CALL FOR PAPERS On 20-21 May 2027, the international conference “Premodern State Formation: New Themes and Directions”, a joint initiative of the Technische Universität Dresden and VUB, will be held in Dresden, Germany.

Konferenz

Call for Papers für die Tagung "Premodern State Formation: New Themes and Directions" (Dresden, 20.-21. Mai 2027)

tu-dresden.de

🎉 Exciting (re)publication news! SHOC is proud to announce the republication of SHOC member Anne Winter's and Ellen Debackere's article, entitled “Non-Nationals between Belonging and Removal: Urban Practices of Policies towards Foreigners, Antwerp c. 1830–1880.”

In July, SHOC-member Charlotte Van Riet attended the Radiocarbon & Diet Conference in Satiago, Chile. She presented the first results of her PhD research on the city-dwellers of medieval Ypres. Find out more about it here ⬇️ www.linkedin.com/posts/charlo...

Early July, I attended the Radiocarbon & Diet Conference in Santiago, Chile, held at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. During my presentation, I took the audience to Medieval Ypres, a...

Early July, I attended the Radiocarbon & Diet Conference in Santiago, Chile, held at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. During my presentation, I took the audience to Medieval Ypres, and s...

linkedin.com

📚🏆 From Book Launch to Prize Winner: Congratulations, John Latham-Sprinkle! 🎉👏 Ten months ago, we proudly launched The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850–1240, John Latham-Sprinkle’s groundbreaking study of a little-known medieval kingdom.

From Lisbon with medieval perspectives! 🏰 SHOC members John Latham-Sprinkle and Imma Petito took recently part in Small Worlds, Big Worlds: Medieval Mediterranean Perspectives, organised by the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean (SMM).

Class and gender at the ballot box: revisiting the 1961 Belgian elections Why did an experienced female politician lose her place on the electoral list? And what role did class and gender play in that decision?

Class and gender at the ballot box: revisiting the 1961 Belgian elections. Why did an experienced female politician lose her place on the electoral list? And what role did class and gender play in that decision?

Medici Florence was a magnet for craftsmanship from the Low Countries!🏛️ Yesterday, Belgian newspaper De Standaard featured the migration research of SHOC members William Torbeyns and Bart Lambert, together with KU Leuven colleague Jelle Haemers 📰

Last Friday, many SHOC members attended the opening of wOnderland in Ieper 🎉. This exhibition at the Yper Museum shows what archaeological finds from beneath the city, and the interdisciplinary research carried out on them, can tell us about the medieval urban environment and its inhabitants 🏛️

wOnderland

Er was eens ... de Ruiter. Een man van vlees en bloed die eeuwen geleden door de Ieperse straten galoppeerde. Wat weten we nog over deze heer? Verbazingwekkend veel! In wONDERLAND graaf je diep in de ...

ypermuseum.be

Our second podcast featuring Bart Lambert is a treat especially for our French‑speaking followers🎧—but it’s just as fascinating for anyone interested in the historical impact of pandemics!

Get ready for the Big Bart Lambert Podcast Weekend! 🎧 Over the next few days, we’re excited to share not one but two brand-new podcast episodes featuring SHOC colleague Bart Lambert. 🎙️📚

The English Heritage Podcast

Every object has a story to tell. But how can one mystery item lead us on a journey through history, people and places?  In the English Heritage podcast, comedian and writer Amy Matthews brings you ...

english-heritage.org.uk

On Wednesday 10 June, Imma Petito successfully defended her PhD on the relations between the Kingdom of England and Italian polities in the later Middle Ages 🎓.

SHOC member Leonie Vanlerberghe recently led an engaging workshop on “Gender in Personal Documents” at the Spring Conference of the Royal Netherlands Historical Society (KNHG),together with Stefan Kras (history teacher and PhD researcher) and Jessie Baerts (Master student Gender & Diversity, Ugent).

New vacancy! We are looking for 2 doctoral candidates to conduct research on the Brussels construction sector as a nexus of labour, materials, and capital, from the nineteenth century to the present.

VACANCY DOCOTRAL RESEARCHER: FLOWS IN THE CONSTRUCTION

We are looking for 2 doctoral candidates to conduct research on the Brussels construction sector as a nexus of labour, materials, and capital, from the

shoc.research.vub.be

🏆 Quiz champions! 🏆 Once again, our SHOC members showed they’re experts in more than just history at the annual VUB staff quiz.

On 26 May, the Faculty Research Day @VUB brought together PhD students from the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for a full day of exchange, inspiration and academic discovery🎓✨

Last Tuesday, 19 May, SHOC celebrated its third anniversary with an inspiring lecture by Prof. Andreas Malm (Lund University).

Recently, our SHOC colleague Brent Huygh published his first academic article, titled "Commercialisation from below: the Brussels gateway roads in the eighteenth century", in the journal "History of Retailing and Consumption".

📣 Call for Papers: People on the Move in Late Medieval Europe 🌍 SHOC member Bart Lambert is guest editing a special issue of the peer reviewed, Web of Science–indexed journal Histories on late medieval human mobility.

In the beginning of April, SHOC-member Charlotte Van Riet attended the UK Archaeological Sciences Conference 2026, hosted by the University of Bristol. She presented the first results of her PhD research in a poster titled "Isotopes and Urbanisation".

SHOC‑collega’s Dennis De Vriese en Matthijs De Graeve traden mee op als editors van het nieuwe boek "Brusselse plaatsnamen".

SHOC turns two — and we’re celebrating with something special! We’re delighted to welcome Prof. Dr. Andreas Malm for an lecture exploring the longue durée of capitalism and its environmental foundations: “The Political Ecology of Charlemagne – Or, What, If Anything, Is Special about Capitalism?”

Join us for our last seminar of this semester! Katja Bruisch on Burning Swamps: Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia’s Fossil Economy. Click here for more info 👇 shoc.research.vub.be/nl/shoc-semi...

Episode 2 of The Foragers is out today 🌿 In this new conversation, artists Samah Hijawi and Juliette (Kin Hands) join Gosie Vervloessem to reflect on foraging as part of their creative practice—sharing the plants they grow, cook with, and gather in their surroundings.

🎙️Something new is in the air... @foragency.bsky.social launches a second podcast series! 🎙️

❗Tot en met 22 april kan je je inschrijven voor de Dag van de Nieuwste Geschiedenis met als thema Ctrl-Alt-History: (Digital) humanities meets AI.

Don't miss out on our next SHOC Seminar! Monday, 23 March: Hannes Ziegler (Technische Universität Dresden): "What was the State? Officiating and Litigating in Early Modern England". Everyone welcome, but please register via shoc@vub.be. shoc.research.vub.be/en/shoc-semi...

SHOC seminar with Hannes Ziegler (Technische Universität

What was the State? Officiating and Litigating in Early Modern EnglandResearch into early modern state-building has developed quite a bit over the past decades

shoc.research.vub.be

News from our colleagues of the MOTC project! Read all about it: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

📢 MEET THE TEAM! Charlotte Van Riet is an interdisciplinary PhD-Candidate in History and Archaeology. 🏰 🦷 🧪 Charlotte started her career at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2017 with an… | Make-Up ...

📢 MEET THE TEAM! Charlotte Van Riet is an interdisciplinary PhD-Candidate in History and Archaeology. 🏰 🦷 🧪 Charlotte started her career at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2017 with an education i...

linkedin.com

This Friday and Saturday 13/14 March: First International Conference of the Medieval Caucasus Network. "Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus"

Upcoming seminar: Mark Bray on Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Trump’s United States - 2 April 2026