CfA: Asia and Europe – Discourse, Circulation and Representation (Autumn School 2019)

Date of event:   16/08/2019 − 16/08/2019

Call for Aplications: Autumn School “Discourse, Circulation, and Representation”
30.09. – 04.10.2019 at Zurich University
Organized by the Doctoral Program Asia & Europe

Application deadline: August 16, 2019

The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program Asia & Europe at Zurich University invites all interested doctoral students and early postdocs to a one-week intensive seminar program “Asia & Europe”. The program offers a stimulating and interactive learning experience, establishing an optimal framework for a discipline-specific yet interdisciplinary cross-cultural research dialogue. The intensive seminar program is funded by swissuniversities (www.swissuniversities.ch) and is designed to especially promote national and international scholarly exchange. The seminar aims to contribute to strengthening academic cooperation especially among Swiss universities, focusing on cross-cultural exchanges and transhistorical entanglements between Asia and Europe from a comparative perspective. Doctoral students and early postdocs from universities outside of Switzerland are also welcome to apply. The intensive seminar week will offer an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary program organized into two workshops with renowned national and international experts in their respective fields.

Workshop I Museology and Museography
Confirmed speakers: Elisa Ambrosio (Vitrocentre Romont), Jeanne Fichtner-Egloff (Historical and Ethnological Museum, Sankt-Gallen), Susanne Pollack (Graphic Collection, ETH Zurich); Alban von Stockhausen (Bern Historical Museum), Maria Khayutina (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Adam Smith (Penn Museum, University of Philadelphia), Hans Bjarne Thomsen (Zurich University)

The workshop combines both a theoretical and a practical approach. It aims at providing a detailed overview of the different aspects involved in the organization of a successful art exhibition, from the identification of an attractive concept to the actual thematic display of objects, problematizing the process of representation and preservation in exhibitions and art collections. The workshop addresses issues such as the evolution from collectors and private collections to the Renaissance concept of the “public museum;” the landscape of contemporary museums; different aspects of curatorial practice, and in particular the handling, transportation, storage, and display of art works; the restauration and conservation of works of art; different display methods and techniques; opportunities, challenges and career prospects of curatorship as a profession. Scholars will provide an extensive theoretical introduction to museology as a discipline, while curators from national and international museums and institutions managing different kinds of collections will contribute their expertise and personal experience, giving insights, practical training, and advice on how to design exhibitions and manage museums. The seminar also includes active training through guided tours and visits to the Riedberg Museum, Graphische Sammlung ETH Zurich and Johann Jacobs Museum.

Workshop II: Energy and Health Politics. Approaches to discourse and knowledge circulation
Confirmed speakers: Martin Lengwiler (Basel University), Andrea Riemenschnitter (Zurich University) Jeronim Perovic (Zurich University), Monika Gisler (ETH Zurich), Matthieu Gillabert (Fribourg University), Yitang Lin (Geneva University), Alice Pinheiro Walla (Bayreuth University)

Workshop II aims to bring together doctoral students and early postdocs from various disciplines working on Asia and Europe in a global context. It will focus on methods and theoretical approaches used to study forms of representation and political discourses. Students will be offered lectures and introductions to various research methods for analyzing texts and other forms of representation by established scholars. The aim is to analyze the formation of public opinion and knowledge concerning issues such as environment & energy (climate change), social justice, and public health from a global perspective. In this workshop, the challenges of choosing appropriate sources, analyzing them and bringing them into conversation with other research and theoretical concepts will be addressed. The goal is to bring together multiple approaches in the study of societies – both historical and contemporary – and to extract lessons valid for researchers with diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Mentoring program: Career opportunities for young researchers (Zurich University Graduate Campus Grant). Financed by the Graduate Campus of Zurich University, the seminar will also offer several scheduled networking opportunities during the week and a focused career coaching program at the end of the workshop. The aim is to introduce young scholars to researchers at Zurich University and to curators of renowned museums in Switzerland in order to establish lasting professional networks.

Organizing Committee: Wolfgang Behr, Milena Guthörl, Lisa Indraccolo, Marcel Schneider, Tobias Weiss

Application: August 16, 2019, via e-mail to Milena Guthörl: asiaeurope2019@uzh.ch

Registration fee: 100 CHF, Dinner: 30 CHF
PhD students without employment can apply for reimbursement of the application fee after the autumn-school. PhD students from outside Zurich can apply for a partial reimbursement for travel and accommodation costs.

For further information please see the here and here.