BILGI - BONN History Graduate Conference 9-10 May 2025

The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) seeks to foster a global perspective on the study of dependency and slavery through strategic collaborations with universities worldwide. In this scope, understanding different perspectives, establishing a multi-dimensional academic dialogue, and establishing international networks are among the priorities of BCDSS. One of these collaborations is with the Department of History at Istanbul Bilgi University.

In this framework, the first cooperation meeting was held in Istanbul in 2023 with the participation of Dr. Basak Tug Onaran, then Head of the History Department at Istanbul Bilgi University, and Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann. As part of the partnership between the two universities, the first History Graduate Conference was held on May 17-18, 2024, at Istanbul Bilgi University Santralistanbul Campus. The conference was organized by graduate students from the History Department of Istanbul Bilgi University, in collaboration with the Ottoman Slavery Working Group and BCDSS. The conference was also organized with the support of the Tarih Vakfı, one of Turkey’s foremost historical research institutions.

The second History Graduate Conference was held on May 9–10, 2025. In advance of the conference, a meeting was convened to strengthen collaboration between the two universities. Participants included Prof. Conerman and Dr. Veruschka Wagner, an investigator at the BCDSS, as well as representatives from Istanbul Bilgi University: Prof. Dr. Hasret Dikici Bilgin, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences; Dr. Murat Dağlı, Head of the Department of History; and Prof. Dr. Bülent Bilmez, Coordinator of the MA Program. These meetings are of crucial value in shaping and deepening cooperation between institutions. The purpose of the conference organized in this context is to bring together graduate students working in the field of history and academics from different disciplines, creating a multidisciplinary atmosphere where they can share their research. The collaboration with Bilgi University stems not only from BCDSS’s goal of creating a global network but also from Bilgi University’s strong academic background, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. This partnership embodies the aim of both institutions to develop original and critical perspectives in comparative history and dependency studies.

Prof. Conerman’s welcome speech (Photo by Halide Kahraman)

Dr. Murat Dagli’s welcome speech (Photo by Halide Kahraman)

The conference was attended by Prof. Conerman, Dr. Veruschka Wagner, and Phd Candidate Zeynep Yesim Gökce from BCDSS and eight master’s students. With Dr. Veruschka Wagner serving as the bridge between the two institutions, we, Zeynep and Halide, acted as the main contact points for the organizing team—coordinating efforts, facilitating communication, and helping everything come together. It was an enriching experience to be part of a collaborative process that brought together passionate researchers in such a dynamic, interdisciplinary environment. The conference started with a welcome speech by Prof. Conermann and Dr. Dağlı. Prof. Conerman underscored the significance of collaboration between the two universities and noted that the conference’s organization by master’s students was crucial in developing their academic responsibility and organizational skills. The conference continued with a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Oktay Özel. Prof. Özel invited the audience to a comprehensive intellectual journey on the transformation process of historiography in Turkey. He discussed the development of the discipline of history from its early introverted nature to the multifaceted relations it has established with the social sciences and humanities over time. Within this framework, he also addressed fundamental debates on methodology and questions about the ways in which we produce historical knowledge. This broad perspective has enabled young researchers in particular to situate their research in broader academic contexts.

(Photo by Halide Kahraman)

The two-day conference comprised eight panels and 30 papers. On the first day, during the second panel titled “Narrating the Modern: Voices from Different Geographies”, BCDSS pre-doctoral fellow Nataliia Voitko delivered her presentation titled “Framing and Experiencing ‘Education Through Work’ in the Late Soviet Union”. Voitko argued how child labour was ideologically legitimised in the late Soviet and how children experienced this system in different ways. In the same panel, Ankit Chowdhury, in his presentation on “Where the Street Speaks: Narratives of Struggle and Solidarity at the Durgapur Steel Plant in India” examined working class resistance and identity formation in Durgapur and discussed how the interaction between cultural networks and economic structures has determined the course of labour movements in India.

On the second day, during the sixth panel titled “Gendered Chains: Women’s Experiences of Slavery,” Halide Kahraman, delivered a presentation on “A Comparative Analysis of Women’s Manumission Practices in the Ottoman Empire and Early Antebellum South America” which focused on the manumission experiences of enslaved women by comparing two case studies from different societies. Klaudia İnanç, in her presentation titled “Echoes of Resistance: Uncovering the Agency of Enslaved Women Through Material Culture” emphasised how the experiences of enslaved women are made visible through material culture and how material artefacts can be read as forms of resistance despite efforts to silence them. Zeinab Akbari, in her paper titled “Taj al-Saltaneh and the Paradox of Privilege”, examined the complex interplay between status and constraint in the life of the Qajar princess. In the last paper of the panel, Narges Mirzapour in her presentation entitled “The Practices of True Womanhood/Motherhood in Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Toni Morrison’s Beloved: Breaking the Silence” which explored how enslaved women’s experiences of motherhood were shaped by and challenged dominant ideals of womanhood.

(Photo by Prateeti Mukhopadhyay)

In the seventh panel, “Politics of Historical Conflicts” Prateeti Mukhopadhyay, in her presentation titled, “ ‘Silenced’ but not ‘Silent’: Enquiring Politics of Representation of Gendered Experiences in the Partition Museum through the Eyes of the Survivors” examined the Museum of Partition in Amritsar, India. She considered the politics of representing gendered experiences of partition and questioned how museums include trauma into public memory, along with the ethical and political implications of these representations.

(Photo by Zeynep Yeşim Gökçe)

In the eighth and last panel, “Construction and Deconstruction Through Memory and Education,” Daniil Orlov delivered a paper, “«Time of Troubles» in the Putin’s Historical Policy,” where he discussed how historical memory is instrumentalised in contemporary Russian politics and shared his analysis of how historical narratives are constructed and contested in modern Russia, analysing state-controlled media, school textbooks, monuments and political speeches.

(Photo by Zeinab Akbari)

The conference marked an important milestone in the growing collaboration between the two universities. Researchers from various institutions came together to share their work, and the lively question-and-answer sessions after each presentation provided valuable opportunities for participants to reflect on and strengthen their research.

This atmosphere also made visible how BCDSS master’s students have developed their perspectives and made their original contributions to the study of dependency and slavery. The participants brought an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective, shaped by the BCDSS, to the conference discussions, drawing on historical examples and theoretical approaches from diverse geographies. In this way, the various research projects aimed at understanding the concept of dependency came together in a meaningful and coherent whole.

For the students attending, the visit to Istanbul was not only academically enriching but also a meaningful cultural experience. As part of the organizing team, we also gained a great deal from the conference meeting, including being inspired by others, exchanging ideas, and experiencing the excitement of interdisciplinary dialogue. We hope this enriching tradition will continue in the years to come, further strengthening the connections between institutions and students.