History of Knowledge

The history of knowledge analyzes the production and circulation of knowledge, taking into consideration a broad spectrum of people, practices, and social contexts. Scholars working in the field seek to understand the creation of knowledge orders and systems along with the often highly asymmetrical power relationships upon which they rest. The development of the field has taken distinct paths in Europe and the two American continents. A central objective of the GHI’s program in the history of knowledge is to spur transatlantic and transhemispheric exchange as well as collaboration on thematically related research topics and methodologies.

Beyond its transregional agenda, the GHI takes a broad approach to “knowledge” in its programming. Research at the GHI zeroes in on established actors and institutions of knowledge production, such as individual scholars, scientists, or academia in its entirety. Moreover, researchers here look at actors and spaces not typically associated with knowledge production as well as multidirectional knowledge flows. They focus on the clashes of knowledge orders and seek to historicize the hegemony of distinct types of knowledge and how these have been constructed. And they highlight the social impact of knowledge, revealing how knowledge-producing institutions such as universities function as highly hierarchical social spheres.

The history of knowledge also serves as vehicle for collaboration across the GHI’s core research fields and other subfields of history. Ongoing research combines, for instance, knowledge with the history of mobility, infrastructure, and elitism. The GHI’s “Migrant Knowledge” initiative supports research at the intersection of migration history and the history of knowledge. Emphasizing the many facets of the field, the “History of Knowledge” Blog showcases current projects at the GHI and beyond for both academic and general audiences.

Photo Credit: The Wealth of the Nation, 1938. Seymour Fogel, Social Security Building (Voice of America).

Team


Projects


Innovation through Tradition? Jewish Educational Media and Cultural Transformation in the Face of Modernity Religion, Knowledge, and Education as Key Elements of Socio-Cultural Transformation

German-Israeli cooperative research project bringing that investigates the transformation of Jewish daily life through the prism of its central spaces of teaching, learning and knowledge.

Interaction and Knowledge in the Pacific Region: Entanglements and Disentanglements

A project funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (March 2019 – February 2022)

Events & Conferences


Jun 12, 2025

From the Margins: Poverty in Divided and United Germany

Lecture at GHI Washington | Speaker: Christoph Lorke (LWL-Institut für westfälische Regionalgeschichte)

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Sep 10, 2025

Universities and the Public Good: Research, Education, and Democracy since 1945

Workshop and Young Scholars Forum at Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, Germany | Conveners: Charles Dorn (Bowdoin College, Maine), Axel Jansen (German Historical Institute Washington), Charlotte Lerg (Amerika-Institut, LMU München), Till van Rahden (Centre canadien d’études allemandes et européennes, Université de Montréal), and Richard F. Wetzell (German Historical Institute Washington)

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Oct 09, 2025

The Campus and Beyond: Higher Education and Social Inequalities in Europe and North America, 1850s-2000s

International Conference at the German Historical Institute Washington | Conveners: Raphael Rössel (GHI Washington), Elizabeth Tandy Shermer (Loyola University Chicago), and Stefanie Coché (Gießen University)

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Mar 19, 2026

Listening to the Past: Digital Approaches to the History of Sound and Language

Workshop at the German Historical Institute Washington | Conveners: Hans C. Boas (University of Texas, Austin) and Atiba Pertilla (GHI Washington)

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Sep 17, 2026

The Moralization of Science

Conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria) | Conveners: Daniel Brewing, Moritz Fischer, Elke Seefried (RWTH Aachen), Alexander Bogner (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Axel Jansen (GHI Washington)

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Publications


Bulletin 74 (Fall 2024)

Forum: European and Global Perspectives on Social Democracy and State Violence

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Bulletin 72 (Fall 2023)

Forum: The German Treatment of Soviet Prisoners of War During The Second World War

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Bulletin 70 (Fall 2022)

Forum: Rethinking Cross-Border Connections

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Anna Corsten

Unbequeme Erinnerer: Emigrierte Historiker in der westdeutschen und US-amerikanischen NS- und Holocaust-Forschung, 1945–1998

Transatlantische Historische Studien. Band 62. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2022.

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Bulletin 69 (Fall 2021 & Spring 2022)

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Simone Lässig, ed.

Digital History

Special Issue, Geschichte und Gesellschaft 47.1 (2021)

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Sophia Dafinger

Die Lehren des Luftkriegs: Sozialwissenschaftliche Expertise in den USA vom Zweiten Weltkrieg bis Vietnam

Transatlantische Historische Studien. Band 59. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2020.

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Latest News


Call for Papers

The Moralization of Science

Deadline: September 15, 2025 | Conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria) | September 17 – 18, 2026

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Opportunities

Intern at the German Historical Institute

Deadline: July 31, 2025 | The GHI Internship Program gives students of history, political science, public relations, and public administration at…

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Call for Papers

Listening to the Past: Digital Approaches to the History of Sound and Language

Deadline: May 28, 2025 | Workshop at the German Historical Institute Washington | March 18-19, 2026

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Alumni

Interview with Doctoral Visiting Fellow Jonathan Schlunck

We recently caught up with Jonathan Schlunck, one of our Visiting Fellows, who will be leaving us at the end of April. We sat down with him to discuss…

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Alumni

Interview with Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow Sarah Frenking

We recently caught up with Sarah Frenking, one of our Visiting Fellows, who will be leaving us at the end of April. We sat down with her to discuss…

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