The Cluster of Excellence Topoi [in]Stability focuses on stability and instability in ancient societies. It examines the driving forces in historical processes over a period of 11,000 years – from the 10th millennium BC until the 9th century AD. The participating researchers from 35 academic disciplines, most of them pertaining to ancient studies, will analyze stable and unstable conditions in different societal layers such as politics, religion, economy, and knowledge. This focus will lead to a new way of understanding ancient societies. In the cluster, the applicant universities Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin cooperate with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, German Archaeological Institute, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Topoi [in]Stability is based on ten years of experience in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research, which was conducted in the Cluster of Excellence Topoi. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations and significantly contributed to making Berlin a worldwide outstanding research location for ancient studies.
The complex relationship between stable and unstable conditions can be investigated in an exemplary longue durée perspective for antiquity because of the diversity of societies and the vast array of available sources. It is also possible to make comparisons with current developments. “The cluster is based on the assumption that individual societal layers such as politics, economy, language, and knowledge can be stable or unstable in different ways and at different times. The perception of stability and instability also differs greatly – among agents in ancient societies as well as modern researchers,” says Monika Trümper, Professor of Classical Archaeology at Freie Universität Berlin and spokesperson for the cluster. The cluster will therefore take narratives of stability and instability into account as well as ancient and modern evaluations that are based on models and theories.
Ten years of research in Topoi. Space and Knowledge have resulted in a completely new quality of cooperation in ancient studies in Berlin, which will be further developed by Topoi [in]Stability. Research in the cluster is carried out by scholars from the participating universities and the four non-university partners. They represent a great variety of disciplines, most of them pertaining to ancient studies, yet natural and social sciences will be integrated in an innovative way.
“The cluster is also breaking new ground in the field of digitization,” says Gerd Graßhoff, Professor of the History of Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and cluster spokesperson: “With its ‘Knowledge Exchange Forum’ Topoi [in]Stability will set standards in the field of electronic publishing. Research results will be published electronically in the open access series Edition Topoi, and research data as Citables, a new data format that is unique in the humanities.”
An important task of cluster research will be to contribute to current societal discourses, such as the crisis of forms of government, migration, the emergence of armed conflicts, and environmental damage. “Research and science communication are being linked in a new way in the ‘Knowledge Exchange Forum’,” says Monika Trümper. “With exhibitions, events, and electronic media, we will target a wider audience beyond academia.”
Spokespersons
Prof. Dr. Monika Trümper (Freie Universität Berlin)
Prof. Dr. Gerd Graßhoff (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Applicant universities
Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Most important cooperation partners
- Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Berlin
- Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin
- Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
- Technische Universität Berlin
- International institutions: Leiden University, University College London, New York University, Russische Akademie der Wissenschaften St. Petersburg
Further information
Berlin University Alliance website