Research

Socio-cultural anthropology during Austria’s interwar period: Academic interactions with church and politics

Father Wilhelm Schmidt with Pope Pius XI at the opening of the missionary ethnological museum in the Lateran, Rome, 20 December 1929; Photo Felici, Rome; SVD, Mission House St. Gabriel
Father Wilhelm Schmidt with Pope Pius XI at the opening of the missionary ethnological museum in the Lateran, Rome, 20 December 1929; Photo Felici, Rome; SVD, Mission House St. Gabriel

 

This research project is the first systematic study of political and academic interactions and their significance in Austrian ethnology (today cultural and social anthropology) in the interwar period. Archival work will be carried out in Austria, the Vatican and other parts of Europe as well as in the USA and Israel. Oral sources, which are methodically collected through interviews with secondary witnesses, are an important supplement. A central goal of this project will be the publication of a comprehensive monograph on Austrian ethnology of the interwar period.

Project leader:
Peter Rohrbacher

Cooperations:

Thomas Brechenmacher (KfZG Bonn)
Stefan Heid (RIGG Vatican)
Rupert Klieber (University of Vienna)
Johannes Koll (WU Vienna)
David Shankland (RAI London)
Han Vermeulen (MPI Halle)
Susanne Voss (BBAW Berlin)

Duration:
01.06.2020 – 31.05.2025

Financing:
FWF (P 33427)