Dorothea Heuschert-Laage

Dorothea Heuschert-Laage is a Researcher at the Department of Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, University of Bonn, affiliated with the Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies (IOA) and the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS). Her work focuses on legal history and socio-political structures in Mongolian societies under the Qing dynasty (1636–1911), particularly examining dependency relations through archival records. She currently leads a Gerda Henkel Foundation-funded project analyzing court records from Qanggin-banner, Inner Mongolia.

Education:

• Habilitation (2021), University of Bonn
• Ph.D. (1997), University of Bonn and Harvard University
• M.A. (1993), University of Bonn and Inner Mongolia University

Research Interests:

• Legal pluralism and state-local interactions
• Gender and property in Qing Mongolia
• Archival documentation of Qing legal cases
• Historiography of Mongolian customs

Key Projects:

• TRA 5: Past Worlds and Modern Questions (since 2021)
• SNF-funded study on Mongolian global networks (2014–2017)
• MPG project on ethno-national management in Eurasia (2011–2013)

Awards:

• IAS Fellowship (2024–2025)
• Societas Uralo-Altaica Award (1997)

Grants & Activities:

• Extensive funding history from Gerda Henkel, Chiang Ching-kuo, and DAAD
• Catalogued Manchu manuscripts at Leuven University (1997–1998)

Labs/Teams: Active in BCDSS and collaborates with global institutions like the Max Planck Institute and Institute for Advanced Study.