Call for Papers – Visuality, Community, and Affect in Representations of History

The Institute of Romance Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz is hosting an interdisciplinary Autumn School from 4-9 October 2015 in Mainz, Germany, in cooperation with ZIS, the Centre for Intercultural Studies (JGU), and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, on the topic of: “Distance and/or Close-up: Visuality, Community, and Affect in Representations of History”. The autumn school will concern from an interdisciplinary perspective with the questions of how texts create images, how images tell (hi)stories, how politics use images, and what is the fact that affect plays a role in it means. Following the presentation of individual papers, the participants will discuss a number of selected theoretical texts and analyse chosen textual and pictorial examples. In order to ensure the interdisciplinary arrangement, the organizers have invited external specialists from political science, cultural studies, and art history who will each place their own particular emphasis on the topic in short introductory lectures, before leading the discussions that follow. In accordance with the programme, all participants will be expected to contribute to all sections:

• 1 section, to be led by: Jon Beasley-Murray – Theoretical section overarching several centuries;
• 2 section, to be led by: Karin Peters – Early modern period;
• 3 section, to be led by: Bertrand Tillier & Susanne Mersmann – 19th century;
• 4 section, to be led by: Philip Manow & Lisa Zeller – 19th century;
• 5 section, to be led by: Stephanie Wodianka & Julia Bruehne – 20th/21st centuries.

Eligibility

This Call for Papers is addressed to PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers in the early stages of their careers, specialising in subjects such as literary studies, art history, history, cultural studies, ethnology, media studies, or political studies. Each participant is expected to give a presentation (90 minutes in total: 30-minute presentation, 30 minutes of discussion, and another 30 minutes for the close reading of texts and/or images). In order to ensure active participation during discussions, participants are required to have strong passive knowledge of at least two of the event’s official languages (German, English, and French).

Costs

If a proposal is accepted, the participant will receive an individual travel grant of maximum EUR 500 (if travelling from Germany), EUR 800  (if travelling from elsewhere in Europe), or EUR 1500 (if travelling from overseas).

How to apply?

The deadline for application is 30 June 2015. Each application should refer to a specific section and should include an abstract of envisaged presentation (400 words max.), an academic CV with contact details and publication list (if available), as well as a short motivational letter explaining how the topic of the presentation is related to participant’s own research and where the participant place own work within the overarching concept of the Autumn School and the section, respectively. Please submit your application documents via post to

Dr Karin Peters,

Romanisches Seminar, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz

Welderweg 18

55099 Mainz

Germany

OR

via Email to peterska@uni-mainz.de (reference: “Autumn School 2015”). Successful candidates will be informed in early August.

Location: 4 – 9 October 2015, Mainz, Germany

Application deadline: 30 June 2015

Read more and apply here.