The three-day event is the final conference of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1167 "Power and Domination – Premodern Configurations in a Transcultural Perspective", a collaborative project at the University of Bonn funded by the German Research Foundation, which comes to an end this year.
From the Incas to al-Andalus
Two public evening lectures, which can also be attended separately from the overall event, will take a broader audience on a journey into other cultures. Ritual communication in the world of the Incas will be explored by Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack, head of the Department of Ancient American Studies at the University of Bonn, on Thursday, June 17 at 6:15 p.m.
One day later at the same time, the historian Prof. Dr. Wolfram Drews from the University of Münster will speak about the precarious status of political elites in Islamic Spain between caliphate and Taifa rule. Both lectures will be held in German.
Transdisciplinary research
The CRC is closely linked to the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Past Worlds and Modern Questions. Cultures Across Time and Space". A total of six such university-wide research associations were established at the University of Bonn a year and a half ago as part of the excellence strategy. The goal: Bringing together stakeholders from a wide range of faculties and disciplines to work together on research topics relevant to the future of the University of Excellence.
Communication shapes domination
"Communication" is one of the two core research fields of the TRA "Past Worlds", because communication causes different phenomena – including social inequalities, dependency relations and further forms of power relations. It turns out: Domination is shaped by multi-layered ways and means of communication.
"Through their access to resources, elites make a fundamental contribution to the stabilisation of hegemonic structures. Even in premodern times, a functioning community was hardly conceivable without successful cooperation between the supreme power and the elites", says Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher. He is spokesperson of the CRC "Power and Domination" and, together with Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack, also spokesperson of the TRA "Past Worlds". After the expiration of the DFG funding, the transcultural research on power and domination at the University of Bonn is to be continued and deepened within the framework of the TRA.
More information about the program and registration:
https://www.sfb1167.uni-bonn.de/en/rulers-and-elites