When did emotions become a serious subject of historical research? And what happens when we treat feelings as political forces? 

This lecture traces the "emotional turn" in history and related disciplines, introduces key concepts and methodological approaches, and explores the history of emotional politics in the modern era. It concludes with reflections on emotional governance and the current surge of emotion research.

Ute Frevert is a historian specialising in modern European history and has held professorships in Berlin, Konstanz and Bielefeld, as well as at Yale University (USA). In 2008, she moved to the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, where she headed the research department ‘History of Emotions’ until 2024. She has been president of the Max Weber Foundation since 2023. Ute Frevert is a member of various national academies of science and has been honoured with prestigious prizes and awards. Her publications include: Ehrenmänner (1991), Die kasernierte Nation (2001); Emotions in History– Lost and Found (2011); Die Politik der Demütigung (2017); Mächtige Gefühle (2020); Writing the History of Emotions (2024).

The ‘Prague Lectures’ are a collaboration between the Prague branches of the German Historical Institute Warsaw, the Collegium Carolinum, and the ‘Knowledge and Participation’ department of the Leibniz Institute for History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), as well as the German-Czech joint research and communication platform with the Czech Academy of Sciences GWZO prague FLÚ.

The event will take place in the Jana Sokola Hall of the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in Prague.