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70790-01 - Seminar: The Mission at Home: Pietism and Imperialism in Basel and Southwest Germany (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Ernest Sewordor (ernest.sewordor@unibas.ch)
Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft in Basel, founded in 1815, developed into one of the largest German-speaking missions. The missionaries of the early 19th century came from pietistic circles in Basel and southern Germany, and combined their religiousness with the ambition to spread the message of the Gospel in the world and to raise the living conditions in the mission areas. Ghana was one of the first countries to which the Basel Mission sent missionaries (1828). The seminar discusses the Basel Mission’s engagement in Africa as an example of Switzerland’s (and, in fact, southern Germany’s) colonial legacy. Building on the previous seminar “What’s God got to do with it” in HS 23, which examined the BM’s evangelical work in Ghana in greater detail, this seminar will focus more on the European side of his encounter. We will study the religious movement of pietism in southern Germany and Switzerland. In addition, we will trace the histories of several missionary families and communities in Switzerland and southern Germany with an aim to study their motivations for being involved in missionary work. In several hybrid sessions, we will explore these questions together with students and researchers from our Ghanaian partners, the Akrofi-Christaller-Institute (ACI) in Akropong and the Department of History of the University of Ghana, Accra. The seminar is intended to prepare participating students for an excursion to different sites in Basel and southern Germany, in which we will explore the material and immaterial heritage of the BM together with students from Ghana (c. one week in June/July 2024). However, the seminar can also be taken independently from the excursion. |
| Bibliography | Schmid, Anna, and Fischer, Kathrin (eds), Mission Possible? The Basel Mission Collection Reflecting Cultural Encounters. Basel: Museum der Kulturen, 2015. Debrunner, Hans. Schweizer im kolonialen Afrika. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1991. ___________. Presence and Prestige: Africans in Europe. A History of Africans in Europe Before 1918. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1979. Minder, Patrick. La Suisse coloniale: Les representations de Afrique et Africains en Suisse au temps des colonies (1880-1939). Berlin: Peter Lang, 2011. Miller, Jon. Missionary Zeal and Institutional Control: Organizational Contradictions in the Basel Mission on the Gold Coast, 1828-1917. New York: Routledge, 2003. |
| Admission requirements | Für Masterstudierende sowie fortgeschrittene Bachelorstudierende der Geschichte mit abgeschlossener Grundstufe (Nachweise: drei Proseminare, drei Proseminararbeiten). Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende der Geschichte und African Studies bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 26.02.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 04.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 11.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 18.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 25.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 01.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Ostern |
| Monday 08.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 15.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 22.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 29.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 06.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 13.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 20.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Pfingstmontag |
| Monday 27.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Areas: Europa Global (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Interdisciplinary and Applied African Studies (Master's degree program: African Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |