Chair of War Studies
2nd funding phase of the DFG project approved
The DFG Research Unit “Military Cultures of Violence - Illegitimate Military Violence from the Early Modern Period to the Second World War” (spokesperson: Professor Dr. Sönke Neitzel) is receiving a second funding period. Five new research projects will be launched in spring 2025.
Call For Paper: SHOW 2025 - Cultures of War and Violence
Datum: 27.-28. November 2025
Ort: Potsdam - ZMSBw (Thursday) und
Universität Potsdam, Campus Am Neuen Palais (Friday)
Deadline: 30.06.2025
The Society for the History of War invites proposals for a conference on the Cultures of War and Violence. The Conference is organised in collaboration with the University of Potsdam, the Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences (Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr, ZMSBw), and the Working Group Military History (Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte). It will be held in Potsdam, Germany, close to Berlin, on 27-28 November 2025.
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PROFESSOR BEATRICE DE GRAAF
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War and violence do not occur in isolation from their social, political, economic and cultural contexts. These contexts frame how we draw connections between armed forces and society, shaping what we understand by the objects of war and the practices of political violence. Martial cultures can reflect the societies they emerge out of. At the same time the military can also be a danger to and must be kept apart from broader society. The way armed actors and civil society relate to each other is shaped by how societies conceptualise war and peace. This frames how wars are conducted, what forms of violence get sanctioned and what is remembered, forgotten or actively misrepresented as part of the legacy of war.
Our goal is to intertwine scholarly and interdisciplinary inquiries, foster intellectual exchange and cross-cultural dialogue, and commit to addressing persisting (current and/or historical) issues. The event not only facilitates the dissemination of new research, but also cultivates a global network of experts dedicated to addressing the enduring challenges posed by the legacies of war and violence.
We would particularly welcome early innovative and/or interdisciplinary methodological approaches that aim to highlight the range and complexity of challenges faced when studying violence and war, as well as contributions by scholars who, although interested in the past, would not call themselves historians.
Further information can be found here or on the homepage of the Society of the Historiy of War.
The Chair of War Studies is the only one of its kind in Germany. It is dedicated to military history and to the cultural history of violence, and is a central venue of liaison between the university and other research institutions investigating military history, between different methodical approaches within this varied discipline, as well as for the transfer of academic knowledge at both a national and international level. We seek to contribute to making Potsdam, with its history and its orientation towards to the future, more visible internationally as a centre of interdisciplinary war studies.
The Chair addresses military history and the cultural history of violence from the Early Modern Period to the present. It examines the foundations, dynamics and consequences of violent conflicts on the national and international stage. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches, the Chair analyses how state, society and armed forces interact with one another. Its principal research focus is the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Located at the Chair, moreover, are two study programmes at Master level that are unique in Germany.FAQ Both are interdisciplinary, international and practice-orientated: The MA in War and Conflict Studies is a single degree at the University of Potsdam, in which predominantly German and European students research violent phenomena in the past and the present in small groups. The MA in International War Studies is a double degree programme with University College Dublin, which offers students the possibility of forming networks in the Anglo-Saxon world of war studies and which is aimed above all at an international audience.
Both study programmes combine the ambition to explore the subject of war and conflict in the past and the present from a multitude of different professional and national perspectives. Alongside concrete armed conflicts, the interactions between war and violence, security and stability, conflict and development are hereby illuminated. Our range of courses therefore offers a broad selection from history, political science, sociology and international law: from Clausewitz to cyber wars.
The work of the Chair profits enormously from a variety of partners located both in Potsdam itself and in nearby Berlin. Among the most important academic partners are the Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw), the Federal Archives and the Federal Military Archives. Good working relations exist with the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), as well as the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Bundeswehr’s own consulting agency. Think tanks, political foundations and the Berlin-based media actively support us with teaching events and internships. An exceptional relationship continues to exist with the Federal Ministry of Defence, but also with the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which approach the subject of war and conflict from very different perspectives.
The Chair’s online presence is designed to illustrate the entire thematic diversity of the work of the Chair described above. If you are interested in any aspect of our work, do not hesitate to contact us.
