The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will fund sixteen new Priority Programmes from the beginning of 2006. [...]

The new Priority Programmes are:

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

The polis as a form of city-state in the Eastern Mediterranean is the subject of the Priority Programme "The Hellenistic polis as a way of life. Urban structures and civil identity between tradition and change". The researchers involved in this Priority Programme have set out to take a fresh look at the rather stayed view of the heyday and demise of the classical Athenian polis and to revise the prevailing stereotypes. Using a novel methodological approach, characterised most markedly by innovative networking of archaeological and historical research, they aim to demonstrate that the historical development of the Hellenistic city-state cultures and the towns at their centres needs to be seen as a process which gained increased dynamism during the Hellenistic era. The significance of this work, involving research partners from numerous Mediterranean countries, is expected to extend well beyond the boundaries of classical studies. ( Coordinator: Prof. Martin Zimmermann, University of Munich )