My name is Damian Mac Con Uladh and I hold a PhD in History from University College London. My doctoral thesis, completed under the supervision of Prof Mary Fulbrook, was entitled Guests of the socialist nation? Foreign students and workers in the GDR, 1949-1990 (2005). It was a study of the history of the thousands of foreign students (Ausländische Studenten, ausländische Studierende) and contract workers (Vertragsarbeiter) who lived in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout its history.
Although some excellent studies have been written on the subject of foreigners in the GDR, little of this research has entered the public domain. No website exists on the subject, and I hope that this blog will allow me to draw together the hundreds of book reports, media articles, television documentaries on the subject. Moreover, I hope that it will enable foreign graduates of East German universities as well as former contract workers to contact me and each other, offering them a forum to relate their own experiences should they wish.
Foreign workers and students in the GDR 
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Dear Damian,
I am currently studying for a MSc in Migration Studies at the University of Sussex and have recently decided to concentrate on just this topic of the Vertragsarbeiter for my dissertaion (which may or may not lead to a later DPhil as they call in Sussex). I am in the early stages of research but am planning to see what has happend to the former contract workers after the fall of the Berlin Wall (if possible both those that went back home and those that stayed in Germany).
I just wanted to say thank you for the blog as it seems a great idea. Also should you have any interesting suggestions for me they would be very welcome.
Do you by any chance have a more recent link to your Phd thesis as I would be very interested in reading it but the link on this site does not return any results.
Many Thanks,
Fran