Leonard von Galen did his BA in Asia and Africa Studies at the Humboldt-Universität Berlin and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tansania. He is particularly interested in history "before European hegemony” and in the migration of people and circulation of goods in the Indian Ocean. He views the MA Global History program as an important project to learn more and create better awareness about global links between societies and regions, which have been ongoing for thousands of years and which can tell us a lot about our contemporary world system.