Curriculum Vitae

 

 

 

born 1938

 

1958-1966 Study of history, philosophy, German literature and education, University of Cologne 

 

1966  Ph.D. University of Cologne

 

1966-1968 Member of the staff of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (German People's Foundation to foster highly gifted students)

 

1969-1972 Assistant professor for philosophy, University of Braunschweig

 

1972-1974 Assistant and Associate professor for theory of history, Free University of Berlin

 

1974-1989 Professor for modern history, University of Bochum

 

1977-1978 Chair of the department of history, University of Bochum

 

1989-1997 Professor for general history with special respect to theory of history, University of Bielefeld

 

Summer 1991 Visiting professor at the Karnatak University Dharwad (India)

 

1991-1992 Chair of the department of history, University of Bielefeld

 

1993-1994 Fellow of the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut at Essen

 

1990-1994 Co-Director of the Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung (Center for Interdisciplinary Research) at the University of Bielefeld

 

1994-1997 Executive director of the Center for Interdisciplinary study of the University of Bielefeld

 

Summer 1996 Visiting professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)

 

1997-2007 President of the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen im Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen (Institute for advanced study in the humanties, Science Centre of Northrhine-Westfalia),

 

1996/7 – 2009 Professor for General History and Historical Culture, University of Witten/Herdecke, Department of Studium Fundamentale

 

1998 Humboldt-fellowship at the Humboldt Studienzentrum of the University of Ulm

 

August and September 1998 Visiting Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Stellenbosch

 

June 2000 Rector of the Summer University in the framework of the History Festival "Das Ruhrgebiet blickt zurück" (The Ruhr-Area looks back). Historama Ruhr 2000

 

2004-2010 Executive Director of the “Stiftung für Kulturwissenschaften” (Foundation for the Humanities) at Essen

 

Since 2005 Professor Extraordinary in the School of the Basic Sciences at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-West University, South Africa

 

Since 2007 Senior Fellow at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut, Essen; Head of the Project "Humanism in the era of globalisation - An intercultural dialogue on culture, humanity, and values"

 

Since 2007 Member of the department for the humanities at the University of Duisburg-Essen

 

March 2008 Fellow at the Stellenbosch-Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS), South Africa

 

Summerterm 2008 Otto von Freising-visiting Professor at the Katholische Universität Eichstätt

 

August 2008 Order of Merit of the State of Northrhine-Westfalia

 

Since 2009 Professor emeritus and honorary member of the department of Kulturreflexion and Studium Fundamentale of the University Witten/Herdecke

 

September/October 2009 Visiting Chair Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University

 

2010 Honorary Doctor of the University of Lund in Sweden

 

October/November 2011 Visiting Chair Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University

 

Since 2011 Honorary Fellow of the American Association of Teachers of German

 

 

 

Married with Inge Rüsen, three Children

 

 

 

 

 

Memberships in Research Projects

 

1976-1987 Research-group "Theorie der Geschichte" (theory of history) of the Werner-Reimers-Stiftung

 

1978-1986 Sonderforschungsbereich der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft "Wissen und Gesellschaft im 19. Jahrhundert" (special research project of the German Research Foundation: "Knowledge and Society in the 19th Century") at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum

 

1990-1997 Sonderforschungsbereich der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft "Sozialgeschichte des Bürgertums im internationalen Vergleich" (special research project of the German Research Foundation: "Social History of Citizenship in International Comparison") at the University of Bielefeld

 

1994-1995 Chair of a research group on "Making Sense of History – Interdisciplinary Studies in the Structure, Logic, and Function of Historical Consciousness. An Intercultural Comparison" at the Institut for Advanced Study in the Humanities at Essen

 

since 1995 Co-director of the international research project „Chinese historiography in a comparative perspective"

 

1997-2002 Chair of the Study Group „Concepts of Sense and Systems of Orientation“ at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen

 

2002-2005 Member of the research project "Historical Memory - Dealing with the Past, Reaching for the Future", Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen, Point Sud Mali

 

2003-2004 with Uta Quasthoff co-chair of the research project "What is the Human Being? Culture, Language, Nature" in cooperation of the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut and the University of Dortmund 

 

2004-2009 with Jürgen Straub co-chair of the Graduierten-Kollegs (graduate school) "Interkulturelle Kommunikation" (intercultural communication) at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut and the University of Chemnitz

 

2006-2009 chair of the research project "Humanism in the era of globalisation - an intercultural dialogue on humanity ,values, and culture "

 

 

 

 

 

Memberships in Advisory Boards

 

1976-1987 Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Deutschen Vereinigung für politische Bildung, Landesgruppe Nordrhein-Westfalen (scientific advisory board of the German Association for Political Education, section Northrhine- Westfalia)

 

1980-1987 Landesschulbuchkommission Politische Bildung, Sektion Geschichte (state committee for textbooks on political education, section for history) of the Ministry for Culture and Education in Northrhine-Westfalia

 

1985-1992 Wissenschaftlicher Beirat (scientific advisory board) of the Institut für Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft (institute for science and society) at Erlangen

 

1986-2001 Member, since 1993 chair of the wissenschaftlicher Ausschuß (scientific advisory board) of the Georg-Eckert-Institut für Internationale Schulbuchforschung (Georg-Eckert-Institute for International Textbook Research) at Braunschweig

 

1987 Member of the wissenschaftlicher Beirat des Schülerwettbewerbs "Wir Deutschen und unsere östlichen Nachbarn" beim Minister für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (scientific committee of the pupils' competition "We, the Germans, and our eastern neighbours" at the ministry for labour, health and social relations in Northrhine-Westfalia)

 

1988-1990 Member of the committee for curriculum development in history, Sekundarstufe I Gymnasium, of the ministry for culture and education in Northrhine-Westfalia

 

1990 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Eva and Marc Besen Institute for the Study of Historical Consciousness at the Tel Aviv University

 

1991 Member of the International Consulting Board of the Center of the Comparative History of Civilization, Academy of Sciences, Moscow

 

1998 –2000 Member of the Advisory Board of the Exhibition „Sonne, Mond und Sterne“ – Zeche Zollverein at Essen

 

1998-2001 Member of the advisory board "Wissenschaft, Literatur und Zeitgeschehen" (Science, Literature and Current Affairs) of the Goethe-Institut München

 

1998 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the exhibition „Sonne, Mond und Sterne“ – Zeche Zollverein at Essen

 

2000-2010 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation Bibliothek des Ruhrgebiets (Library of the Ruhr-Area)

 

since 2002 Academic Advisor of the book-series "Frontiers in Historiography", Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences, Peking

 

2002-2008 President of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Historical Studies at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest

 

2004-2006 Recourse Faculty Member of the project "Professional Development of Faculty Members" of the University of Lviv (Ukraina)

 

Since 2011 member of the board of trustees of the Hans-Kilian-Award

 

Since 2011 Trustee of the Berendel-Foundation, London

 

 

 

 

 

Memberships in Boards of Journals

 

since 1987 Member of the editorial committee of the journal "Theory and History"

 

since 1988 Member of the editorial committee of the journal "History and Memory"

 

1989-1998 Member of the editorial committee of the journal "Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft"

 

since 1994 Member of the editorial committee of the "South African Journal for Philosophy"

 

since 1998 Member of the Advisory Board of the Journal "Handlung, Kultur, Interpretation. Bulletin für Psychologie und Nachbarwissenschaften"

 

since 1999 Member of the Advisory Board of the Journal "Zeitschrift für Genozidforschung"

 

since 2002 Academic Advisor of "The Frontiers of Historiography" (Beijing, Chinese)

 

since 2002 Member of the Advisory Board of "History, Culture and Archaeology: The Interdisciplinary Crossroad" (India)

 

since 2003 Member of the Editorial Board of “Historiography East & West. A Multi-lingual On-line Journal for Studies in Comparative Historiography and Historical Thinking”

 

since 2005 member of the board of "Problemos" (University of Vilnius Press, Lithuania)

 

since 2005 member of the International Advisory Board" of "The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa"

 

since 2006 member of the Advisory Board of "Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies"

 

since 2008 member of the Editorial Committee von "História da Historiografia" (Brazil)

 

since 2010 member of the Conselho Consultivo of the journal "Revista de Teorie da Historia" (Universidade Federal de Goias, Brazil)

 

since 2012 member of the Editorial Board of the Chinese Journal "Journal of History and Thought"

 

 

 

 

 

Other Memberships

 

1992-2004 Member of the Board of Trustrees, Hiberniaschule Herne

 

Since 1990 Member of the Bureau of the International Commission for History and Theory of Historiography (ICHTH)

 

January 1996 Participation in the master-course program of the University of Bukarest (16 hours lecture on ‘Theory of historical culture’)

 

2003-2008 Member of the Kuratorium (board of trustees) of the University Dortmund

 

 

 

 

 

Other Academic Activities and Positions

 

2001 Co-Director of the Summer School of the Central European University Budapest on "History and Memory: The Twentieth Century in Retrospect",

 

2001 Co-Director of the Fall Academy in Cluj (Romania) on “Understanding the Others - Cultural Difference and Violence”

 

2002 Co-Director of the Fall Academy in Sibiu (Romania) on 'Human Rights in the Conflict of Others'

 

2003 Co-Director of the Fall Academy in Sibiu (Romania) on 'Religion and Civil Society'

 

2004 Co-Director of the Fall Academy in Sibiu (Romania) on "Intellectual Foundations of a Culture of Recognition'

 

 

 

 

 

Grants

 

1961-1966 Scholarship of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes

 

1980-1981 Akademiestipendium of the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk

 

1985  Grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) for a research-project on "Empirische Untersuchungen von historischen Sinnbildungsmustern in narrativen Texten von Schülern und Studenten" (empirical investigation in patterns of historical significance in narrative texts of pupils and students)

 

1986  Grant of the Ministry for Intra-German Affairs for a research-project on "Artikulationsformen und Inhalte historischer Identität im Diskurs des Geschichtsunterrichts unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der nationalen Identität" (articulation-forms and contents of historical identity in the discourse of history classes with special respect to national identity)

 

1987-1988 Grant of the State-Ministery for Science and Research in North-Rhine Westfalia for a project on "Konstruktion eines diagnostischen Inventars für die Analyse des Geschichtsbewußtseins von Abiturienten" (constructing a diagnostic framework for analyzing historical consciousness of high-school students)

 

1987-1988 Akademiestipendium of the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk

 

1988  Grant of the State-Ministery for Science and Research in North-Rhine Westfalia for a project on "Historical Consciousness of highschool students" <in Germany>

 

1990  Grant of the State-Ministery for Science and Research in North-Rhine Westfalia for a project on "Historical Consciousness of highschool students" <in Belgium>

 

1991  Grant of the German Academic Exchange Servise for a short-time visiting professorship at the Karnatak University Dharwad, India

 

1991  Grant of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft for a conference on "Geschichtsbewußtsein in Osteuropa - theoretische und empirische Probleme" (historical consciousness in East-Europe – theoretical and practical problems), held at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Bielefeld

 

1992  Grant of the State-Ministery for Science and Research in North-Rhine Westfalia for a project on "Historical Consciousness of highschool students" <India, Sweden>

 

1992-1994 Several smaller grants of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft for parts of the research project on "Historical Consciousness of Students" <Russia, Estonia>

 

1994-1995 Interdisciplinary research group at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on „Historische Sinnbildung - Interdisziplinäre Untersuchungen zur Struktur, Logik und Funktion des Geschichtsbewußtseins im interkuturellen Vergleich“ („Making Sense of History: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Structure, Logic and Function of Historical Consciousness - An Intercultural Comparison“)

 

1995 Grant of the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk for a Conference on „Cultural Differences and Intercultural Communication in Historical Thinking“

 

1998 Grant of the Chiang Chin-Kuo Foundation (Taiwan) for the conference on „Collective Identity, Experiences of Crisis, and Trauma“ (part of the internationa project on „Chinese Historiography and Historical Culture in a Comparative Perspective“

 

1998-2007 Grant of the Krupp-Stiftung for Krupp lectures on history and politics at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut

 

1998 Grant of the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft for an international Conference on Max Weber in Sofia (Bulgaria)

 

1999 Grant of the Chiang Chin-Kuo Foundation (Taiwan) for a research-project on Chinese historical thinking

 

1999 Grant of the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft for an international conference on and with Jürgen Habermas in Sofia (Bulgary)

 

2001 Cooperation with a project on Historical Consciousness - University of British Columbia at Vancouver

 

2001 Grant of the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft and of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) for the first Romanian-German fall academy at Cluj-Napoca

 

2002 Grant of the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft and of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) for the second Romanian-German fall academy at Hermannstadt (Sibiu)

 

2002-2005 Participation in the project „Historical Memory“ of the Stellenbosch-Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (KWI) Essen

 

2003 Grant of the Stifterverbandes für die deutsche Wissenschaft and of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) for the third Romanian-German fall academy in Hermannstadt (Sibiu)

 

2003-2005 Grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for a project on Droyen's Historik, critical edition, 2nd volume (Dr. Blanke)

 

2006-2009 Grant of the Mercator-Stiftung for a research project on "Humanism in the Era of Globalization – an intercultural dialog on culture, humankind and values"

 

2005-2008 Grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for a project on Droyen's Historik, critical edition, 3rd volume (Dr. Blanke)

 

 

 

 

 

Fields of Research:

 

Theory and methodology of historical studies; history of historiography; intercultural comparison of historiography; structure and development of historical consciousness; theory of historical learning; theory, empirical manifestations and historical development of historical culture; history of human rights; intercultural communication, humanism in intercultural comparison.

 

 

 

 

 

Lecturing and conference-papers in

 

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sovjetunion, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Yugoslavia.

 

 

 

 

 

Books and Articles translated into

 

Bulgarian, Chinese, English, Estonian, French, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Islandic, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian.