Silke Urbanski

Silke Urbanski (born 5 February 1964) is an historian, an author and a former politician (SPD).[1] For many years she held a teaching position for Middle-ages history at the Historisches Seminar (loosely, "Historical faculty") at the University of Hamburg, but she resigned in 2005 as a protest against the decision by the Hamburg Senate to introduce student tuition fees.[2] (University tuition fees were scrapped a few years later in Hamburg, following a change of government at the state level.[3])

Biography

Silke Urbanski was born in Hamburg. She successfully completed her school career in 1983 and moved on to the University of Hamburg where she studied History, Philosophy and Teaching sciences. She took a year abroad in 1986/87, teaching at a school in Richmond upon Thames on the south-western edge of London, England, before returning to Hamburg in order to progress her academic career. Meanwhile, in 1986 she had joined the (German) Social Democratic Party.[1]

History

She was employed at the University of Hamburg between 1989 and 1997 (with a break in 1991/92) initially as a research assistant and later with a teaching contract. She received her doctorate in 1996 for a piece of work on the eventful history of the St. Johannis Monastery in the northern part of the city centre.[4] The dissertation was quickly adapted for publication.[5]

From 1997 Urbanski has worked as a teacher at the Max-Brauer-Schule (secondary school) in Altona (west Hamburg). She combined this with work as a lecturer at the universityHistory Faculty). In 2008 she switched to Hamburg's Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium (secondary school).[1]

She combined her teaching not just with a political career but also with authorship. Her biography of Geseke Cletzen, the rich woman who (re-)endowed the St. Elisabeth Hospital (as the Hospital zum Heiligen Geist in Hamburg was initially known) back in the early fifteenth century appeared in 1996. During the twenty-first century she has published several historical novels.[1] She has published in-depth school-level teaching notes on several topics[4] and more recently, while he was still alive, co-authored two academic "Festschriften" honoring her former mentor Gerhard Theuerkauf.[6]

Since 2014 Urbanski has been working with Rita Bake (and others) on the "Hamburg-Geschichtsbuch" (loosely, "Hamburg History Book") project, a multi-channel project backed by the Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte and other institutions in the city involved with history and education. She has shaped and developed the project, which she says will never be complete,[lower-alpha 1] assembling a team of authors, and herself designing many of the "worksheets" issued as part of it.[7] The project website went public on 6 September 2017. Practical support also comes from the university and other relevant research bodies.[8]

Politics

Having joined the SPD in 1986, between 1997 and 2001 Urbanski served as a member of the Hamburg party's "Arts and Culture Authority" ("Kulturbehörde. "). Then in the regional elections she was elected a member of the Bürgerschaft (Hamburg Parliament) in 1997. The SPD, as was usual in Hamburg during that period, won the largest proportion of the votes and ended up with the largest number of seats, but they fell short of the 50% threshold and were obliged to govern in coalition with the Green Party. Silke Urbanski was appointed as a representative of her party to sit on two important committees: that for "Gender Equality" ("Gleichstellung der Frau") and that for "Arts and Culture" ("Kultur"). However, she served in the parliament only for a single term, till 2001.[1]

Notes
  1. "Das Hamburg-Geschichtsbuch wird aber nie „fertig“ sein. Es wächst stetig, es kommen neue Informationen, Projekte und Unterrichtsmaterialien hinzu.[7]" Dr Silke Urbanski

References
  1. "Silke Urbanski". ... denn die Vergangenheit hat viel zu erzählen ... Literatur-Couch Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. "Streitbare Dozentin". Die Historikerin hat aus Protest gegen Studiengebühren ihren Lehrauftrag gekündigt. Neues Deutschland, Berlin. 18 February 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. Alexandra Topping (15 March 2011). "German universities face funding fears as states scrap fees". Tuition fees for German students are being abolished in many states, only a few years after being introduced. The Guardian, London. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. Material erstellt von Dr. Silke Urbanski. "Schule im Kloster Harvestehude" (PDF). Leben im Mittelalter .... Im Kloster in Harvestehude erhielten in den Jahren 1246-1530 Mädchen aus dem Adel der Gegend und die Töchter von Hamburger Kaufleuten und wohlhabenden Handwerkern ihre Ausbildung. Das Kloster funktionierte wie ein Internat. Viele der Mädchen heirateten nach der Ausbildung. Einige von ihnen blieben als Nonnen im Kloster. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung). Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  5. Silke Urbanski (1996). Geschichte des Klosters Harvestehude, "In valle virginum": wirtschaftliche, soziale und politische Entwicklung eines Nonnenklosters bei Hamburg 1245-1530. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-8258-2758-8.
  6. Gerhard Theuerkauf, Christina Deggim & Silke Urbanski (2003). Hamburg und Nordeuropa: Studien zur Stadt- und Regionalgeschichte : Festschrift für Gerhard Theuerkauf zum 70. Geburtstag (Veröffentlichungen des " Hamburger Arbeitskreises für Regionalgeschichte "). ISBN 978-3-825-87587-9.
  7. "Hamburg-Geschichtsbuch". Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung). Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  8. "Hamburgs Geschichte geht online". Schulbehörde und Körber-Stiftung stellen Website vor, die neue Wege in die Vergangenheit unserer Stadt öffnet. Betreibergesellschaft hamburg.de GmbH & Co. KG. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
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