Fifth Annual International Seminar in Historical Refugee Studies

Fifth Annual International Seminar in Historical Refugee Studies
Berkeley, July 7-10, 2025

The University of Tübingen (UT), the German Historical Institute in Washington (GHI) and the American Historical Association (AHA) are pleased to announce the fifth International Seminar in Historical Refugee Studies, which will be held at the GHI’s Pacific Office at the University of California, Berkeley, July 7–10, 2025.

The purpose of this seminar is to promote the historical study of refugees, who are too often regarded as a phenomenon of recent times. By viewing the problem of refugees from a historical perspective, the seminar seeks to complicate and contextualize our understanding of peoples who have fled political or religious conflicts, persecution, and violence. By bringing together 14 advanced PhD students and early postdocs from different parts of the world whose individual research projects examine refugees in different times and places, we intend to give a sense of purpose to this emerging field of study and demonstrate the value of viewing the plight of refugees from a historical perspective. The seminar is meant as a platform to share research findings, ideas, and work in progress.