Buenos Aires, 11 April 2017: The National University of San Martin (Universidad Nacional de San Martín – UNSAM) has conferred an honorary doctorate to TU Dresden’s renowned expert of the Middle Ages: Prof Gert Melville.

With this accolade, the Argentine elite university has honoured Prof Melville’s outstanding achievements in the research of mediaeval history, in particular the history of religious orders as well as its underlying institutional approach. This award highlights Prof Melville’s competence to structurally explore mediaeval history and make it relevant to today’s problems. This recognition also lauds Prof Melville’s successful efforts in establishing an intercontinental co-operation network.

Since 2014, an official co-operation agreement between TU Dresden and UNSAM, signed by both rectors in Dresden, has been in force. Prof Melville, personally, can look back on 12 years of collaboration – reaching back to his position as speaker of the Collaborative Research Centre 537 (“Institutionality and Historicity”) and in his role as Director of the Research Centre for the Comparative History of Religious Orders (Forschungsstelle für Vergleichende Ordensgeschichte - FOVOG). The co-operation is characterised by a continuous exchange of scientists in research and teaching, by research projects, and since 2012, by a joint series of conferences on the culture-anthropological topic of “Challenges of Life”. These annual conferences with participants from all over the world are held in Argentina and provide a global-historical perspective. Currently, an application supported by TU Dresden’s “Institutional Strategy”, is being submitted to the German Research Foundation for a bi-national project on “Encounters with other religions. Middle Ages / Modern Times – Europe / Latin America”

UNSAM is one of the youngest universities in Argentina – established in 1992 as a reform university with a high socio-political standard. Today, it is one of the highest-ranked universities in Argentina (second in the publications ranking). Around 19,000 students are enrolled, studying natural sciences, medicine, humanities and arts. In the whole Latin-American area, the subjects of chemistry, meteorology, energy sciences, anthropology, and monument conservation take up leading positions. The experimental study offers also comprise very particular subjects such as dance and performing arts.

The inherent social-political commitment is evidenced by the fact that a large majority of the student body come from a precarious economic and social milieu, and through the university, obtain a chance of professional advancement. However, also lectures in prison with the opportunity of obtaining an academic degree count among the offers.