German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA)
International Conference
30 November – 2 December 2016
Australian National University, Canberra

The Australian National University is delighted to host the 2016 International Conference of the German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA) in Canberra from 30 November – 2 December 2016.

Sessions will be organized in three sections:

1. Literary, cultural and film studies
2. Language studies
3. Focus: Cosmopolitan Imaginings in the German-Speaking World

Friedrich Meinecke’s Cosmopolitanism and the Nation State (1907) traced a historical trajectory connecting 18th-century German cosmopolitanism with 19th-century nationalism, and assumed the predominance of Western Europe. More recent studies have sought to redefine cosmopolitanism for the 20th and 21st centuries, considering the relationships between identity, citizenship, and the usefulness of this term for understanding increasingly globalized and mediated societies. Cosmopolitanism is now often seen as a “way of being in the world,” as distinct from belonging to a particular culture or political entity (Waldron, 2000). Theories of cosmopolitanism explore how we negotiate “our times,” mutuality, and states of change (Breckenridge, et al., 2002), and intersect with ideas of cultural hybridity and “third spaces”. This conference highlights these themes through a focus on German-speaking cultures and their place in the world: from Goethe’s depictions of the Orient to experiences of forced exile under National Socialism, and from postwar migration to the ongoing refugee “crisis” in Europe.

Keynote Speakers/Plenarvortragende

We are pleased to confirm three keynote speakers for this event:

1. Professor Karen Leeder (University of Oxford)
2. Professor Mahmut Karakus (University of Istanbul)
3. Hatice Akyün (invited by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), German writer and journalist

Download Call for Papers (106KB) (now closed)

Registration/Anmeldung

Online registration is open until 31 October 2016. All participants are required to register.

• Member’s registration: $260
• Non-member’s registration: $290
• Student registration: $180
• One day registration: $100
• Conference dinner: $70

To become a member of GSAA and qualify for the member’s discount, please visit the GSAA website.

Please click here to start the online registration (CLOSED)

Conference Programme/Programm

The final programme including all abstracts will be available here closer to the conference date. All presenters need to register for the conference in order for their presentations to be included in the conference programme.

Please click here to download the programme (3.2MB) with times for the plenary sessions, opening, etc.

Conference Publication/Konferenzband

We are pleased to announce plans for an edited volume based on papers presented at the GSAA conference. All papers must address the conference theme, “Cosmopolitan Imaginings in the German-Speaking World.” The volume will be published as part of the “Transpositionen” series with the Röhrig Universitätsverlag.

At this stage we are requesting that expressions of interest (title and abstract), with a clear connection to the conference theme, be sent to the following email address: Katie.Sutton@anu.edu.au

Papers will be subject to standard peer-review selection processes. Final papers should be no more than 6000 words, and may be in German or English. The volume will be edited by Prof. Alison Lewis (University of Melbourne), Dr Christiane Weller (Monash University) and Dr Katie Sutton (Australian National University).

Conference Dinner

The conference dinner will be on 1 December at 7pm on campus at Teatro Vivaldi.

Please register your attendance with your conference registration. The dinner costs $70 which will include a welcome drink, a three-course banquet, a glass of wine, and tea & coffee.

Accommodation/Unterkunft

Please click here to download accomodation recommendations (236KB)

Conference Organising Committee

Dr Gabriele Schmidt & Dr Katie Sutton
German Studies Program, School of Literature, Languages & Linguistics
Australian National University, College of Arts & Social Sciences
Baldessin Precinct Building 110
Acton ACT 2601
Australia
T +61 2 6125 2785 or +61 2 6125 2829
E gsaa2016@anu.edu.au
W /

We look forward to welcoming you to Canberra in November.

http://visitcanberra.com.au/