Sonja Levsen

Sonja Levsen is Professor of Modern History with a special focus on Contemporary History and Director of the Department of Contemporary History at the University of Tübingen since April 2023. Previously, she was Professor of Modern History at the University of Trier (2022-2023) and held a Dilthey Fellowship at the History Department of the University of Freiburg (2011-2021).

Education:

• Habilitation, University of Freiburg (2017)
• Doctorate, University of Tübingen (2004)
• Magistra Artium, University of Tübingen (2000)
• Studies of history, German studies and political science in Tübingen, Cambridge and Munich (1995-2000)

Professor Levsen's research focuses on comparative and transnational European history from the 19th to 21st centuries, with particular emphasis on post-1945 developments. Her work examines the history of democracy and participation, war experiences, European history as a research field, the 1970s in transnational perspectives, and the history of education, gender, sexuality, and violence. Her monograph "Authority and Democracy. A Cultural History of Educational Change in West Germany and France, 1945-1975" (2019) challenges conventional narratives about authoritarian traditions in postwar West Germany.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on transnational political activism, particularly in the 1970s, with attention to the spatial dimensions of activism and how different forms of transnational spaces (imagined spaces of solidarity, spaces of knowledge circulation, and spaces of social experience) interacted in European political movements. Her work spans multiple subfields including gender history, democratic theory, educational history, and comparative European studies.

Scientific Awards:

• Dilthey Fellowship of Volkswagen Foundation
• Dissertation award of Arbeitskreis Deutsche England-Forschung (ADEF)
• Leopold-Lucas-Nachwuchswissenschaftler-Preis
• Best Master's thesis award at the Historical Seminar of the University of Tübingen
• Honorary Senior Scholar of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Professor Levsen advises numerous doctoral and master's students, with recent theses focusing on topics ranging from postwar reconstruction to sexual politics and transnational activism. She has received significant research funding, particularly through the Volkswagen Foundation's Dilthey Fellowship program. Her current work includes organizing conferences and workshops on contemporary historical topics and collaborating with institutions like the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung on democracy research and education.

She leads the Seminar for Contemporary History at Tübingen and serves on the editorial board of Contemporary European History. Her work bridges academic research with public engagement, as evidenced by numerous interviews and contributions to public media on historical topics related to democracy, education, and contemporary European history.