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2026-12-10 | Roundtable
The New Materialism and History
More information here | A roundtable on “New Materialism and Historical Scholarship” will take place as part of the Zentrum für Theorien in der historischen Forschung’s programme in the winter semester 2026/27. Jointly organized by the profile area “Gesellschaft – Wissen – Umwelt,” the exploratory field “Das Materielle als Grenzfläche zwischen Temporalität und Historizität (MaTH),” and the VolkswagenStiftung-funded project “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History” (MOTH), the session will examine the significance of New Materialist approaches for historical research. The discussion will focus on how their emphasis on the agency and efficacy of non-human entities complicates established constructivist perspectives and what theoretical, methodological, and conceptual opportunities—and difficulties—this creates for historical scholarship. Claudia Mareis and Viktoria Tkaczyk of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin will join other historians and scholars for the discussion. |
WiSe 2026/27 | Denkraum Theorie
Material-Relational Ontologies and Historical Thinking
The new digital home of Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History (MOTH)
More information here | The Zentrum für Theorien in der historischen Forschung is offering a new edition of its study group “Denkraum Theorie” in the winter semester 2026/27. Under the title “Material-Relational Ontologies and Historical Thinking,” the group will explore approaches such as Actor-Network Theory, New Materialisms, relational metaphysics, Indigenous ontologies, and New Animism, asking what their emphasis on relationality can contribute to historical thinking and research. The study group is aimed particularly at theoretically interested students and doctoral researchers from the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology. It is organized in cooperation with the exploratory field “Das Materielle als Grenzfläche zwischen Temporalität und Historizität” (MaTH) and the project “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History” (MOTH). Regular participation can be credited with 2 LP and is recognized with a certificate issued by the Zentrum. |
2026-09 | Visiting Professorship at the University of Bologna
More information here | Lisa Regazzoni is a visiting professor at Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna. As part of her visit, she will give four lectures to students in bachelor’s and master’s programs, as well as to doctoral candidates. The lectures will cover the following topics:
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2026-09-9/11 | Talk by Lisa Regazzoni "Materializing Time in Space” at the Conference “Synchronizing History”
More information here | Lecture by Lisa Regazzoni on “Materializing Time in Space: Indigenous Peoples, French Peasants, Celtic Remnants, and the Unresolved Paradox of the Non-Synchronous World” as part of the international conference “Synchronizing History.” The Times of Global Modernity (c. 1450–1850): Methods and Case Studies on Interactions, Ideas, and Imaginaries, Università degli Studi di Milano – Accademia Ambrosiana. |
2026-07-28 | New publication on the MOTH blog
Lisa Regazzoni's “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History: From Things of the Past to the Quantum Nature of Historical Phenomena”
The MOTH project has published its inaugural blog essay by Lisa Regazzoni, which opens a broader inquiry into the relationship between history, matter, and the physical sciences. Taking as its starting point the profound transformations in scientific understandings of matter and physical reality over the past century, the essay asks how such developments have shaped—and might continue to reshape—the ways historians conceptualize historical reality. In particular, it considers whether contemporary developments in fields such as quantum mechanics can offer new perspectives for the theory of history. Rather than proposing definitive answers, Regazzoni’s contribution sets out a field of questions that will accompany the VolkswagenStiftung-funded project, Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History (MOTH), over the coming years. The essay can be read on the MOTH blog, which will continue to feature reflections, research in progress, and discussions emerging from the project.
2026-07 | Our new MOTH blog
The new digital home of Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History (MOTH)
We are pleased to announce the launch of the MOTH blog, the new digital home of its Volkswagen Foundation-funded project “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History” (MOTH). Hosted by Theory of History at Work (GTW), where some of the project’s earliest ideas were first developed and discussed, the blog provides an open and exploratory space for engaging with questions at the intersection of history, materiality, and the natural sciences. Bringing the theory of history into dialogue with perspectives from theoretical physics and quantum mechanics, MOTH investigates matter and material objects as generative sources for historical theory and asks how historical phenomena emerge through the practices of historical research. The blog will accompany the project as it develops, featuring research in progress, conceptual and theoretical reflections, project updates, essays, and contributions related to the growing Theory Oriented Object Collection (TOOC). Readers are warmly invited to follow the project, explore its evolving questions, and join the conversation about new ways of thinking about history and materiality.
2026-07-9/10 | Exploratory Workshop Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History: An Exploratory Workshop on Rethinking the Ontology of History(MOTH)
More information here | As part of the VolkswagenStiftung-funded project “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History” (MOTH), Lisa Regazzoni organized the project's first exploratory workshop, dedicated to rethinking the ontology of history from an interdisciplinary perspective. Bringing together historians, philosophers of science, physicists, and theorists of history, the workshop examined how contemporary debates in the philosophy of science—particularly in physics—might inform new ways of conceptualizing the past. Building on the project’s premise that understandings of history are profoundly shaped by conceptions of the material world, the workshop drew on recent developments in the philosophy of physics, quantum mechanics, and New Materialism to explore how changing models of physical reality might inspire new approaches to historical phenomena. |
2025-03-16/17 | Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History (MOTH)
With the arrival of spring, our first team retreat for the project Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History (MOTH) at Bielefeld University, funded by the VolkswagenStiftung, marked an exciting start. Professor Lisa Regazzoni led the retreat, joined by an international team including chemist Dr. Boaz Paz from Paz Laboratorien GmbH für Archaometrie, postdoctoral researcher Noa Ranzer, and Master’s students Clara Segota and Joaquín León. During the retreat, the team engaged in material exploratory analysis of personal objects and discussed the project’s theoretical approach to history and materiality, bringing together expertise from historical sciences, archaeology, materials science, physics, and chemistry.
2026-01-21 | Hans Joas: "Universalismus. Weltherrschaft und Menschheitsethos." Roundtable with Hans Joas, Martin Petzke, Lisa Regazzoni and Tobias Werron
More information here | Taking the welfare of all people into account in moral and political decisions – for many today, this is at least justified as an ideal. But such an ethos of humanity has not always existed and is not universally prevalent. So when and where did it originate – and why? Is it a distinctive feature of the Judeo-Christian or Western Enlightenment tradition? And how is its emergence linked to the history of imperial world domination? In his fascinating book, Prof. Dr. Hans Joas traces this humanistic ethos from a global perspective. In a roundtable discussion, he debates his theories with Prof. Dr. Martin Petzke (sociology), Prof. Dr. Lisa Regazzoni (history) and Prof. Dr. Tobias Werron (sociology). |
2025-10-21 | Lisa Regazzoni: "American (Hi)storytelling: Report #1 from a Real Experience. Written by a Theorist of History after a Tourist Visit to Salem, Massachusetts."
Enjoy my newest blogpost on Theory of History at Work.
Newly published:
Lisa Regazzoni
"Under the Auspice of Menmosyne. Reinhart Koselleck’s Figure Collection and Its Disempowering Agency,"in Contribution to the history of Concepts 20, no. 1 (2025), 45–74. DOI
2025-09-04/05 | Lisa Regazzoni: "Suchbewegungen in Form: Die untersuchende Darstellung"- Forum für Formfragen. Geschichte schreiben im 21. Jahrhundert LMU München
More information here | Lecture as part of the workshop: “Forum für Formfragen. Geschichte schreiben im 21. Jahrhundert LMU München” organised by Dr Sina Steglich (LMU) and Professor Achim Landwehr (Konstanz) at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (September 4 and 5, 2025). |
2025-06-25 |Lisa Regazzoni: "Skalierte Vergangenheit versus historische Phänomene? Ansätze zu einer relationalen Geschichtswissenschaft"- CAS Lunch Talk LMU Munich
Prof. Dr. Lisa Regazzoni is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies at LMU (CAS LMU) Munich. In her lecture, moderated by Dr. Sina Steglich, she examines a profound epistemological shift in historical thinking that began in the early modern period and continues to shape historiography today: the shift from a view of history based on visual evidence to an understanding of history as a context of events and actions shaped by invisible forces. The lecture discusses these developments with regard to a possible relational approach to historical science.
2025-06-05 | Lisa Regazzoni (Bielefeld) in conversation with Shahzad Bashir (London) about the book: The Episteme of the Gallic Past | Domino Conversation
More information here | On the fifth of Juni Prof. Dr. Lisa Regazzoni will be joined by Prof. Dr. Shahzad Bashir (London) to discuss her most recent book “The Episteme of the Gallic Past: French Historical Research in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries” at the sixth iteration of the Center for Theories in Historical Research’s Domino talk series. |
2025 | "Momentum"- funding from the Volkswagen Foundation
Prof. Dr. Lisa Regazzoni receives “Momentum” funding from the Volkswagen Foundation. Her project “Towards a Material-Oriented Theory of History” is being funded to support the further development of her professorship in Theory of History. The aim is to develop a new understanding of the past and of history, emerging from engagement with theories of matter and empirical material analyses. The funding is set for a duration of 48 months and amounts to a total of EUR 935,000.
2025-05-13 | Lisa Regazzoni: "Das ‚Dazwischen‘ als ontologisches Problem in der Geschichtswissenschaft: Ein alternativer Vorschlag – out of the Box."
My post "Das ‚Dazwischen‘ als ontologisches Problem in der Geschichtswissenschaft: Ein alternativer Vorschlag – out of the Box." has been published on our blog Theory of History at Work.
2025 03/06 | Fellow at the Center for Advances Studies at LMU Munich as part of the research focus "Scales"
More information here | Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at LMU Munich in 2025 as part of the research focus “Scales”, initiated and led by Prof. Dr. Carlos Spoerhase and Dr. Sina Steglich of LMU Munich (March/June 2025). |
Newly published:
Lisa Regazzoni
The Episteme of the Gallic Past: French Historical Research in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries. Routledge: New York/London, 2025 (Reserch in Early Modern History). DOI
2024-11-07 | Lisa Regazzoni and Lara Keuck: "Introducing TOOL: Theory-Oriented Object Laboratory"
More information here | Workshop organized by Lara Keuck and Lisa Regazzoni (Focus area: Materiality Between Past and Future) What can we learn about theories, in particular theories of history and theories of medical knowledge, when studying objects? TOOL, the Theory Oriented Object Laboratory is a new venue and collaborative project to address this question from various historiographical and theoretical perspectives and through a diversity of material objects and collections. We cordially invite all interested to join our opening workshop and learn more about TOOL and possibilities to participate in the project and engage with theories through objects. |
2024-10-19 | Lisa Regazzoni and Ewa Domańska: "Workshop Exploring Postsecularism in Contemporary Historical and Political Theory "
This Workshop organized by Lisa Regazzoni and Ewa Domańska seeks to interrogate the implications of the post-secular turn on historical theory, posing critical inquiries into the validity of a “return of religion.” How might such a resurgence be conceptualized within a historical framework? We aim to explore the conditions, causes, manifestations, and consequences of this phenomenon, posing whether it is justifiable to discuss the transition from a secular regime of knowledge to a post- secular one.
2024-09-13 | Lisa Regazzoni: "Wann haben wir aufgehört, die Vergangenheit zu sehen? Die Aporien der Augenzeugenschaft und die Grenzen historischer Skalierung"
More information here | Lecture as part of the workshop "Measuring pasts. Scaling in Historical Cultural Studies" under the direction of Dr. Sina Steglich at the Center for Advanced Studies at LMU Munich (September 12 and 13, 2024).
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2024-09-02/05 | „En quête des Lumières dans l’espace public – Auf der Suche nach der Aufklärung in der Öffentlichkeit“
Summer school organized by Lisa Regazzoni for the students of the binational course "Universität Bielefeld-Université Paris Cité" in Paris from September 2 to 5, 2024.
The summer school participants during a guided tour of the Collège de France © Lisa Regazzoni.
