Dr. Laura Dierksmeier
Contact
SFB 1070 ResourceCultures
Gartenstr. 29
Room 306
72074 Tübingen
Tel.: +49-(0)7071-29-73595
Email: laura.dierksmeier@uni-tuebingen.de
Position and Role
Research Associate (Postdoc)
Further Information
Academic Career
| since 2017 | Postdoc in the DFG-collaborative research centre 1070 ResourceCultures, subproject C05: Island Economies. A Comparative Study of Island Communities during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, University of Tübingen |
| 2016 - 2017 | Postdoc in the DFG-Graduiertenkolleg 1662: “Religious Knowledge in Pre-modern Europe, Transfers and Transformations, 800-1800. ” at the University Tübingen |
| 2016 | PhD: Early Modern History at the University of Tübingen 'Charity for and by the Poor: Franciscan-Indigenous Confraternities in Mexico, 1526–1700' |
2012 – 2016 | Research associate at the Institute of Early Modern History at the University of Tübingen |
| 2010 – 2012 | MA: Spanish at Simmons College (Boston, USA) |
| 2010 – 2011 | Programme coordinator, Staff Writer and Archival Researcher at the Center for Community Service Simmons College (Boston, MA, USA) |
2002 – 2007 | BA: Spanish (BA) and Business Management (BS), Stonehill College (USA), incl. one semester at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) in Spring 2005 |
Conferences Organised
| Nov. 2019 | European Islands: Between Isolated and Interconnected Life Worlds (together with F. Schön, A. Condit, V. Palmowski, and A. Kouremenos) |
| Sept. 2018 | Indigenous Knowledge as a Resource? Transmission, Reception, and Interaction of Global and Local Knowledge between Europe and the Americas, 1492 1800 (together with F. Fechner and K. Takeda) |
Work groups
| since 2018 | Member: Trento en el Mundo hispánico: Renovación individual, social y cultural, Universidad de Navarra, Spain |
| since 2017 | Co-founder: Insularities, Comparative Case Studies in Resource Use Between Isolated and Interconnected Life Worlds, Universität Tübingen |
Courses Taught (University of Tübingen)
| WS 2019/20 | Introduction to the History of Cartography and Sea Navigation |
| Introduction to Archive Research | |
| SoSe 2019 | Missionary Science in Latin America, 1500 –1800 |
| Mediterranean Island History and Archaeology: Interdisciplinary Long-term Perspectives | |
| SoSe 2018 | Confraternities in the Early Modern Iberian World |
| SoSe 2016 | Mentorship for the lecture “Mikroskop und Fernglas - Wissenschaftsrevolutionen und Forschungsalltag in der Frühen Neuzeit” by Prof. Dr. Renate Dürr |
| WS 2015/16 | Mentorshipfor the lecturee “Geschichte Spanischamerikas in der Frühen Neuzeit” by Prof. Dr. Renate Dürr |
| WS 2014/15 | Together with Prof. Dr. Renate Dürr: Main seminar“Geschichte der spanischen Inquisition in Spanien und Spanischamerika” |
Contributions to Museums
| 2020 | More Than Just a Fountain: Water Stress on a Spanish Island, Virtual Museum of the University of Tübingen |
Additional professional experience and community service work (selection)
| 2010 - 2012 | Regional Student Coordinator, Amnesty International, Boston, USA |
| Volunteer/ Translator for Kids in Need of Defense, Boston, USA | |
| 2009 | Internship as Legal Assistant at Villar Arregui, Abogados, Madrid, Spain |
| 2008 - 2011 | Resettlement Volunteer at Refugee Immigration Ministry, Boston, USA |
| 2007 - 2009 | Paralegal at the department of Immigration at the law office „Pappas and Lenzo,“ Bos., USA |
| 2004 | Marine Police Officer, State of New Hampshire (USA) |
Research Focus
- Comparative Island Studies
- History of Water Scarcity in Spain
- Missionary Science and Indigenous Medicine in Latin America
- Early Modern Mexican Confraternities
- History of Banned Books and Newspapers in the Atlantic World
Publications
Monograph
- Charity for and by the Poor. Franciscan and Indigenous Confraternities in Mexico, 1527–1700 (Oklahoma 2020).
Edited Books
- Indigenous Knowledge as a Resource? Transmission, Reception, and Interaction of Global and Local Knowledge between Europe and the Americas, 1492 –1800 (with F. Fechner and K.Takeda), (SFB 1070, Universität Tübingen Press), 2021.
Articles (Double Blind Peer Reviewed)
- Teaching Insularity. Archaeological and Historical Perspectives (mit A. Kouremenos), SHIMA. The International Journal into Research of Island Cultures, 2020, 284–297.
- Forbidden Herbs? Alzate’s Defense of Pipilzitzintles. Colonial Latin American Review 29.2, 2020, 263–286.
Chapters
- The Narrower the Divide, the Deeper the Trench. Bartolomé de las Casas and Toribio de Motolinía. In: B. de las Casas, History, Philosophy, and Theology in the Age of European Expansion. (Boston 2018) 348 –391.
- From Isolation to Inclusion. Confraternities in Urban Colonial Mexico. In: D. Bullen Presciutti (ed.), Space, Place & Motion. Locating Confraternities in the Early Modern City (Boston 2017) 68 – 87.
- Cofradías en Nueva España antes y después de Trento. Reformas en las finanzas, arte sacro, y licencias. In: F. Labarga (ed.), Para la reforma del clero y pueblo cristiano… El concilio de Trento y la renovación católica en el mundo hispánico (Silex 2020).
- Water Scarcity at Sea. Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on the Preservation of Freshwater on Volcanic Islands (with F. Schön). In: S. Teuber (ed.), RessourcenKulturen. Konzepte und Anwendungen (2021).
- Historical Water Scarcity on the Canary Islands, 1500-1800 AD. In: S. Teuber/A. Scholz/T. Scholten/M. Bartelheim, Waters. Conference Proceedings for 'Waters as a Resource' of the SFB 1070 Resourcecultures and DEGUWA (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Unterwasserarchäologie e.V.). RessourcenKulturen 11 (Tübingen 2020).
Reviews
- Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung. 2019. Huber, Vitus, Beute und Conquista. Die politische Ökonomie der Eroberung Neuspaniens, (Frankfurt: Campus), 2018 (with A. Weininger).
- Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung. 2018. Redden, Andrew, The Collapse of Time: The Martyrdom of Diego Ortiz (1571) Antonio de la Calancha [1638], (Berlin: De Gruyter), 2016.
- Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung. 2017. Tene, Ran, Changes in Ethical Worldviews of Spanish Missionaries in Mexico: An Ethical Transition from Sight to Touch in the 16th and 17th Centuries. (European Expansion and Indigenous Response, Bd. 15), (Leiden/Boston: Brill), 2015.
Forthcoming
- European Islands Between Isolated and Interconnected Life Worlds (with F. Schön, A. Condit, V. Palmowski, und A. Kouremenos), submitted June 2020.
Books in Preparation
- History of Latin America in 25 Images (with M. Kroiher and F. Fechner).
Press/Media
- Forbidden herbs? The effects of cannabis were a controversial topic 250 years ago, University of Tuebingen, 07.07.2020
- El tesoro escondido del pasado tinerfeño, La Prensa, Tenerife, 23.11.2019
- Wassermangel in der Vergangenheit, Schwäbisches Tagblatt, 01.10.2018
- Wissenschaftler der Universität Tübingen untersuchen Strategien zum Umgang mit wiederkehrenden Dürreperioden, Focus Online, 25.09.2018
- Traditional methods of farming in a dry climate: University of Tübingen researchers investigate past techniques for living with water scarcity, Universität Tübingen, 24.09.2018
Awards and Scholarships
| 2021 | Coordinator of DFG Network: Island Studies Network: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Island Exchanges, Environments, and Perceptions (together with Frerich Schön) |
| 2019 | Project funding for young scientists, “Small European Islands as Harbingers of Environmental Change”, University Tübingen |
| 2018 | Postdoc Grant “Climate Change and Small Islands in a Long-Term Perspective”, University Tübingen, SFB 1070 |
| 2017 | Bartolomé de las Casas Dissertation Prize, Fribourg University, Schweiz |
| 2011 | Distinguished Graduate Student for Civic Engagement Award |
| 2006 | President, Spanish Honors Society |
| 2006 | Community Service Leadership Award |
Fellowships
| Feb. – March 2018 | Visiting Fellow: Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona (Spain), under the direction of Prof. Dr. Pilar Latasa (History of Early Modern Latin America) |
| Oct. 2014 – Oct. 2016 | Academy of American Franciscan History Fellowship (California, USA) |
| Professional Associations | |
| since | |
| 2020 | Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft |
| 2020 | International Small Islands Studies Association |
| 2019 | European Society for Environmental History |
| 2018 | Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands |
| 2015 | Förderverein Geschichte Universität Tübingen |
| 2013 | Confraternitas, University of Toronto |
| 2012 | Asociación de Historiadores Latinoamericanistas Europeos |
| 2012 | Hispanic American Historical Review |
| 2011 | Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies |
| 2011 | Latin American Studies Association |
| 2011 | American Historical Association |