Sarah Lentz

Sarah Lentz is a Researcher specializing in Early Modern History at the University of Bremen, where she has been employed as a Post-Doc since October 2018. She currently leads two major research projects: the focus project 'All on Board!' examining unequal mobility in Early Modern times (2025-2028), and an AI project on early modern stranger lists (2025). She is also working on her Habilitation project titled 'Alle im selben Boot? Ungleiche Mobilität(en), Unterwegssein als Praktik und mobile Räume der Frühen Neuzeit' (All in the Same Boat? Unequal Mobilities, Being on the Move as Practice, and Mobile Spaces in Early Modern Times). Lentz is currently on part-time parental leave until August 2025.

Her research interests span Early Modern History, Atlantic Slavery and Abolitionism, Mobility Studies, German involvement in Atlantic slavery, Digital Humanities, Gender History, and Colonial History. She approaches these topics through an intersectional lens, particularly examining how different social markers influence experiences of mobility and maritime spaces. Her work has significantly contributed to challenging the notion of German exceptionalism regarding involvement in Atlantic slavery.

Lentz's publication record reveals a strong focus on German participation in Atlantic slavery, abolitionist movements, and maritime social history. Her research demonstrates a clear trajectory from examining specific historical actors and events toward broader conceptual frameworks for understanding mobility and inequality in the Early Modern period. She has increasingly incorporated Digital Humanities methods, particularly through her current AI-assisted research on early modern stranger lists.

• Promotionspreis der Universität Bremen (2020)
• Doktorandenstipendium am Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz (2017)
• Associate Junior Fellow des Hanse-Wissenschaftskollegs (2021-2025)
• Förderung durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds für Monographien der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (2020)
• Forschungsaufenthalt am Centre for the Study of International Slavery, University of Liverpool (2016)

Lentz serves as a supervisor for doctoral projects, including one currently advertised as part of her 'All on Board!' focus project. She has secured multiple research grants, including central research funding from the University of Bremen (2025), AI funding for her digital humanities project (2025), and workshop funding from the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (2025). She is also an Associated Researcher for the Prize Papers Project at the National Archives, London/University of Oldenburg.

She is actively involved in several research communities, including the editorial team for the Kleio podcast at the University of Bremen, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Focke Museum in Bremen, and the editorial board of Bonjour Geschichte, an online history journal. Her work connects traditional historical methods with digital approaches to uncover marginalized historical actors and experiences.