Centers

The centers of the Faculty of Arts promote interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research. In addition to the university-wide Transdisciplinary Research Areas1, they offer an opportunity to promote collaborative research at the Faculty.

12

Centers of the Faculty of Arts

1

Cluster of Excellence: "Beyond Slavery and Freedom"

3

Centers with Faculty involvement

Centers of the Faculty

Bonn Center for ArcheoSciences2

BoCAS is a collaborative research and teaching facility bridging laboratory and field work. Its facilities are intended to serve as a hub for collaboration across the university connecting all archaeological disciplines, the humanities and sciences forging links between the Faculty of Arts, the Faculties of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Agriculture. Moreover, BoCAS joins forces with museums, other research institutions and universities in the Rhine region and beyond, as well as local stakeholders and research institutions on a national and international level.

Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies3

The BCDSS investigates profound social dependencies such as slavery, serfdom, debt bondage, and other forms of permanent dependency across epochs, regions and cultures. Its focus lies "beyond slavery and freedom", i.e. we aim to overcome the binary opposition of "free" and "unfree". Instead, we propose the new key concept of "asymmetrical dependency" to explore all forms of bondages across time and space.

Bonn Medieval Studies Centre4

The BMZ, which brings together representatives from seven institutes, is dedicated to interdisciplinary medieval research and focuses on the following areas: (1) Edition, reception, commentary: indexing and interpretation of medieval written monuments. (2) Social forms, communication and rule: social and cultural change. (3) Formation and transmission of knowledge (cultural memory). (4) The Middle Ages in regional and intercultural comparison. Projects are carried out on medieval history, the languages of the Middle Ages, medieval literature, art and philosophy in the Middle Ages, legal history, theology and others.

Bonn Center for Reconciliation Studies5

At the Bonn Center for Reconciliation Research, researchers from various disciplines in the humanities and textual sciences work together to develop an empirically founded, transcultural concept of 'reconciliation' and to enable a theoretically sophisticated analysis of reconciliation processes. The Center connects numerous university institutions and works closely with the KWI Essen and non-university centers in Bonn (BICC, IDOS). It also maintains international cooperation with Israel, Japan and Peru.

Power and Domination. Bonn Center for Premodern Orders and their forms of communication6
 
The members of the center 'Power and Domination' dedicate their research to premodern orders of rule. A special focus is on the network of relationships between the rulers and their forms of communication. Our work is characterized by a transcultural and transhistorical approach. The Center emerged as an initiative from the Collaborative Research Centre 1167 'Power and Rule - Pre-Modern Configurations in Transcultural Perspective' (2016-2021) funded by the German Research Foundation and has existed in its current form since 2021.

Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies7

The Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) is an interdisciplinary research center in the field of strategic foreign, European and security studies. It is directed by the Henry Kissinger Professorship, which is dedicated to the research and teaching of international security issues in the sense of strategic studies and their links to transatlantic relations. By providing scientific analysis and practice-oriented research, CASSIS develops strategic solutions for classic and non-classic security challenges. Examples include the return of geopolitics, interstate conflicts, competing global governance systems, cyber and energy security, terrorism, human security, health and food security. The overarching guiding principle of CASSIS' work is to seek opportunities for greater European cooperation and integration while strengthening the transatlantic partnership to address these challenges.

Center for Global Studies8

Research at the Center for Global Studies (CGS) focuses on the political, social and cultural effects of economic and technological globalization and the associated phenomenon of global power shifts in the 21st century. The CGS analyzes different manifestations of the global nature of societies in various regions of the world. From the perspectives of political science, sociology and cultural studies, the different manifestations and formations of globality in Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Australia-Oceania are examined in an interdisciplinary manner. In particular, the research center aims to systematically reflect on the disparities, asymmetries and contradictions that still characterize the processes of growing globality in different regions, interpret them in a meaningful way and compare them across cultures.

Centre Ernst Robert Curtius9

The Centre Ernst Robert Curtius (CERC) is a research center focusing on “European Cultures from a German and French Perspective”. CERC builds on the profile of Bonn's most influential Romance scholar Ernst Robert Curtius as a literary critic, philologist and cultural scientist. The research focus is guided by the basic assumption that at the beginning of the 21st century, Franco-German relations can no longer be regarded as an exclusively bilateral phenomenon. Rather, there is a consensus that these relations must be embedded in a European framework, which in turn is defined by Europe's relationship and interaction with the globalized world. The aim is to put the entirety of European discourses and constructs under scrutiny. Rather, we want to rethink Europe and its global networks from the mutual perspectives of Germany and France and thus contribute to socially relevant discourses and practical developments. Another central concern of the CERC is the promotion of young researchers by making the CERC's research available for the further development of international degree courses and research networks at the University of Bonn.

Centre for Mind Research10

The Centre for Mind Research (CMR) was founded to conduct joint interdisciplinary research on philosophical, psychological, psychiatric and normative problems. The thematic priorities include, in particular, research on the person, consciousness, self-awareness, personal identity, cognition and associated normative challenges. The CMR's specific contribution lies in expanding this research to cognitive science, artificial intelligence and computer science. The joint research activities are carried out in discipline-related individual projects as well as in interdisciplinary projects. In this context, the CMR also provides special support for young researchers.

Centre for the Classical Tradition11

The CCT is a research center that investigates Greco-Roman antiquity and its reception up to the present day. Accordingly, the focus is on all aspects of European languages and literatures as well as history and art that can be traced back directly or indirectly to Greek and Latin antiquity. The term 'Classical Tradition' is understood as the basis on which essential achievements of European-influenced cultures are founded. Therefore, CCT's research not only focuses on classical elements, but also on the reception and further development of ancient heritage from the Middle Ages through the early modern period to the modern age. The influence of ancient Greco-Roman and early Christian culture on European intellectual history is still evident and effective in many areas of science and everyday life in the 21st century.

Center for Historical Peace Research (ZHF)12

Founded in 2013, the Center for Historical Peace Research (ZHF) is dedicated to a wide range of projects researching peace and security in history. It is headed by the Chair of Early Modern History and Rhenish Regional History at the university and is supported by a scientific advisory board. The ZHF has a specialized library on war and peace (with a focus on the early modern period), a unique collection of microfilms on the Peace of Westphalia (1648) from over 150 European archives and libraries, as well as an extensive collection of contemporary press reports on the Peace Congress of Westphalia.

Center for Historical Foundations of the Present (ZHGG)13

The center offers a platform for the inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation of senior and junior researchers on problems of the genealogy of the present. They develop innovative concepts and strategies and they provide orientation with regard to challenges in today's economy, politics and society. The center shares the results of its work with the academic and broader public through lectures, conferences and publications.

Centers with Faculty involvement

Interdisciplinary Latin America Center14

Since its foundation in 2004, the ILZ has promoted scientific dialogue and interdisciplinary cooperation between researchers and institutes at the University of Bonn. In addition, the ILZ maintains collaborations and projects with universities with the same area focus, particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia. The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach of the ILZ goes hand in hand with the development of innovative methodological and conceptual approaches that go beyond the portfolio of disciplinary approaches. The ILZ's translational work make it possible to combine perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities and thus to investigate the interactions between humans, technology and nature.

International Centre for Philosophy NRW15

In line with contemporary developments and with a global orientation we support intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange in the field of philosophy and neighbouring disciplines. In addition to guest lectures, symposiums and visiting professorships, this includes an international course of studies as well as an international doctoral college and exchange programs for undergraduates and doctoral students.

Center for Religion and Society 16

The ZERG was founded at the University of Bonn on July 12, 2005. It is a cross-faculty institution that aims to bundle the excellence already present at the University of Bonn in this field and to focus on the issue of “Religion and Society”. The ZERG thus unites the research areas of currently more than 30 members (professors, university lecturers and private lecturers) of the Protestant Theological, Catholic Theological, Medical, Philosophical and Law and Political Science Faculties as well as the Old Catholic Seminary.

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