New Gerda Henkel Fellow Announced
18 Jul 2014
The RISJ is pleased to announce the Gerda Henkel Fellowship for 2014/15 has been awarded to Christian Esch, the Moscow correspondent for Berliner Zeitung. His research project, Echos of Empire aims to explore the question of how useful is the concept of “post-soviet space”? After the collapse of communism, the Soviet past is used to define a large part of the continent. Yet the relationships between states and societies have changed with trends towards further disintegration, and towards renewed integration. Drawing on specific moments in time and specific issues Christian Esch will study how the media in Russia and its neighbouring states construct their common past. Do they see it as a common past at all, or as completely different national histories lived in a common structure? What importance and what meaning do they attach to pre-soviet imperial history? Do they talk about a “post-soviet space”?Since 2003, the Gerda Henkel Foundation has awarded a six month (two term) fully-funded Fellowship to journalists who intend to carry out research in the field of Historical Humanities, particularly in Art History, Modern and Ancient History, Legal History or Islamic History. Within these areas, participants have freely chosen their research topic, closely linked with their professional activity.
