Podcast 'Rethinking the Global'

In this episode, we talk with Cyrus Schayegh, professor of International History and Politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID). A key focus of the dialogue is on the concept of “Transimperial History.” Schayegh elaborates on this term to illustrate how it helps us understand the complexities of historical development in the modern era, particularly in the context of empires and their legacies. He shares glimpses of his newly published book, which promises to shed further light on these themes. This episode not only enriches our knowledge of historical discourse but also encourages critical thinking about how we frame historical narratives in a globalized world.

Guest: Cyrus Schayegh, Professor of International History and Politics, Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID)

Host: Laura Rowitz, PhD student at the Institute Middle East and Muslim Societies, & Rea Vogt, PhD student at the Institute of History, University of Bern

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In this episode, historian Benjamin Zachariah joins us to unpack what we really mean when we invoke “the global,” tracing the concept’s deep prehistories and the political imaginations that sustain it. Through questions about the constructed divide between “Global South” and “Global North,” he reflects on whether an authentic Global South can exist outside this oppositional framing. The conversation explores the Eurocentric foundations of conventional historiography and the kinds of alternative methods and pedagogical tools that might open space for more inclusive, critically global histories. Finally, Zachariah tackles the provocative question of whether a truly decolonial notion of the global is possible given the imperial genealogies that shaped it.

Guest: Benjamin Zachariah, Senior Research Fellow at the Einstein Forum, Potsdam

Host: Sagnik Bhattacharya, PhD student at the Institute of History, University of Bern

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In this episode, we discuss how Sharae Deckard and her colleagues in the Warwick Research Collective are bringing world-systems theory to bear on world-literary analysis. Her explanations take us from the global as the interpretive horizon of fiction, to the role of collective work in studying the connection between global capitalism and literary genres, and then all the way to the usefulness of her approach in media beyond the purely literary such as graphic novels and videogames (and TikTok).

Guest: Sharae Deckard, Professor of World Literature at UC Dublin

Host: Michael Boog, PhD student at the Department of English Languages and Literatures, University of Bern

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In this podcast episode, we will explore the interplay between Agnotology and Literature within a global framework. We shall examine how traditions and institutions have both contested and contributed to the production, circulation, and politicization of ignorance across diverse historical and geopolitical contexts. We ask: What are the ethical dimensions of not knowing? In what ways does literature articulate or embody uncertainty? And what are the implications when ignorance is not a mere gap in understanding, but rather a purposeful construct?
 

Guests: Simone Broders, affiliated with the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), and Anna Auguscik, who holds joint affiliations with the University of Oldenburg and the University of Bremen

Host: Aishwarya Khale, PhD student at the Department of English Languages and Literatures, University of Bern

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In this episode we discuss marine ecosystems and their entanglements with other systems such as ‘the Earth’. We question our understanding of  ‘the Globe’ and discuss if it comprises oceans and other bodies of water equally as terrestrial zones.

Guest: Kai Schulz, Visiting researcher at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Associate Professor with the School of Environment, Southern Cross University Australia

Host: David Castillo, PhD student at the Institute of Theatre Studies, University of Bern

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