GARMon establishes itself in Dresden

FOVOG on its way to globalising its research

The Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG) at the TU Dresden has been studying the history of monasteries and religious orders as one of the most important pillars of European culture for twelve years. The dynamics and innovative power of religious communities, their concepts of religion, rule, society and the individual shaped Europe in almost all areas of social, political and cultural life. Today, monasteries have long since become the object of worldwide research that seeks to understand European history, to recognise in it the roots of one's own culture or to seek comparisons with one's own. In Japan, Australia, North and South America, for example, the monastic life of the European Middle Ages is a field of teaching and research that is by no means peripheral, but has successfully established itself at universities and other research institutions. However, the mutual perception of researchers in a global perspective, as well as the questioning of the specific aspects, methods and corresponding results in each case, is still lacking.

Against this background, FOVOG has developed a project that aims to bring these research activities, which on the one hand have a global presence but on the other hand are far too little in touch with each other, into a dialogue that bridges the continents. A cooperation is now to emerge from a completely new format of international interaction. To this end, the constituent meeting of the Global Association for Historical Research of Monasticism (GARMon) took place on 1 and 2 July in the rooms of FOVOG. For the time being, this brings together 19 internationally recognised researchers from 4 continents and is intended to help bring both the diverse methods and different research interests into a fruitful exchange. In her welcoming address to the participants, the Vice-Rector for Research of the TU Dresden, Prof. Dr. Angela Rösen-Wolff, pointed out that GARMon also stands in a special way for the central strategic goal of the TU Dresden with regard to the further internationalisation of research and teaching.

Thus, an association has been created that aims to overcome the global fragmentation of our research traditions and at the same time makes the commonalities as well as the differences between the various approaches in research on the history of monasticism more visible. GARMon is conceived as a network in which all activities can take place in very different places in the world and with different participation. It is a network with many and globally present nodes, whose central organisational point, however, remains located at FOVOG and thus at the TU Dresden. Regular conferences on common issues, the organisation of summer schools and the establishment of a fellowship programme, especially for young researchers, will be the first activities to fill this worldwide network with life. Regular virtual meetings will enable the participants to communicate across continents and time zones. To ensure that all this can actually be realised, funds have been raised that will enable the launch and activities of GARMon for a number of years. FOVOG is pleased and proud to have established this new circle of GARMon, a format that supports scientific cooperation and makes worldwide exchange even more intensive. (For more information, see www.fovog.de)

The founding of GARMon was also reported in the University Journal of the TU Dresden [in German].

GARMon's website can be found on the FOVOG website..