Conference at the University of Hildesheim, 9-11th March 2023

Narratives concerning the Mediterranean region will be approached in this conference as problems, as resources and as objects of reception. In this context, questions about the origin and use of these narratives will be addressed in order to discuss, whether they were rooted in the examined area or whether they were imported from other areas. It will also have to be clarified, whether and how such representations gained prominence, to what extent they had an influence over politics or whether they were influenced or (mis)used by politics. Further key topics of this international symposium will be questions of the Mediterranean's borders, the historical significance of the maritime dimension as an essential component of Europe's identity, the role of religions and culture, as well as their connections on both shores of the Mediterranean. Empires and the use of their mission to shape the structure of this space according to their own ideas represent a last element of interest, whose consequences continue to be relevant up to the present.

The conference is co-organized by the ZMS and our director, Prof. Dr. Markus Koller, is going to participate in the conference and present a paper titled "Between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. The Ottoman Empire as a Sea Power." The full programme of the conference can be viewed here.