph and Globalization” PD Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer examines the links between the development of telegraph and the paths of globalization. The book reveals how people engaged with the technology, how the use of telegraphy affected communication itself and whether faster communication alone can explain the central role that telegraphy occupied in nineteenth-century globalization.

New Book on Heritage as a transcultural Concept

“Kulturerbe und Denkmalpflege transkulturell. Grenzgänge zwischen Theorie und Praxis” is a new publication by Prof. Monica Juneja and Dr. Michael Falser. It is the result of a conference organised by project “Heritage as a transcultural concept”, in cooperation with the Arbeitskreis “Theorie und Lehre der Denkmalpflege”.Published by Transcript, the volume of essays explores the conceptual and applied pathways of cultural heritage and conservation theories and practices from a transcultural perspective.

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Newsletter Spring 2013

Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” EvENtS

Musical Soirée for Madeleine Herren-oesch

The Cluster invited to a musical soirée in honour of Prof. Madeleine Herren-Oesch. The former Cluster director left Heidelberg after five years to become the Director of the Europe Institute in Basel. The farewell with musical performances took place in February at the Stadtbuecherei Heidelberg.

Workshop in Cairo on religion and aesthetics

“Aesthetics of the Sublime: Religious Texts and Rhetorical Theory” was the title of a workshop held in Cairo from December 15 to 17. The workshop was organised by the Orient-Institute Beirut and research group MC2.2 “Listening Communities: Islamic Sermons as a Transcultural Medium” and coordinated by Prof. Susanne Enderwitz and Prof. Hans Harder.

Jour Fixe with Patrick Geary and Patricia Spyer

Advisory Board member Prof. Patrick Geary gave a lecture on the topic “Völkerwanderung, Transculturality and Gene Flow at the End of Antiquity” during the first Jour Fixe of the winter term. He asked whether genetic history can contribute to a multi-dimensional history of transculturality. The second Jour Fixe on January 18, was on the Cluster’s research programme, including input statements by Advisory Board members Prof. Patricia Spyer, Prof. Rana Mitter and Prof. Joachim Kurtz.

talk by John Willinsky

Leading expert on open access publishing Prof. John Willinsky held a keynote lecture on “Revolutionizing academic publishing? The open access challenge”. The lecture was organised by the University’s Graduate Academy and Dr. Andrea Hacker.

South asia institute exhibits World Press Photos

As final event to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the South Asia Institute (SAI) exhibits the World Press Photos of Amit Madheshiya. The exhibition opened in January and will go on until May. It is the outcome of a collaboration of Research Area B, SAI and the Institute of Anthropology.

uPCoMiNG EvENtS

Summer School 2013

The title of this year’s Sum-mer School is “Sites of Knowledge: Space, Locality, and Circulation between Asia and Europe”. It will explore the significance of space and locality for the generation and circulation of knowledge. The Summer School’s sessions will address questions such as: Is all knowledge local? And does the situatedness of knowledge preclude claims to “truth” and “universality”? It will take place at the Karl Jaspers Centre from August 4 to 8. Organisers are Prof. Joachim Kurtz and Dr. Martin Hofmann.

annual Conference 2013

The Cluster’s 5th Annual Conference “Managing Empires. Cooperation, Competition, Conflict” seeks to shed new light on the nexus between logistics and power by exploring the administrative foundations of different types of ‘empires’. Setting a very wide temporal and spatial frame, the conference will explore the significance of administrative organisation for establishing and maintaining empires. The conference will take place from October 9 to 11 in Heidelberg. It is organised by Prof. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos on behalf of Research Area A “Governance & Administration”.

online Event Calendar

Visit www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/events

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