The present economic, political and cultural scenery in Europe reflects a mixture of change, collapse, transformation and development. It seems as if Europe lives through a period of condensation, with the social and cultural differences being particularly clearly seen and the stories about collapse and decline dominating.

The research programme will focus on these trends, changes and contradictions in the history of Europe and in the global embedding of Europe. The researchers of the programme work thematically with projects related to the three topics of power, representation and political culture. They employ a wide range of approaches to their field, drawing on perspectives from history, political science, anthropology, sociology and cultural science.

The Research Programme in History comprises the study of history from Antiquity to the present, from all parts of the world and from varying theoretical and methodological perspectives, within the discipline of history proper as well as through interdisciplinary work. Presently, our research community has its main strengths in European history during the Middle Ages and Modernity, but we are also engaged in projects concerning the Reformation and renaissance eras as well as different approaches to temporality, memory and the uses of history.