DFG Project on the Cultural History of Hunting Launched!

Interview with project lead Prof. Dr. Maurice Saß from Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences.

As early as last year, Prof. Dr. Maurice Saß (Department of Philosophical and Aesthetic Education) successfully secured funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for an interdisciplinary network on the cultural history of hunting. From 8 to 10 February 2024, the first meeting of the 18 participating scholars took place at Leibniz University Hannover, where they will work closely together over the next three years. We spoke with Maurice Saß about the project.

What makes hunting an interesting research topic?

Saß: Hunting has always been one of the consequential cultural techniques through which binary hierarchies have been created, promoted, and preserved: between humans and animals, civilization and wilderness, self and other, male and female, white and black, noble and bourgeois, etc. In these processes of differentiation, not only the practice of hunting itself but also its media and discursive staging plays a central role. This can be studied just as well in historical sources as it can be traced in current debates on hunting law, animal ethics, or wildlife management.

Why is a network needed?

Saß: The aim of the interdisciplinary network is to develop a handbook in cultural studies that, for the first time, offers a systematic account of the cultural history of European hunting between the Middle Ages and the 21st century. On the one hand, it is intended to serve as a key reference work for researchers in fields such as ecocriticism, court and nobility studies, or social history. This is why the members come from many different disciplines, including literary studies and art history, medieval and modern history, archaeology, East European studies, and linguistics.

Members: Dr. Robert Bauernfeind (University of Augsburg), PD Dr. Alexandra Böhm (Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg), PD Dr. Silke Förschler (University of Kassel), Prof. Dr. Martina Giese (University of Würzburg), Dr. Oliver Grimm (Leibniz Centre for Archaeology Mainz/Schleswig), Dr. Vera Henkelmann (Max Weber Centre of the University of Erfurt), Nadine Jäger, M.A. (University of Wuppertal), Dr. Jan Kucharzewski (University of Mannheim), Dr. Heiko Laß (LMU Munich), Cathérine A. Ludwig-Ockenfels M.A (University of Giessen), Dr. Maike Schmidt (University of Leipzig), Prof. Dr. Simone Schultz-Balluff (University of Halle-Wittenberg), Dr. Timm Schönfelder (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), Leipzig), Dr. Gilbert Titeux (Université de Strasbourg), Prof. Dr. Nadir Weber (University of Bern)

Leadership: Dr. Laura Beck (University of Hannover), Prof. Dr. Maurice Saß (Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Alfter near Bonn)
 

Contact for press inquiries:
+49 (0)2222 9321-1944
presse@alanus.edu

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