Historicizing the Refugee Experience, 17th–21st Centuries: International Seminar in Historical Refugee Studies

01/10/2021 to 31/07/2025

The purpose of this summer seminar is to promote the historical study of refugees, who are too often regarded as a phenomenon of recent times. By viewing the problem of refugees from a historical perspective, the seminar seeks to complicate and contextualize our understanding of peoples who have fled political or religious conflicts, persecution, and violence. By bringing together 14 advanced PhD students and early postdocs from Europe, North America, and other world regions whose individual research projects examine refugees in different times and places, we intend to give a sense of purpose to this emerging field of study and demonstrate the value of viewing the plight of refugees from a historical perspective. The week-long seminar will rotate each year between Tübingen, Duisburg, and Berkeley, and its participants will work under the mentorship of leading historians of refugees.