23 May 2023

Ina Habermann receives SNSF project grant

Project title: "SwissBritNet: Swiss-British cultural exchange and knowledge networks 1600-1780"

Principle Investigators:Ina Habermann (English), Lukas Rosenthaler (Digital Humanities)
Time frame: June 2023 to May 2027
Contact:ina.habermann@clutterunibas.ch

This project, combining a database with case studies, investigates Swiss-British relations in the 17^th and early 18^th centuries, thus contributing to a better understanding of early modern networks of knowledge and processes of cultural exchange.

The core of the project is a database, compiled in collaboration with hallernet at the University of Bern. It makes available documents such as letters, friendship albums, travel accounts and devotional literature that highlight transnational connections, particularly in areas crucial for Swiss-British relations, such as theology in the 17^th century and natural philosophy, science and literature in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. Case studies will include two ego-networks (Johann Jacob Frey in the early 17^th and Caspar Wettstein in the 18^th century) and such key genres as travel writing and devotional literature. The database will be set up in such a way that it is easily accessible for future research and that relevant further materials can be added anytime.

The investigation of transnational relations has been advanced significantly by Digital Humanities approaches. SwissBritNet will add the Swiss-British perspective to a thriving international and interdisciplinary research community, thus helping to promote our understanding of the historical dimension of cultural exchange.