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Fate, Freedom and Prognostication.

Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe 01|11 Are you aware that the adjective '

jovial'

is used C in German as well as in English C to describe a person who is of a generous disposition? Etymologically, the origin of the word jovial stems from the noun '

Io- vis'

, that is the planet Jupiter, and the idea that the configuration of planets at the moment of birth can influence a person'

s character. In the Western Euro- pean tradition, there are a myriad of such connec- tions which also must be appreciated in their deeper dimensions because the relationship between magic and religion, between acceptance and rejection of magical ideas shows just how difficult it is to draw factual, spatial or temporal borders. In this regard, the history of pre-modern Europe is studied in juxtaposi- tion with Asian traditions at our research consortium. One year has passed since the inception of the IKGF. The first group of visiting fellows have completed their research stay with us and new researchers have arrived in Erlangen. The acts of looking back and looking forward are inextricably entwined, and the two combine as the leitmotif, fitting at the end of the first year, and the beginning of the second year, of our project on Fate, Freedom and Prognostication: Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe . The two core disciplines at the consortium C Chinese studies and medieval histo- ry C are not a self-evident combination in our project, and the guiding principles of the IKGF were already explained in the editorial of the first newsletter. In order to make systematical comparisons between two relatively distant disciplines, in our first year, it seemed appropriate to approach the issues from different an- gles, by means of lectures, workshops, conferences, discussions and individual research. From a medievalist point of view, the interim result is positive: it has been most productive to concentrate on questions which, although fundamen- tal, have hitherto not been central to the discipline. Therefore it seems appropriate to look back upon the results achieved. In addition to the academic visit to China that was described in the first news- letter, a series of workshops and conferences took Dear reader, The second issue of Fate C the newsletter of the International Consortium for Research in the Hu- manities Fate, Freedom and Prognostication. Stra- tegies for Coping with the Future at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg C is in your hands. Herein we intend to give you an insight into the research which has taken place over the course of the

2010 summer semester. Our deputy director, Professor Klaus Her- bers, gives an overview of the main research threads at the Consortium from the perspective of medieval studies. A sinologist and a medievalist recount in the focus their experiences of attempting an inter- disciplinary analysis of prognostic books on dream divination. Furthermore, the newsletter contains abstracts of lectures held during the summer semes- ter, as well as an insight into our annual conference and workshops. The stay of our first generation of visiting fellows has already come to an end, and we would like to express our deep gratitude to all who enriched and shaped the research at our consorti- um in the past year. We also heartily welcome the new researchers who will stay with us in the coming months. It is our aim to provide the reader of this newsletter with an insight into the research conduc- ted at our institution and to make you part of our inspiring and dynamic explorations of the theme Fate, Freedom and Prognostication . We wish you the very best for the coming year and that Fortuna may accompany you on all its days! Dr. Esther-Maria Guggenmos Research Coordinator Page