About Elena

Elena Marie Elisabeth Kiesel is a historian and Research Associate at the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History and History Didactics, University of Erfurt, and Co-Investigator in the Research Unit on Voluntariness. Her research focuses on voluntary participation in the GDR, social history of the GDR, provenance research, and the history of confessional welfare.

Research Field

Recent German History

Affiliation

University of Erfurt

Department of History

Project

Voluntariness and Dictatorship

Elena M. E. Kiesel

Elena M. E. Kiesel

Co-Investigator (Recent German History)
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Programm Konferenz in Graz

Conference on Solidarity and Volutnariness in Graz

On September 12 and 13, 2023, two co-investigators from the research unit will be speaking at the conference “Solidarity and Voluntarism in State-Socialist Societies” at the University of Graz, Austria. For a panel on Friday Carolyn Taratko and Elena M. E. Kiesel will be presenting aspects of their research projects on voluntariness in Ghana and the GDR.

Voluntariness in Recent and Global History – Upcoming Talk

The current work in progress of our historical subprojects explores voluntariness in local historical contexts, in negotiations surrounding migration, in postcolonial settings as well as in different time periods or world regions. In the upcoming summer term, team members will discuss their crucial questions with experts from the respective fields of research.

Voluntariness As a “Necessary Evil”?

By Elena M. E. Kiesel

“Mach Dir einen Kopf, Kollege!” – an appeal to potential “Neuerer” to participate in the workplace suggestion scheme of the GDR. Abaut what it meant to be a “Neuerer” we talked to contemporary witnesses in Eisenach last September.

Voluntariness On Tour – What Was it Like to Be a “Neuerer”?

On Friday, September 30, 2022, Elena and Christiane from the subproject “Voluntariness and Dictatorship” invite former “Neuerer” in the GDR to talk about their personal experiences. We are hosting an event called “Bürgerforum” and looking forward meeting you in Eisenach!

Voluntariness Up For Debate – Lecture and Workshop with Sandrine Kott

On June 20, 2022, our teams of the subprojects “Voluntariness and Decolonization” and “Voluntariness and Dictatorship” – Carolyn, Iris, Elena and Christiane – welcome Swiss historian Sandrine Kott (University of Geneva) for a workshop and evening lecture at the Forschungskolleg Transkulturelle Studien in Gotha.

Voluntariness on Tour: Talk at the “Fuldaer Abende”

On January 18, 2022, Elena M. E. Kiesel and Christiane Kuller, project investigators of our sub-project on voluntariness and dictatorship, will be participating at the “Fuldaer Abende” and explore voluntary participation within the ‘Neuererwesen’ of the GDR.

Vikings_season5_episode7

Are We Fated?

By Elena M. E. Kiesel and Markus Dolinsky

Pagans against Christians, brothers against brothers, free will against fate: in the Canadian-Irish television series Vikings viewers are immersed in a conflict-laden world characterized by a search for religious…

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