Let’s Talk About History!

The Impact of Empire: Carrying capacity of Eastern Mediterranean landscapes under societal and climatic constraints - Prof. Ingmar Unkel
2025-09-29 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Université du Luxembourg – Maison des Sciences Humaines, 11, porte des Sciences, Esch-sur-Alzette, L-4366
The lack of water is a serious threat to all societies at all times, especially in regions such as the Mediterranean. However, a simple, linear relationship between less rainfall and the decline of societies falls short of the mark. While archaeologists often approach the topic of water scarcity and its impact on socio-economic systems in terms of economic or political mechanisms, Ingmar Unkel focuses on natural water availability for plants and the consequences that follow. The resilience of societies to (hydrological) natural hazards depends on the land-use potential of the region: Which locations are suitable for which type of land use? What is the quality of the soil? How much agricultural land is available at all? Ultimately, it is a social question of how land-use potential was dealt with in the past in various areas of governance, and whether this can still be seen in geoarchaeological archives.
Speaker: Prof. Ingmar Unkel (Heidelberg University)
Ingmar Unkel is Professor of Physical Geography of the Anthropocene at Heidelberg University, where he is also a Fellow of the Marsilius Kolleg, an interdisciplinary center that fosters exchange between the cultural and natural sciences. Previously, he was Professor of Environmental History at Kiel University for over ten years, serving on the executive board of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS (“Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies”) and as a principal investigator in the Collaborative Research Center 1266 (“Scales of Transformation”). He obtained his PhD from the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences with a dissertation on the radiocarbon chronology of the Nasca Culture.
Venue: Maison des Sciences Humaines, Black Box
Program
18h30 – Registration & welcoming words
18h45 – Presentation
19h30 – Questions & discussion
20h00 – Cocktail

With the support of C²DH, IHIST, Historic.ul

Small State Studies and History. Thoughts on Imperialism and Luxembourgish foreign policy - Dr. Yves Schmitz
2025-10-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Université du Luxembourg – Maison du Savoir (MSA), 2, avenue de l'Université, Esch-sur-Alzette, 4365, Luxembourg
What difference does small make? – this lecture will weigh the possibilities and problems in applying methods and findings from the field of Small State Studies to two historiographical fields that in terms of size seemingly could not be further apart: Modern Western Imperialism and Luxembourg’s Foreign Policy towards a decolonising Africa. As historical figures, from Danish and Portuguese diplomats to Luxembourgish ministers, have put the size of their country at the forefront, the question remains if the rhetoric has had a meaningful impact on the policies applied. Were the colonial policies of states such as Belgium or the Netherlands different to France or Great Britain due to state size? Can the decisions taken by the Luxembourgish foreign ministry always be boiled down to their inherent smallness? The paper will touch on a variety of case studies, helping to enable a meaningful exchange between these different strands of research.
Speaker: Dr. Yves Schmitz (Hildesheim University)
Yves Schmitz has studied history at the Universities of Hamburg and Exeter, and completed his PhD in comparative imperial history at Marburg University in 2021. Since then, he has worked at different post-doc position at the Universities of Bremen, Hagen and Duisburg-Essen. In 2024, he has published an award-winning introduction to the colonial history of Luxembourg with the Luxembourgish art-collective Richtung22. Since October, he works as a lecturer (Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben) at Hildesheim University.
Venue: MSA 4.510, Maison du Savoir, Belval Campus
Program
17h30 – Registration & welcoming words
17h45 – Presentation
18h30 – Questions & discussion
19h00 – Cocktail

With the support of C²DH, IHIST, Historic.ul
