Umeå Group for Premodern Studies

Umeå Group for Premodern Studies is an multi-disciplinary research group based at Umeå University, Sweden. The purpose of the group is to conduct internationally successful research in a broad multidisciplinary perspective on periods before 1800 in collaboration with international research groups and networks. The group focuses on three main themes:

Political culture (attitudes, beliefs and values underpinning political systems, practices and relations), Gender (constructions of differences and relations of power); Emotions (expressions, repertoires and strategies).

These themes should be taken in a broad sense, including a wide range of disciplinary perspectives from literature, art, linguistics, history, archeology, religion, history of ideas, philosophy, and political science. A more specific aim is to place the Swedish historical and cultural development in a broad international perspective or alternatively study how global phenomena have affected Sweden during different historical epochs.

The long and short-term aims of UGPS include

- Increasing younger researchers’ competence to do research on premodern sources - Conducting successful research on an international level - Increasing the international publishing of results - Applying for external funding for interdisciplinary research projects - Organizing and participating in conferences and workshops - Developing and expanding existing research networks - Connecting international scholars to UGPS through networks and visiting fellowships - Encouraging exchange of doctoral students and researchers - Creating an international reference group to enrich the group’s work in the long run