[ Cultural Studies ]

A new Topic: Cultural Studies (and sometimes it will also mean: Kulturwissenschaften), starting with two Announcements:

1. III. Cultural Studies Conference: Identity and Culture, June 14-17 2005, Istanbul
2. First Alpe-Adria Cultural Studies Conference: The Landscapes of Cultural Studies, October 13-15 October 2005, Klagenfurt (Call for Papers)

ad 1.: The Cultural Studies Association of Turkey and the Center for Strategic Studies of Koç University are organizing a cultural studies conference entitled Identity and Culture on 14-17 June 2005 in Istanbul, at the Elite Hotel, Taksim (there are a turkish and an english Website). Whether in connection with Turkey's wish to enter the EU, the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, or developments ensuing from the two Gulf wars, identity has become a problematic much discussed both in academic and political circles. Focusing on issues of identity in its multiple relationships with various facets of culture, the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary conference aims to interrogate established notions of identity within the context of Turkish culture, the cultures of Turkey, and the cultures of Turks. Over 160 papers will be presented by participants coming from the US, Canada, various countries in Europe, Israel, Ukraine and Azerbaidjan.

For more information, write to the conference secretary, Sule Tarakcioglu.
Conference organizers:
Gonul Pultar and Timur Kocaoglu

ad 2.: The Landscapes of Cultural Studies. First Alpe-Adria Cultural Studies Conference, from 13-15 October 2005 at the University of Klagenfurt (Austria).

In October 2005 the first international and transdisciplinary Alpe-Adria Cultural Studies Conference will take place at the University of Klagenfurt. For long Cultural Studies were primarily practiced in Anglophone countries. For some years now, however, they have been an issue on the European continent. Young researchers in particular have dealt with the basics, the methods and the perspectives of the theoretical and empirical discipline and have developed new projects and approaches which deal with their specific cultural contexts. Against this background we would like to - on the one hand - invite researchers from the German-speaking area, but also from Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, to present their theoretical analyses, their research work and their projects. Here the focus of the conference is put explicitly on the issues of the Alpe-Adria-Region and the ways that Cultural Studies can contribute to the exploration and analysis of these specific issues. Potential discursive fields would be “hybrid identities”, “borderlands”, “diaspora”, “ethnicity and conflicts”, etc. On the other hand, we would like to call on all researchers who feel committed to the critical analysis of culture to contribute on issues they consider important for the understanding of the present of the 21st century and for the identification of the possibilities of transformation.

The keynote addresses will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Lawrence Grossberg (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), Prof. Dr. Hanno Hardt (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) and by Prof. Dr. Douglas Kellner (University of California-Los Angeles). We request your apply for papers respectively sessions until 15 July 2005 (abstracts 300 words). The conference languages will be German and English. Since May 1st information on the conference schedule, hotels and the social and cultural program (which will be designated by the Alpe-Adria region) are available at the homepage of the Department for Media and Communication Studies. Please, send abstracts to: Elisabeth Niederer.
Conference Director: Rainer Winter. Organizing Staff: Elisabeth Niederer, Petra Strohmaier, Elena Maurhart, Bettina Pirker. Local Advisory Board: Brigitte Hipfl, Elisabeth Niederer, Petra Strohmaier and Carsten Winter.