DAAD Faculty Summer Seminar 2012
June 17-July 27, Cornell University

“The Futures of Interdisciplinary German Studies”

With the end of state-sponsored communism in Europe and 21st-century manifestations of globalization, more and more questions arise across the disciplines and socially about the status and conceptualization of “the future” in German culture and European life in an interconnected and precarious world, about utopia, hope, progress, optimism, potential, and even predictability in public life, virtual worlds, and critical thought. This historical juncture will serve as a springboard to reflect more broadly in the seminar on the analytical yield of “futurity” for understanding German culture over time and interdisciplinary German Studies in relation to the humanities and social sciences today.

Selected readings and other focal materials will be exemplary rather than comprehensive, and selections will be based in part on participants’ research interests and disciplinary expertise. While the seminar takes its cue from new approaches to German culture and its influences in the academy and the world today, scholars concentrating on any historical period or cultural medium are welcome to apply, as the seminar aims to promote productive dialogue among various specializations within German Studies. Current debates about the proper place of area studies and national disciplines in educational institutions will provide an additional frame of reference for seminar discussion, and the future of German Studies in North America will be one of the many “futures” to be discussed.

For a longer description please see http://www.daad.org or
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/igcs under “events.”

Seminar Director: Leslie A. Adelson, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of German Studies and Director of the Institute for German Cultural Studies, Cornell University

Program: Under the auspices of Cornell University’s Institute for German Cultural Studies the program will combine regular seminar meetings and discussions with presentation of participants’ research and occasional guest lectures. Seminar meetings will be conducted in English; advanced reading knowledge of German required.

Tuition: A $50 fee applies. Participants are eligible for a DAAD summer stipend.

Eligibility: Participation is open to faculty members in the Humanities and Social Sciences at colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Applicants who have received their Ph.D.’s within the past two years but do not yet hold faculty appointments are encouraged to apply. Graduate students and Ph.D. candidates are not eligible. Participants are expected to have an active interest in German intellectual and cultural history and must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or Canada.

Application Deadline: March 1, 2012. Form and instructions at http://www.daad.org. All application materials to be addressed to Prof. Adelson at the Institute for German Cultural Studies, 726 University Avenue, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14850.