Activities of the Graduate Centre

The Graduate Centre  'History of Knowledge in the Modern Era', established within the framework of the Erfurt Doctoral and Postdoctoral 
Programme (EPPP), serves to provide structured doctoral training. In contrast to earlier practice in the humanities, doctoral students in the Graduate Centrel do not work on their dissertations individually, but pursue their topics under the umbrella of a joint research programme and take part in regular joint events such as lectures, reading seminars and workshops. But how do you organise this joint work in times of contact bans and isolation in the respective home offices? Quite simply: by introducing a virtual writing time. 

Verena Bunkus and Anna-Maria Hünnes, doctoral students in the Graduate Centre, provide information here about the beginnings and further progress of this enterprise:Virtual Writing Time: Working Together in Times of Pandemic (2020)und Virtual Writing Time: Update (2021).

In May 2019, the Gotha Graduate Centre "History of Knowledge in the Modern Era" went on an excursion to Cambridge. The city on the Cam River, located about 100 km northeast of London, is not only the seat of one of the two best-known British universities, but also houses a large number of important museums as well as university collections and is one of the leading centres of both the history of knowledge and the history of science in the English-speaking world, with which the Gotha Research Centre maintains a number of cooperative relationships and close personal contacts. Thanks to the local partners, the Gotha group, led by the spokesperson of the Graduate Centre, Prof. Dr. Iris Schröder, gained an in-depth insight into various research and exhibition projects of interest to the history of knowledge as well as a personal impression of academic life in one of the oldest English-speaking universities in the world with its unique college system during their one-week visit. A detailed overview of the programme is provided in the excursion report written by Thomas Schader, one of the fellows.

The link to the article: Excursion of the Graduate Centre 'History of Knowledge in the Modern Era' Cambridge, 6. to 12. May 2019

^{Image: Group photo of the excursion participants in front of King's College Chapel, Cambridge.}