Call for Papers
We invite graduate and early-career scholars from across the Humanities to join us at Lincoln College, Oxford on 17th June 2019 for a one-day graduate conference on Anglo-German relations, 1918 to the present day.
This conference explores 100 years of cultural relations between Britain and Germany from perspectives as diverse as trade, technology, music, art, literature, language, sport, and travel. Such approaches have long been used for studying the latter half of the ‘long nineteenth century’. Indeed, since the publication of Paul Kennedy’s The Rise of Anglo-German Antagonism in 1980, a whole outpouring of studies tracing the cultural interconnectedness of the two nations has complicated our understanding not only of the tensions leading to the outbreak of the First World War but, more generally, also how a more nuanced understanding of the Anglo-German relationship might best be explored. Historians, musicologists, linguists, philosophers, and scholars of literature have all contributed towards a picture of ‘cultural exchanges’ that are often otherwise hidden by grand narratives of diplomatic relations. An equal degree of detail in relations has not, however, been applied to the remainder of the twentieth century and beyond. Here, the relationship is still largely explored from the perspective of high politics with classic treatments of Appeasement, the Second World War, Allied occupation, and the European Economic Community/European Union taking center stage. This conference seeks to address this imbalance by inviting academics from a range of disciplines to discuss their recent work on, and varying approaches to, relations from 1918 to the present.
Some of the overarching questions will include:
- How best can we consider the existence of Anglo-German cultural ties alongside the big events of modern European history?
- How can studies of cultural relations within our own fields problematize wider understandings of political/diplomatic histories and vice versa? What can we learn from the approaches and methodologies of colleagues working in other disciplines?
- What continuities and/or discontinuities in Anglo-German history emerge in a multidisciplinary discussion?
- How can we think about Anglo-German relations in a wider European or even global context?
In so doing, the conference will attempt to blur these lines between disciplines, specialist discourses, methodologies, and temporal frameworks in the study of Anglo-German relations, creating a mutual space within which scholars of varying fields can work.
The keynote speaker will be Prof. Jan Rüger (Birkbeck, University of London), author of Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea (2018), which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize.
Program
The day will comprise four multidisciplinary panels divided chronologically into:
- Britain and Weimar Germany (1918-33)
- Britain, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust (1933-1945)
- Britain, Divided Germany and the Cold War (1945-89)
- Britain and Reunified Germany (1990-the present)
This will be followed by a keynote lecture. A drinks reception and optional dinner (venue TBC) will then round off the day to enable participants to continue their discussions and network further. Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day. The full program will be released once speakers have been finalized.
Speaker application
To apply, please submit a short proposal (c. 300 words) for papers of up to 25 minutes in duration, along with a short biographical note. Please note that the conference will be conducted in English. We particularly welcome proposals from graduates in the following disciplines:
- History
- History of Art
- Literature Studies
- Languages and Linguistics
- Music
- Philosophy
- International Relations
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://anglogermanstudies.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/the-journey-begins/