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/

Next Monday, 18 May 2026, Dr Franzisa Davies from the  Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung  in Potsdam will give a lecture entitled ‘Liberation from the Empire: Ukraine, Poland and the Emergence of the New Europe, 1980–1991’ at the Department of Eastern European History’s colloquium.

Students and other interested parties are warmly invited to attend at 6.15 pm in Lecture Theatre F3 in the Fürstenberghaus at Domplatz 20–22.

“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 Wednesday 13 May 2026, Dr Morag Wright from the DFG Research Training Group 2571 ‘Empires. Dynamic Change, Temporality and Post-Imperial Orders’ will give a lecture in Freiburg on the topic ‘Re-centring the Pacific: The Inter-imperiality of Colonial Labour Routes’. Given the connection to the theme of “Empire”, the Centre for Empire Studies would like to draw attention to this event and warmly invite students and other interested parties to attend. 

The lecture will begin at 6.15 pm in Lecture Hall F2 of the Fürstenberghaus (Domplatz 20–22).

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.

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).

The program can be found here: Program