Connected Central European Worlds, 1500-1700

1989年铁幕倒塌后，中欧向学术界开放。作为一个经济实力强大的地方，“中欧”对从俾斯麦到默克尔政府的欧洲权力掌权者来说至关重要。从最广泛的概念来看，该地区从波罗的海延伸到亚得里亚海，从莱茵河延伸到多瑙河。中欧包括今天的德国、奥地利、捷克、斯洛伐克、匈牙利、波兰和克罗地亚，是一个以其巨大的文化、种族和语言多样性、政治分裂和多种宗教传统而闻名的地区，所有这些都在不断变化。在近代早期，该地区同样多样化，内部和全球的联系也同样紧密。作为贸易、文化、宗教、外交和战争的十字路口，该地区是理解1500年至1700年间新全球化世界中合作与暴力冲突的关键。在现代早期，对该地区各地点之间的联系及其与更广阔世界的联系的研究，及时提出了有关货物流动、移民和边界的重要问题。在英国脱欧和冠状病毒大流行等近期具有国际影响的事件发生后，了解全球联系的物质性质及其如何产生共同经验和挑战的必要性变得更加迫切。围绕边境的贸易谈判一直是英国脱欧的核心，尽管它隐藏在一层政治身份姿态之下，世界各地人员、个人防护装备和病毒本身的流动影响了数百万人的日常生活。该研究网络将带来对中欧更深入的了解，考察其更悠久的物质联系历史，并打破该地区在现代构建的主要意识形态边界。它是全球面临的挑战的一面棱镜。自20世纪90年代以来，19世纪的刻板印象已经扭曲了我们对该地区的理解，这种刻板印象又重新具体化了。中欧给人的印象是一个两极分化严重的地区，根深蒂固地囿于狭隘的民族认同和政治。与此同时，在该地区跨越许多边界开展工作变得越来越困难。研究中欧需要学者花费大量时间学习多种语言技能，并跨越国界进行复杂的档案研究。近年来产生了大量优秀的研究成果，但是——反映了工作条件——这些研究仍然往往是互不相干、支离破碎和并行进行的。因此，尽管存在跨文化联系的潜在证据，但中欧研究往往呈现出不连贯的区域历史特征。由人文学科学者和博物馆专业人员组成的国际跨学科网络的发展，将使各专业领域之间建立联系，并增加参与者工作的价值、连通性和影响。主要目标是：1。促进对关注对象的方法论方法的讨论，并允许成员致力于产生研究成果，这些研究成果借鉴并涉及其主要领域以外的学科。2. 由负责管理中欧藏品的博物馆专业人员在物品分类方面取得具体进展。《网络》将重塑现代观众的叙事，他们目前正面临着关于他们复杂历史的问题简单化的故事。3. 通过有组织的活动、网站、电子通讯和社交媒体沟通，检查整个地区材料联系的更广泛背景。通过公共历史出版物、社交媒体和以“盒子里的博物馆”形式举办的微型展览，对学术界以外的领域产生影响。

After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Central Europe opened up to the scholarly community. A place of great economic power, 'Mitteleuropa' has been essential to European power-holders from Bismarck to the Merkel government. In its broadest conception, the region stretches from the Baltic to the Adriatic, and from the Rhine to the Danube. Encompassing among others today's Germany, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Croatia, Central Europe is an area known for its vast cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity, political fragmentation, and multiple religious traditions, all undergoing constant transformations. In the early modern period, the region was just as diverse and no less connected, both internally and globally. As a crossroads for trade, culture, religion, diplomacy and war, this region is key to understanding cooperative and violent encounters in a newly globalising world between 1500 and 1700. The study of the connections of locations within the region in the early modern period and their connections with the wider world raises timely and important questions about the movement of goods, migration and borders. In the wake of recent events of international bearing, namely Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, the need to understand the material nature of global connections and how it generates shared experiences and challenges has become more pressing. Trade negotiations around borders have been at the heart of Brexit albeit hidden beneath a layer of political identity posturing, and the movement of people, personal protective equipment and the virus itself around the world has shaped the daily lives of millions. This research Network will bring about a more deeply-rooted understanding of Central Europe that examines its longer history of material connectedness and breaks down what are primarily ideological borders in the region constructed in modern times. It acts as a prism for challenges faced across the globe.Since the 1990s there has been a return to the reification of nineteenth-century stereotypes that have distorted our understandings of the area. The image of Central Europe is of a sharply polarised region entrenched in insular national identities and politics. Simultaneously, working across the many borders in this region has become increasingly difficult. The study of Central Europe requires scholars to engage in the time-consuming acquisition of multiple language skills and undertake complex archival research across borders. A great deal of excellent research has been produced in recent years, but - reflecting the working conditions - it is still often disparate, fragmented and carried out in parallel. Consequently, studies of Central Europe often take on the character of disconnected regional histories in spite of underlying evidence of transcultural connections.The development of an international interdisciplinary Network comprising scholars in the humanities and museum professionals will enable connections to be made between areas of expertise and increase the value, connectedness and impact of participants' work. The key objectives are:1. To foster debate about methodological approaches that focus on objects and allow members to work towards producing research that draws on and speaks to disciplines beyond their primary fields. 2. To make concrete advances in the classification of objects by museum professionals with responsibility for looking after Central European collections. The Network will reshape narratives for modern audiences, who are currently confronted with problematic simplistic stories about their complex histories. 3. To examine the broader contexts of material connections across the region through organized events, website, e-newsletter and social media communications.4. To have impact beyond academia through a public history publication, social media presence and the production of a miniature exhibition in the form of a 'Museum in a Box.