Prof. Eva Pfanzelter joins Leiden as the Visiting Professor in Central European Studies at Leiden
For the spring semester 2025, the Austria Centre Leiden and the Institute History are excited to welcome Prof. Eva Pfanzelter to Leiden for her term as Visiting Professor in Central European Studies.
Prof. Pfanzelter will teach two classes, give public talks in Leiden and around The Netherlands and strengthen Leiden's connections to Central Europe. We are very grateful to the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research for their support of this Visiting Professorship. We asked Prof. Pfanzelter some questions so we can learn more about her work.
Where do you usually work as a professor and what do you study?
I am a professor at the Department of Contemporary History at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. My research mainly focusses on the interconnections between history and digitization and I have three main areas that I work on in in this context: migration and return (or circular) migration, Holocaust studies and European minority studies. All three areas are highly relevant issues for current day events and that makes them intriguing and fascinating to work on.
Why were you drawn to apply to this Visiting Professorship in Central European Studies at Leiden University?
In the spring-term of 2023 I was a visiting professor at Center Austria at the University of New Orleans. Through these channels the Visiting Professorhip was promoted and I decided to apply especially because to teach at Leiden University and collaborate with renowned colleagues from the history department was really appealing. So, I am really happy that it worked out and I am looking forward to my stay in Leiden.
What courses are you teaching and what else do you have planned for your time in The Netherlands?
The two courses I am going to teach are a BA-General History lecture course on the history of ethnic minorities in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries and a MA-research seminar on Return migration from the 1850s. Also, I have been invited by colleagues from research networks and other universities in the Netherlands to participate in round tables and to give talks. My schedule has filled up really quickly now and I am looking forward to an interesting exchange. I hope to be able to use this time to initiate future collaborations and I am positive that this will come about. But of course, I am also looking forward to travel around the country and see all the wonderful cities and places the Netherlands has to offer.