News from the PS&H Group

Environmental History Meets Public Policy
Our series of learn-and-debate webinars is intended to facilitate the development of public policy that can help us cope with the natural crises of our times. We will provide the environmental history community with the basic understanding of the ways by which science and policy interact, in particular in the European context, helping individuals and groups to engage in the policy making process. more
Black Death Mortality not as Widespread as Long Thought
Pollen data from 19 modern European countries reveals that although the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, parts of Europe experienced negligible or no impact at all more
Forgotten Extreme Weather
Environmental history points the way to the path of resilience. More information in German more
We lack a culture of remembrance for natural disasters
Nobody saw the flood disaster coming: The water had never been so high, it had never come so suddenly. A plea for environmental history warning. More information in German. more
Cultural Impacts of Climate Change: Increased Precipitation and the Watery Miracles of Italian Saints
A new study published in the journal Climatic Change examines the cultural impacts of climate change in Italy during the first millennium AD more
Towards a Better Understanding of Societal Responses to Climate Change
Scholars of archaeology, geography, history and paleoclimatology lay out a new framework for uncovering climate-society interactions more
What Sort of Past Does the Future Need? A Webinar and a Virtual-Talk Series
Can history help us to cope with the current pandemic? How should we who study the past change our approach and become more relevant for the future? What sort of past do we really need to make our future in the Anthropocene at all possible? more
Cereal, Olive & Vine Pollen Reveal Market Integration in Ancient Greece
A new interdisciplinary study indicates agricultural market integration centuries before Roman conquest, suggesting the mechanisms that led to the Anthropocene began much earlier than assumed more
A joint Jena University-MPI workshop on the "Science of the Past" and Medieval History
Jan. 9, 2020 - The Paleo-Science & History Group (with the support of the Department of Archaeogenetics) is organising a joint workshop with the Institute of History of the University of Jena (FSU) on the applications of scientific methods to the study of the Middle Ages.
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New publication by Dr. Georgios Liakopoulos
In his new book, The Early Ottoman Peloponnese, Dr. Liakopoulos discusses the history, geography, demography and economy of the Peloponnese in the wake of the Ottoman conquest. more
Justinianic Plague not a Landmark Pandemic?
A study of diverse datasets, including pollen, coinage, and funeral practices, reveals that the effects of the late antique plague pandemic commonly known as the Justinianic Plague may have been overestimated. more
New DFG funding awarded to the Paleo-Science & History Group: the SCALoFRAG Project
The Paleo-Science & History Group received major DFG funding (€395k for three years, together with the Byzantinistik at the FU Berlin) from the “Beethoven” Program, which provides funding for integrated Polish-German research projects. On the German side, the project leaders are Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis from the Freie Universität Berlin and Dr. Adam Izdebski. more
Paleo-Science & History Outreach Activities: spreading innovative methods for the collaboration of science and history
In the beginning of September, the Paleo-Science & History Independent Research Group held its third pre/post-doc workshop in interdisciplinary approaches to history – within just one year since the group’s foundation in the summer of 2018. more
Summer Course: Comprehending "Byzantium after Byzantium" - An Introduction to Ottoman Historical Sources
Dr Georgios Liakopoulos from the Palaeo-Science and History (PS&H) Independent Max Planck Research Group will give a Summer Course (22-26 July 2019) at FU Berlin. Registration and attendance are free, and registration is open until 30 June! more
New Book: "Environment and Society during the long Late Antiquity"
Adam Izdebski, Independent Group Leader of PS&H, initiated and co-edited a new volume, the first of its kind for the history of the first millennium AD, written by scientists, historians and archaeologists. more
Resilience, environmental change and society - Perspectives from History and Prehistory
PS&H (formerly ByzRes), the Department of Archaeology and Princeton University co-host annual Climate Change and History Research Initiative (CCHRI) 2019 Colloquium, which aims to bring together for the first time interdisciplinary projects on climate and environmental change that work on two different “human pasts”: history and prehistory. more
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