On May 10, 2019, the Cluster “Asia and Europe” and the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies will hold their second Transcultural Studies Student Conference. This conference was initiated by and will be organized by the Cluster’s Student Association – the Fachschaft – which consists of students in the Master in Transcultural Studies and PhD students at the Cluster and HCTS. The goal of the conference is to provide a space where advanced students of all fields and places can meet and engage in a discourse that enhances the collective understanding of the emerging methodological outlook of the Transcultural field.
The projects at the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies (HCTS) dispute the premise that cultures are homogeneous, self-contained entities and aim to re-examine the formation of cultural boundaries, the processes of their formation, and their role in academic discourse. Whether it is used as a theoretical framework or as a methodology, transcultural theories encourage the reconsideration of old paradigms while simultaneously opening a space for dissent with dominant discourses. To what extent do these voices of dissent amount to a form of activism or become agents of change? Conversely, how do developments in contemporary politics and culture inform or shape our academic discourse?
The 2019 student conference “Voices of Dissent: Transculturality and Activism” calls for paper proposals that utilize transcultural theories to address the above questions either in a contemporary or a historical context. Submissions should come from fields such as history, cultural studies, political science, gender studies, media studies, art history, anthropology, religious studies, and any other disciplinary (or interdisciplinary) possibilities that may identify with the transcultural ethos or find utility in its theories. In addition to the traditional format of oral presentation, the conference intends to create a platform for innovation and experimentation; therefore, proposals for unconventional formats might be considered.
The conference will include a keynote speech by Dr. Catherine Bublatzky, assistant professor to the Chair of Visual and Media Anthropology at the Cluster “Asia and Europe”.
Masters and PhD candidates are welcome to hand in their application in the form of a short papers from the fields of political science, History, Sociology, Anthropology, History of Art, Economy, Culture Studies amongst others.
The deadline for applications is March 7, 2019.
Find more information on the focus of the conference and the application here.
You can also visit the conference homepage here.
The conference is supported by Studierendenrat of Heidelberg University.