The Centre for Empire Studies (CES) would like to announce the upcoming major conference of the Association for Political History (APH), which will take place in Münster from June 11 to 13, 2026, under the title “Dynamizing and Decentring Empires. A Recalibration of the History of the Political.”
The conference is being organized primarily by Jacco Pekelder and the ZNS Centre for Dutch Studies. In addition to the CES, other partners include the Research School Political History (RSPH/OPG), Utrecht University with the Security History Network/History of International Relations (SHN), and the Chair of Contemporary History at Heidelberg University (Silke Mende).
The conference program can be found here: ApH Program
To participate, please register in advance via the following link:
https://indico.uni-muenster.de/event/4115/registrations/4156/
Sunday, May 17, 2026, 11:00 | VHS Münster, Aegidiistr. 70
“Kandik fights against evil. Using her superpowers, the heroine protects her village from attackers – in the comic. Sudanese artist Sara Amin drew inspiration for this from history. ‘Kandake’ was the name given 2,000 years ago to the queens of Meroë, in the Nubian kingdom of Kush. During the 2018–19 revolution, Sudanese female activists were called ‘Kandake’. They fought for democracy and freedom, sadly without superpowers. The revolution is considered to have been ‘stolen’.” Using this example from the volume “Sudan Retold”, Cornelia Wegerhoff illustrates how every era reinterprets stories and thereby preserves them (Amnesty Journal 02/2026).
The journalist will host the book launch with Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann and the artists Amna Elhassan and Rund Alarabi. They have contributed to the art book, which features works by 40 cultural practitioners – including the illustrator who depicts ‘Kandik’ as a superheroine and the musician who blends Sudanese sounds with hip-hop, jazz and reggae. Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann will provide food for thought, researching the impact that violent conflicts have on artists, and conversely, the influence of art on affected communities. Sandra Hetzl will provide German-Arabic translation, and Ibrahim Abdulhalim will perform music.
Admission is free – donations are welcome.
The event is organised in collaboration with various associations and institutions. These include Afrikanische Perspektiven e.V., vhs-Münster, Postcolonial, Transnational and Transcultural Studies at the Department of English at the University of Münster, Eine-Welt-Forum Münster e.V., Darfur-Hilfe e.V., Arabisch-deutscher Literaturkreis | ArDeLit, and Afrika Kooperative e.V.
Further information can be found at: https://afrikanische-perspektiven.de
On 13 May 2026 at 4.30 pm, a discussion on the topic “German colonialism in exhibitions – perspectives, challenges and responsibility” will take place at the Haus der Niederlande in Münster. The discussion will feature Barbara Rommé, Director of the Münster City Museum, alongside Johannes Jansen and Sarah Albiez-Wieck, members of the Department of History and the Centre for Empire Studies.
The panellists will discuss how German colonialism is presented in museums and exhibition venues and the challenges associated with this. The colonial past of Latin America and the Netherlands will also be addressed during the discussion. The focus will be on the selection and contextualisation of objects, the handling of sensitive collections, and the involvement of the public. The aim is to develop new approaches to dealing responsibly with colonial history.
The event will be moderated by Jacco Pekelder (Centre for Netherlands Studies, CES). Admission is free. Further information can be found at this link: Event Haus der Niederlande
Once again, the CES would like to draw your attention to a lecture on the theme of ‘Empire’ as part of the Colloquium on Eastern European History. On Monday, 11 May 2026, Yurii Zazuliak will give a lecture on the topic: ‘Slavery, Conversion, and Ethnicity in Late Medieval Galicia’. As was the case last week, the lecture will be delivered in English.
Students and anyone else interested are warmly invited. The event begins at 6.15 pm in Lecture Theatre F3 of the Fürstenberghaus.
On 27 April 2026, Dr Ulrich Hofmeister from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will give a lecture at the Colloquium on Eastern European History on the topic: ‘Migrating Cities: The Relocation of Towns in the Pre-modern Tsarist Empire’.
Students and anyone else interested are warmly invited to attend. The event will take place in Lecture Theatre F3 of the Fürstenberghaus and begins at 6.15 pm.
On Wednesday 22 April 2026, Dr Kevin Lenk (University of Heidelberg) will give a lecture as part of the Colloquium on Modern and Contemporary History on the topic: ‘A Toad Named Leviathan: Security, Statehood and International Law in the Maritime Interregnum (1890–1958)’.
The lecture examines how colonial empires responded to the uncertainties triggered by new forms of shipping by creating trans-imperial security regimes and new legal orders that consolidated imperial power relations at sea and continue to have an impact on international law to this day.
On Monday, 20 April 2026, Dr Tobias Rupprecht from the Free University of Berlin will give a lecture entitled ‘An Anti-Colonial Empire? On Russia’s Role in Preserving the Independence of Abyssinia, Afghanistan and Siam around 1900’ as part of the Department of Eastern European History’s colloquium.
Due to the thematic connection to the topic of “Empire”, the CES is drawing explicit attention to this event.
The session will take place in Room F3 of the Fürstenberghaus and will begin at 6.15 pm.
Mario Graña Taborelli and Hayley Roy were fellows at the CES from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026. They would like to take the opportunity to share with us the results of their work
The organisers of the Association for Political History (APH) and their partners are calling for papers, panels and posters. From 11 to 13 June, the topic "Dynamising and Decentring Empires: A Recalibration of the History of the Political" will be explored in depth at a three-day conference. The venue is the University of Münster.
On 26 June 2026, an CES internal workshop will be held in room F072 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Fürstenberghaus.
If you have any questions or are interested, please contact sarah.albiez-wieck(at)uni-muenster.de by email.
The conference "The Imperial Dimension of Catherine II's Legislative Commission (1767–1768)" will be hosted by Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius and Prof. Dr. Lena Marasinova from the Department of Eastern European History at the University of Münster's History Seminar in collaboration with the Centre for Empire Studies (CES) on March 12–13, 2026.
Those interested in participating in the conference can register by writing to Irina Rempel (irina.rempel(at)uni-muenster.de).
On 9 and 10 February 2026, the CES will hold a workshop on the topic: ‘Imperial Frontiers. Global and local entanglements’.
Those interested can register to participate in the workshop by 31 January 2026 at ces(at)uni-muenster.de.
The detailed programme for this conference can be found here: CES Workshop Programme
On October 29-30.2025, an international conference will be held in Münster on the topic of “(Post)Byzantine Worlds: The (Eastern) Roman Heritage between East and West.” The conference is a collaboration between several institutes from various universities.
The participating institutions are the Department of East European History, University of Münster (Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius), Chair of Eastern European History, University of Mainz (Prof. Dr. Jan Kusber), Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, University of Münster (Prof. Dr. Michael Grünbart), Chair of Byzantine Studies, University of Mainz (Prof. Dr. Johannes Pahlitzsch), Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” and the Centre for Empire Studies: (Post)colonial Histories and Global Entanglements (CES)
On 27–28 November 2025, a workshop on the topic of ‘Imperial Hostages (Amanaty) Exploring Imperial Governance and Subordination in the Eurasian Space’ will take place at the Käthe Hamburger Kolleg in Münster. This workshop is being organised by the Institute for Eastern European History at the University of Münster in cooperation with the Centre for Empire Studies (CES).
This Wednesday, October 29, 2025, the two new fellows at the Centre for Empire Studies, Hayley Roy and Mario Graña Taborelli, will give a lecture on their current research project as part of the Modern and Contemporary History Colloquium. The lectures will begin at 6:15 p.m. in Room F3 (Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22). Both speakers will present in English.
Hayley Roy (Emory University (USA)) will talk about "Networks of Nurses: Debating Nursing Practice in the German Overseas Empire, 1890 - 1907" while Mario Graña Taborelli (UCL (London) will speak about "Building Political Density, "Equipping the Land": Entangled Jurisdictions, Political Cultures, and Law in the Construction of a Frontier in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds".
The CES is organising a semester lecture in the coming winter semester. On 22 October Prof. Dr. Albrecht Fuess from the University of Marbirg will speak at the colloquium about "The Clash of Muslim Empires. The struggle between Ottomans, Safavids and the Mamluks 1490 - 1520".
The speaker, Albrecht Fuess, is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Marburg.
The workshop ‘Standardisation and Empire (19th/20th Century)’, which was held in cooperation with the CES, was successful. The conference report has now been published.
Next year, the Association of Political History will hold its conference entitled "Dynamising and Decentring Empires: A Recalibration of the History of the Political". The conference will take place in Münster from 11 to 13 June 2026. The organizers are opening a call for papers, panels and posters. You can find the cfp and further information here.
At the Münster City Museum, visitors can follow in the footsteps of German colonialism in Münster.
Since 22 August, the Colonialism themed room has been open to visitors at Münster City Museum. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the University of Münster and several partner institutions and can be visited until 15 February 2026.
The CES is organising a semester lecture in the coming winter semester. On 22 October Prof. Dr. Albrecht Fuess from the University of Marbirg will speak at the colloquium about "The Clash of Muslim Empires. The struggle between Ottomans, Safavids and the Mamluks 1490 - 1520".
On Feburary 9th and 10th 2026, the CES will host a workshop on "Imperial frontiers. Global and
local entanglements". The Workshop will take place in Münster, the workshop language is English. Further information will follow!
On July 1st the Dutch historian Gert Oostindie will hold a presentation on "The Rediscovery of the Dutch Colonial Past". The talk will take place at the Haus der Niederlande at 7 o'clock in the library.
On 15 and 16 May 2025, PD Dr Caroline Rothauge (Münster) and PD Dr Nina Mackert (Leipzig) are organising the workshop "Standardisierung und Empire (19./20. Jh.)" together with the Centre for Empire Studies Interested parties are welcome to register by 5 May 2025 at the latest.
The Centre for Empire Studies: (Post)Colonial Histories and Global Entanglements (CES) at the University of Münster welcomes applications for fellowships for a period of up to six months starting 1 October 2025
Good news for the Center for Empire Studies: The application submitted in cooperation with the Department of History was awarded EUR 30,000 by the International Office, which represents important start-up funding for the realization of future projects.
The Center for Empire Studies. (Post)Colonial Histories and Global Entanglements will continue last summer's successful lecture series in the coming year: a lecture from the field of Empire Studies will take place on three dates in the summer semester 2025.
Following the official founding of the CES in June of this year, the opening conference took place on 10 and 11 October 2024. The two days of the conference attracted many internal and external guests to the interesting lectures and, not least, the evening keynote speech by Frederick Cooper and Jane Burbank, which led to a stimulating exchange between all guests.
This Wednesday, October 29, 2025, the two new fellows at the Centre for Empire Studies, Hayley Roy and Mario Graña Taborelli, will give a lecture on their current research project as part of the Modern and Contemporary History Colloquium. The lectures will begin at 6:15 p.m. in Room F3 (Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22). Both speakers will present in English.
Hayley Roy (Emory University (USA)) will talk about "Networks of Nurses: Debating Nursing Practice in the German Overseas Empire, 1890 - 1907" while Mario Graña Taborelli (UCL (London) will speak about "Building Political Density, "Equipping the Land": Entangled Jurisdictions, Political Cultures, and Law in the Construction of a Frontier in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds".
On 27–28 November 2025, a workshop on the topic of ‘Imperial Hostages (Amanaty) Exploring Imperial Governance and Subordination in the Eurasian Space’ will take place at the Käthe Hamburger Kolleg in Münster. This workshop is being organised by the Institute for Eastern European History at the University of Münster in cooperation with the Centre for Empire Studies (CES).
On October 29-30.2025, an international conference will be held in Münster on the topic of “(Post)Byzantine Worlds: The (Eastern) Roman Heritage between East and West.” The conference is a collaboration between several institutes from various universities.
The participating institutions are the Department of East European History, University of Münster (Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius), Chair of Eastern European History, University of Mainz (Prof. Dr. Jan Kusber), Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, University of Münster (Prof. Dr. Michael Grünbart), Chair of Byzantine Studies, University of Mainz (Prof. Dr. Johannes Pahlitzsch), Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” and the Centre for Empire Studies: (Post)colonial Histories and Global Entanglements (CES)
On 9 and 10 February 2026, the CES will hold a workshop on the topic: ‘Imperial Frontiers. Global and local entanglements’.
Those interested can register to participate in the workshop by 31 January 2026 at ces(at)uni-muenster.de.
The detailed programme for this conference can be found here: CES Workshop Programme
The CES is organising a semester lecture in the coming winter semester. On 22 October Prof. Dr. Albrecht Fuess from the University of Marbirg will speak at the colloquium about "The Clash of Muslim Empires. The struggle between Ottomans, Safavids and the Mamluks 1490 - 1520".
The speaker, Albrecht Fuess, is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Marburg.
The workshop ‘Standardisation and Empire (19th/20th Century)’, which was held in cooperation with the CES, was successful. The conference report has now been published.
At the Münster City Museum, visitors can follow in the footsteps of German colonialism in Münster.
Since 22 August, the Colonialism themed room has been open to visitors at Münster City Museum. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the University of Münster and several partner institutions and can be visited until 15 February 2026.
Next year, the Association of Political History will hold its conference entitled "Dynamising and Decentring Empires: A Recalibration of the History of the Political". The conference will take place in Münster from 11 to 13 June 2026. The organizers are opening a call for papers, panels and posters. You can find the cfp and further information here.
The CES is organising a semester lecture in the coming winter semester. On 22 October Prof. Dr. Albrecht Fuess from the University of Marbirg will speak at the colloquium about "The Clash of Muslim Empires. The struggle between Ottomans, Safavids and the Mamluks 1490 - 1520".
On Feburary 9th and 10th 2026, the CES will host a workshop on "Imperial frontiers. Global and
local entanglements". The Workshop will take place in Münster, the workshop language is English. Further information will follow!
On July 1st the Dutch historian Gert Oostindie will hold a presentation on "The Rediscovery of the Dutch Colonial Past". The talk will take place at the Haus der Niederlande at 7 o'clock in the library.
On 15 and 16 May 2025, PD Dr Caroline Rothauge (Münster) and PD Dr Nina Mackert (Leipzig) are organising the workshop "Standardisierung und Empire (19./20. Jh.)" together with the Centre for Empire Studies Interested parties are welcome to register by 5 May 2025 at the latest.
The Centre for Empire Studies: (Post)Colonial Histories and Global Entanglements (CES) at the University of Münster welcomes applications for fellowships for a period of up to six months starting 1 October 2025
Good news for the Center for Empire Studies: The application submitted in cooperation with the Department of History was awarded EUR 30,000 by the International Office, which represents important start-up funding for the realization of future projects.
The Center for Empire Studies. (Post)Colonial Histories and Global Entanglements will continue last summer's successful lecture series in the coming year: a lecture from the field of Empire Studies will take place on three dates in the summer semester 2025.
Following the official founding of the CES in June of this year, the opening conference took place on 10 and 11 October 2024. The two days of the conference attracted many internal and external guests to the interesting lectures and, not least, the evening keynote speech by Frederick Cooper and Jane Burbank, which led to a stimulating exchange between all guests.
