School welcomes back German colleague as Honorary Professor

Esteemed German scholar, Stefan Berger has recently joined the School of Modern Languages as an Honorary Professor.

Although now based in Germany, Professor Berger is no stranger to Cardiff having lectured here in Modern European History from 1991 to 2000 at the then School of European Studies. He was therefore thrilled to return to the School after a nomination from the German department.

Professor Berger is Professor of Social History at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, where he is also Director of the Institute for Social Movements and Executive Chair of the Foundation History of the Ruhr.Germany. He was chair of the German History Society in Britain between 2009 and 2011, and is currently President of the German Labour History Society in Germany.

Professor Berger now hopes to strengthen links between Cardiff University and his own University in Germany. He said, “I am hoping to forge even closer contacts with friends and colleagues, both in research and teaching. There are plans to establish a Centre for Transnational European Studies (exact title to be determined), in which colleagues from the School of Modern Languages, the School of History and the School of Social Sciences would cooperate with colleagues from my own home University, the Ruhr University Bochum and in particular the research institute, I am director of, the Institute for Social Movements.”

Professor Berger’s research interests cover modern and contemporary European and global history, nationalism and national identity studies, historiography and historical theory, comparative labour studies and the history of industrial heritage, all of which fit into common interests within the School.

Professor Berger added, “I am confident that we have established a range of common areas of interest, on which we can build in years to come. It is very promising that this will include several Schools at Cardiff University while also strengthening the international ties of colleagues through stronger international networking.”