RESEARCH & SCIENCE
BURKINA FASO AND GHANAArchiving West African settlement history
Anthropologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Goethe University Frankfurt have documented an extensive record of the settlement history of more than 200 villages in Burkina Faso and Ghana that had previously only been handed down in oral form. The researchers' findings have been presented to the National Archives of Burkina Faso where they represent an important contribution to the long-term preservation of this country's intangible cultural heritage.
SPONGESOn the trail of an ancient survivor
Sponges have a lot to relate: And Mainz molecular biologist Professor Dr. Werner E. G. Müller has been showing the world exactly what they have to tell us over the past few decades. In an interview he talks about this long underestimated organism, its significance to research, and its potential to help people in so many different ways.
SOCCER AND FANSMainz 05 reinvents itself as a carnival club
What form does regional identity take in an increasingly globalized world? This was the subject of the inaugural lecture of cultural anthropologist Dr. Christina Niem. Her talk was entitled "Regional representation or competing regional identities? Two Rhineland-Palatinate Bundesliga soccer teams in comparison", and she used it to provide an analysis of 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and their fan clubs.
HANDBOOKA state with big differences
The first handbook of the history of Rhineland-Palatinate is now available. There has not been a book like this before and the 40 authors who worked on it have charted new territory. Co-publishers Professor Dr. Michael Kißener, Professor for Contemporary History at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (JGU), and Dr. Pia Nordblom, coordinator of the handbook project at JGU, talk about the challenges they faced in the momentous project.
GEOSCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONSImmortal minerals
The Mineralogical Collection of the Institute of Geosciences is housed in a simple room with 60s charm. Here, rubies, emeralds, gold, and much more sparkle in plain glass cabinets. Professor Dr. Wolfgang Hofmeister guards these treasures and is responsible for adding new items – sometimes even vaporizing a diamond in the service of science.
MUSICOLOGYRight-wing extremism breaks into new music genres
The 'white power' rock bands that emerged in the 1980s are now a thing of the past. Neo-Nazi-inspired strains are moving on to conquer whole new swathes of different styles of music. And this is a development that Dr. Thorsten Hindrichs of the Institute of Musicology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) finds extremely worrying. In his view, a broad-based collective approach is necessary to counteract this trend.
GERMAN ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN STUDIESSiri Hustvedt deplores categorization
She read from her books and tirelessly discussed and debated with experts from various disciplines. The famous US-American author Siri Hustvedt was the star guest of the 59th annual conference of the German Association for American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). However, she was not the only one with something to say to the more than 300 guests from around the world. Seventy-six speakers gave presentations on the conference theme "American Lives."
ETHNOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONBronze head tells a tale of African culture and European plunderers
The Ethnographic Collection of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) is tucked away in the basement of the Forum universitatis. The more than 3,200 objects not only tell the stories of foreign cultures but also reveal just as much about the culture of European collectors over the past century. Custodian Dr. Anna-Maria Brandstetter provides insight into this treasure trove.
LITERATUREWriting about 9/11
"Ground Zero Fiction: History, Memory, and Representation in the American 9/11 Novel" is a 500-page analysis of American novels dealing with the events of September 11 written by Birgit Däwes, Junior Professor of North American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The book has been awarded the American Studies Network Book Prize for 2012.
NIGERIAFrom war in Biafra to the conflict in the Niger Delta
Professor Edlyne Anugwom of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) is working on a project entitled "From Biafra to the Niger Delta Conflict: Memory, Ethnicity, and the State in Nigeria". We asked him to talk about his country, which is suffering not just from the current conflict but also, it seems, from denial of the past as well.