Past Worlds and Modern Questions - Cultures Across Time and Space
The TRA Present Pasts takes an interdisciplinary approach to the research of past cultural, political, social and economic constellations embedded in a broad geographical context and historical depth. Its work focuses on the interaction of contemporary challenges and processes and comparable phenomena in the past. The knowledge about the functioning of cultures generated by such a historical-comparative approach can lead to a better understanding of the present.
The interdisciplinary approach of the TRA Present Pasts and its research fields heritage and communication seek to combine the different traditions and structures of the various cultures of research present at the University of Bonn. In particular, it seeks to effect the networking of the "minor subjects". The holdings of the university collections function as a research infrastructure, integrating the various disciplinary approaches involved in TRA 5 in historical and contemporary contexts and processes.
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Our members are professors, postdoc researchers and PhD students of all Faculties and of central scientific research institutions.
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Our transdisciplinary Professorships in the Global Heritage Lab
Critical Museum and Heritage Studies Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
Julia Binter joins the Global Heritage Lab. Her transcultural research opens new collaborations to the natural sciences and theologies.
The Global Heritage Lab
The Global Heritage Lab emerges as a central hub for heritage and museum-related research and operates as a transdisciplinary laboratory hosted by the TRA Present Pasts.
Humboldt-Fellow Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi
Sophia Labadi is Professor of Heritage at the University of Kent and is extending the GHL for one year with a Humboldt Fellowship.
Notice Board
Have an event overview with our digital 'notice board'.
The University of Bonn has formally opened P26, its House of Knowledge and Research, in the heart of the city center. Short for “Poststraße 26,” it is a place where research, teaching and the general public can now come together. In the future, the rented building—a former department store—will house two University museums, the Global Heritage Lab and the University’s Infopunkt information desk. P26 will open its doors to the public on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
The Argentinian archaeologist Professor Gustavo Politis is to receive a research prize from the Humboldt Foundation. Among other things, the researcher is studying the early settlement of the Americas. Professor Carla Jaimes Betancourt from the Department of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn had put his name forward for the €60,000 award. The pair are now stepping up their collaboration.
What happens when we look at a late antique image? In what order does our gaze wander over the individual elements? Where does it linger? What bodily reactions do such images or early Christian narratives trigger in us? Attempts to answer questions like this are going well beyond merely interpreting early Christian works. A research project embarked on by the University of Bonn together with the University of St Andrews is now bringing Ancient Studies and Cognitive Science together. One key theme is immersion, a concept usually associated more with the world of gaming.
A team of University of Bonn researchers wins a funding competition conducted by the Life and Health transdisciplinary research area.
Contact
Dr. Kim Alings
Speaker
Department of History
Department of Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology
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The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas
The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) create areas for exploration and innovation in research and teaching at the University of Bonn.
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