The subject area History of Latin America and the Caribbean is part of the Atlantic focus of the History Department and therefore works closely with African History, the history of the Middle Ages, the Early Modern Period and European Modern and Contemporary History. Methodologically, the range extends from cultural-historical transformation and transculturation models, oral history, gender and biography research, discourse analysis as well as micro- and macro-historical and social-historical approaches. The emergence of historical awareness as well as the questions about places of remembrance and symbols establish the relation to the present.
Research on the history of Latin America and the Caribbean also takes place within the Centre for Atlantic and Global Studies (CAGS), an interdisciplinary research and study centre of the Philosophical Faculty of the Leibniz Universität Hannover. The regional focus of the CAGS is the Atlantic area, i.e. Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and North America. At the CAGS, scientists from the subjects of History, Sociology/ Cultural Anthropology, English/ American Studies, Hispanic/ Romance Studies and Religious Studies jointly conduct research as well as they together operate the interdisciplinary and research-oriented master degree programme "Atlantic Studies". The research focuses on the history of the relationship between North and South, the interdependencies within the global South and the Atlantic as the intersection and contact zone between Africa, Europe and the Americas. The CAGS understands the Atlantic as an 'open' space, a sociotope and regional starting point with manifold connections to other regions of the world. Since the 15th century, this space has been shaped by the exchange of and between people, goods, cultural practices, knowledge and ideas and is therefore part of those global processes of conflict and change that are today referred to as globalisation.
Ongoing Research Projects
Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences - Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) 2019-2025.
“Coping with Crises”. How do societies in Latin America solve crises? This question is the focus of the Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS), which is being established since 2017 with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with its headquarters in Guadalajara/ Mexico. After a successful evaluation and the approval of further € 12 million, the project is in its main phase (2019-2025). It is the most extensive research project on Latin America that has received federal funding to date.
Project leaders on the German side are Prof. Dr. Christine Hatzky from the Centre for Atlantic and Global Studies (CAGS), Prof. Dr. Olaf Kaltmeier (University of Bielefeld), Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Burchardt (University of Kassel), and Prof. Dr. Claudia Hammerschmidt from the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. As an international and interdisciplinary pioneer, CALAS sets new accents in humanities and social science research in Latin America. The institute strives to promote top-level research and permanently network Latin American and German scientists. The aim is not to conduct research on Latin Americans, but to work with them on a top scientific level to develop new - including transregional scientific - approaches to problem solving in practice.
In May 2019, the first line of research started investigating the transition between violence and peace in Latin America. Project leaders are Prof. Dr. Christine Hatzky, Prof. Dr. Joachim Michael (Bielefeld University), Prof. Dr. David Díaz and Prof. Dr. Werner Mackenbach, both from the University of Costa Rica (UCR). The establishment of the CALAS-Merian center in Guadalajara by the four German project sponsors takes place in close networking with the CALAS regional centers in San José/ Costa Rica, Buenos Aires/ Argentina and Quito/ Ecuador. The representatives of the Leibniz Universität Hannover together with the colleagues of the UCR form the regional center "Central America and the Caribbean". With this decentralised constellation, CALAS is supposed to resonate all over Latin America.
EU-Project “ConnecCaribbean” RISE / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of the Horizon Funding 2020 (2019-2023) - ConnecCaribbean/Connected Worlds: The Caribbean, Origin of the Modern World
In cooperation with PD Dr. Ulrike Schmieder (History Department) and Natascha Rempel M.A. (Institute of Romance Languages), Prof. Dr. Christine Hatzky (History Department) participates as project leader in the international and interdisciplinary joint project “ConnecCaribbean”. Since January 2019, this project is funded for four years with a sum of 1.9 Million Euros.
The project title “Connected Worlds: The Caribbean, Origin of the Modern World” points out the Caribbean as a geopolitical space which is manifoldly interlinked within but also beyond the Atlantic World. With an interdisciplinary and transregional approach, the project works on topics which shape the Atlantic World since 1492 and understand the region as a junction connecting different worlds. Through an abundance of activities and guest residences, this project offers the opportunity for international scientifical networking: 84 professors and researchers in the field of Caribbean Studies from 15 different universities are involved. The researchers involved in ConnecCaribbean study the connections between the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America.
In Europe
Spain: Agencia Estatal del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CISC), Madrid (project coordination); Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla; Universidad de Sevilla; Ediciones Doce Calles, Madrid;
Germany: Leibniz Universität Hannover
France: IHEAL-Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris
Italy: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan
In Latin America and the Caribbean
Dominican Republic: Centro de Estudios Caribeño-Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Santo Domingo
Cuba: Academia de la Historia de Cuba, La Habana
Costa Rica: Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de América Central (CIHAC)-Universidad de Costa Rica, San José
Colombia: Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla; Universidad Nacional del Magdalena, Santa Marta
Puerto Rico: Universidad del Turabo-SUAGM, Gurabo
Chile: Departamento de Literatura, Centro de Estudios Culturales Latinoamericanos (CECLA)-Universidad de Chile, Ñuñoa
France: Laboratoire Caribéen de Sciences Sociales - Université des Antilles, Martinique.
The symposium “Dealing with Violence - Resolving Conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean” will take place from July 25 to July 27, 2022 at the conference centre Schloss Herrenhausen, Hannover.
Further information about the project can be found here.
Funding: VolkswagenStiftung, 100.000 €
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Christine Hatzky
Further participants: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gabbert, cultural anthropology and global society, Institute for Sociology, Leibniz Universität Hannover and Prof. Dr. Brigitte Reinwald, African History, History Department, Leibniz Universität Hannover