Europa University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder and Collegium Polonicum, Slubice

June 20 - July 9, 2005

Thematic Focus

Europe is unthinkable without counter cultures: the cultures of the Student Movement of 1968, dissidents in Central and Eastern Europe, Feminists, Gays, and Muslims were and are a force that has driven the spiritual and intellectual development of the continent. The summer university is dedicated to exploring the relevance of past and present counter cultures.

While political opposition, as practiced by social movements and political parties - making claims and revealing injustice - operates on a manifest level, cultural opposition works on another, deeper level. Cultural opposition takes the form of everyday activities - is expressed in clothing, hairstyles, and lifestyle - and works on the level of values, norms, and way of life. It aims at legitimization, reasoning, and justification and often causes reactions such as suppression and exclusion. Thus, through oppositional cultures, the question of identity enters into politics. As a consequence, questions of culture and power are raised. We will discuss these questions on the basis of empirical research on European societies, communities, groups, and movements inside and outside of this continent.

Interdisciplinary Program

Our research oriented, innovative program consists of core courses, workshops, and a series of lectures from anthropological, historical, linguistic, sociological, and political science perspectives. We will, furthermore, introduce our students to the region with a tour of Frankfurt/Oder-Slubice and with excursions to Berlin, as well as to historical sites, such as the WWII battlefields in the Seelow Heights, and museums, such as Eisenhüttenstadt's exhibition on everyday life in the GDR. In addition, we will show films dealing with life at the German-Polish border today and with oppositional groups and counter culture in West Germany and the GDR.

International Faculty and Guest Lecturers

The four core courses will be taught by Viadrina faculty Barbara Christophe, Werner Schiffauer, and Philipp Ther and by visiting professor Hans Boas (UT Austin). The workshops will be held by Detlef Pollack and Jan Wielgohs (NYU/EUV) and by Michal Buchowski (AMU, Poznan, EUV). Lectures will also be given by the internationally recognized scholars Sorin Antohi (CEU, Budapest), Y. Michal Bodemann (UofT, Toronto), Karl Schlögel (EUV), Barbara Theriault (UdeM, Montreal), and by German author Monika Maron.

Admission Requirements

Although this first Viadrina Summer University session reaches out to master and doctoral students, postgraduates, and postdoctoral fellows from our partner universities in West and Eastern Europe as well as abroad, it is open to advanced students and young scholars from all universities. English is the language of instruction. The deadline for applications is March 31.

Further Information

For information on credit transfer and ETCS credit points, tuition fees, accommodation costs, and scholarships, and for the detailed program, please consult our webpage (web address provided below) or write to the following e-mail address.

- The Viadrina Summer University is sponsored by the ZEIT Foundation -