Vortrag im Rahmen des Ethnologischen Kolloquiums: Life at the border: insights from a Polish-German anthropological field research laboratory, 18.04 um 18 Uhr, ESA West, R. 222

18. April 2017, von Renata Rakoczy-Dahlmann

Das Insitut für Ethnologie lädt herzlich ein zum Ethnologischen Kolloquium am Dienstag, den 18. April (um 18 Uhr im ESA W Raum 222) zum Thema: Life at the border: insights from a Polish-German anthropological field research laboratory Agnieszka Halemba, Uniwersytet Warszawski & Joachim Otto Habeck, Universität Hamburg

Das Insitut für Ethnologie lädt herzlich ein zum Ethnologischen Kolloquium am Dienstag, den 18. April (um 18 Uhr im ESA W Raum 222) zum Thema:

Life at the border: insights from a Polish-German anthropological field research laboratory
Agnieszka Halemba, Uniwersytet Warszawski & Joachim Otto Habeck, Universität Hamburg 

Abstract:
This presentation portrays a research and educational project carried out jointly by the presenters and their students from the University of Hamburg and the University of Warsaw in the Polish-German border region at the Lower Odra/Oder.

First, we present the history and main principles of the educational programme "Field Research Laboratory", developed at the University of Warsaw since the 1960s, and portray the experience of our teamwork with students since summer 2016. A subsequent short introduction into the region's history and present will set the ground for sub-project examples, notably, Polish settlers in northeastern Germany; cross-border contacts in agriculture 1945-90; catholic-protestant interactions; and football as a sphere of transnational practice. The final part of the presentation addresses national identity, social memory, and the blank spots in regional and transnational discourses. We argue that conventional narratives of the borderland as a "troubled" region in need of transnational reconciliation can hardly convey the full scope of pragmatic contacts within the area.