News Archive

University collections represent a significant resource for research and education, whereby the scientific study of collections requires interdisciplinary questions and methods that provide information about different knowledge practices in the past and present. The development and integration of the OVGU's material and cultural heritage as infrastructure for research is an innovative interdisciplinary research project and includes the processing of the collections of the OVGU. Cooperation with the city's museums, the city archives and the Museum of Technology is of central importance for this. The project, which is funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt for the period from 2021 to 2024, focuses on the scientific investigation of our material culture and includes questions about social, cultural, historical and epistemological contexts. It not only works on a collection-based research project, but the results achieved are also to be communicated to a broader public. It thus sees itself as a new centre of gravity or even catalyst of Third Mission.

Within the research project, the Chair of Anglophone Cultural and Literary Studies invites applications for two positions. For a limited period of three years, one position of scientific assistant and one position of project assistant each with 50% working time and remuneration according to TV-L 13 and TV-L 12, respectively, are advertised for 1 October 2021. For details on the contents of the respective positions, please see the job advertisements. The application deadline is 31 July 2021. More information on the positions can be found here or in the job advertisements.

PD Dr. habil. Nora Pleßke and Dr Clarisse Godard Desmarest (University of Picardie Jules Verne, France) are organising a panel entitled "Cities in Scotland: Cultural Heritage and National Identity" at the 15th conference of the European Society for the Study of English in Lyon on 31 August 2021. Within the panel, Scotland's cultural heritage will be discussed as an important national asset with a focus on cities. Instead of the country's natural heritage, which is often prioritised in analyses of Scotland's past, the focus will be on the country's urban heritage and how this relates to issues of national identity. The panel on Scotland's urban heritage includes the following contributions on urban development, architecture, monuments, art, public memory, tourism, and literature and film:

10:30 to 12:30 hrs

• Cities Outside Scotland: The Urban Heritage of the Scottish Communities Abroad (Esther Mijers, University of Edinburgh, UK)
• Anatomising ‘Athens’: Architecture, Medicine, and Writing in Early Modern Edinburgh (Anne-Marie Akehurst, University of York, UK)
• Edinburgh’s Political Martyrs’ Monument: Reconciling Civic and National Identities (John Lowrey, University of Edinburgh, UK)
• Restoring the ‘Georgian House’: Architecture, Politics and Identity in 1970s Edinburgh (James Legard, Simpson & Brown Architects, UK)
• V&A Dundee and Cultural Institutions: The Role of Museums in Culture Led Regeneration (Kirsty Hassard, V&A Dundee, UK)

14:45 to 16:45 hrs

• Edinburgh and the Art Market in the First Age of Enlightenment (Murray Pittock, University of Glasgow, UK)
• Nomadic Murals: Architectural Tapestry in Post-War Scotland (Lisa Mason, National Museums Scotland, UK)
• Maydays to Mayfests: Cultural Politics and the Popular Arts in Glasgow, c.1983-1990 (Angela Bartie, University of Edinburgh, UK)
• Notions of National Identity within the Scotland’s Urban Realm (Kirsten Carter McKee, University of Edinburgh, UK)

17:00 to 19:00 hrs

• The Discursive Construction of Scottish Towns as Wellness Retreats in On-Line Tourism Promotion Texts 2019-20 (Irmina Wawrzyczek, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland)
• Narrative and National Identity: A Literature House for Edinburgh (James Loxley, University of Edinburgh, UK & Tara Thomson, Edinburgh Napier University, UK)
• The Themes of Urbanism and Identity in Val McDermid’s My Scotland (Yildirim Ozsevgec, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey)
• The City in Iain Rankin’s Novels (Florence Dujarric, Supméca – Institut Supérieur de Mécanique de Paris, France)
• Edinburgh on Screen: Rethinking Scottish National Identity in Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting (Deividas Zibalas, Vilnius University, Lithuania)

For more information on the conference, registration and the full programme with abstracts, please visit the conference website.

Wales, located in the west of Great Britain, is known for its unspoilt, natural and varied landscapes, thousands of years of history and unique culture – the Welsh cuisine is versatile and tasty too! To mark the "Wales in Germany 2021" themed year, which celebrates the special relationship between the two countries, Wales is hosting a digital cooking event on Zoom for all Wales fans and lovers of good food – to cook-along, to try later or just to enjoy watching. Cookbook author Nerys Howell and Sian Roberts, TV presenter and owner of Loving Welsh Food, will cook together and show step by step how to prepare four typical Welsh dishes:

• Glamorgan Sausages (vegetarian)
• Welsh lamb cutlets, lemon crumb and laver relish
• Mussels, bacon and leek
• Welsh Cakes

All recipes and ingredients are available here in advance. For more information and registration please visit the event website.

On 2 July 2021, the Chair of English Cultural and Literary Studies welcomes the renowned founder of the Medical Humanities in Germany, Prof. Dr. Heinz-Peter Schmiedebach (Charité Berlin) for a block seminar on this topic as part of the student custody project. The aim of the seminar is to introduce the concept of Medical Humanities and explain it using concrete examples. The cultural imprint of medicine through the respective historical, technical and social circumstances will thus become apparent. In addition, the complementary function of medical humanities with regard to a supplementation of the technological and scientific basis of medicine will be clarified, which is expressed in particular in a medical practice oriented towards the subjective experiences and feelings of patients. The seminar also aims to make the scope of this concept tangible by means of some small exercises for individual areas of narrative-based medicine. Further information on the programme can be found in the seminar announcement (in German).

As part of the mini-workshops of the Custody Project, Dr Ariane de Waal (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) is offering a workshop on "Dermatology and/as Literature" on Wednesday 23 June 2021 from 3:15pm to 4:45pm. In addition to the participating students, other interested parties are welcome to attend. The workshop will take place via the video conferencing software Zoom. If you are interested in participating, please contact PD Dr. Nora Pleßke () in advance for dial-in details.