Prof. Dr. Thomas Bauer receives highest German research prize

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bauer (Arab and Islam Studies) has been awarded the German Research Foundation’s prestigious Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz Prize 2013. We would like to congratulate Prof. Dr. Bauer.

The DFG commented: “Thomas Bauer is an Islamic studies scholar who has combined the philological interpretation and editing of texts with an approach that is as broad as it is innovative, taking in historical considerations relating to culture and mentality, making his work potentially unique in the world. Bauer is known for his research into Arabic poetry, including the Onager Episode and the Abbasid Period.” In his 2011 monograph The Culture of Ambiguity - An Alternative History of Islam Bauer shows how Islamic tradition has for many centuries nurtured diversity, allowing for differing cultural discourses and practices that distinguishes it from classical and medieval traditions in the West, but also different from the contemporary reality in many Islamic countries.
We are very glad to have Prof. Dr. Bauer among our academic staff and wish him all the best and success in his future academic career.