The directors of the Austrian Centres met again this year to exchange ideas and network. These meetings have been held alternately at one of the nine Austrian Centres' locations since 2007. During the conference, students present their research work and benefit from discussions with experts. The presentations are published in the annual conference proceedings after the conference, with the varied programme contributing to the importance of the Austrian Centres.
The focal points varied, which also led to a wide range of topics and geographical focuses in the lectures - from urban research and secret services, medicinal mummies and nobility, theatre and literature, to the Crusades, pastoral letters of an Austrian cardinal and Marxist humanism. For some students, it was the first opportunity to present their research at a conference, while others presented the results of their many years of PhD research. There were numerous discussions that led to new input for the research work. It was also a good opportunity for the students to discuss with experienced researchers and make valuable contacts.
The directors reported on the numerous activities of the centres, which ranged from book publications, collaborations and guest lectures to conferences, several anniversaries and international summer schools.
As always, it was a valuable get-together and exceptionally well organised by the team around the director Alžběta Peštová in Olomouc. Her predecessor Ingeborg Fialová was also there and was pleased to see familiar faces again.
About the Austrian Centre Olomouc:
The Austrian Center in Olomouc was founded in 2013. The focus is on the research of the “Arbeitsstelle für deutschmährische Literatur”, which works on German-Moravian literature as a part of the Austrian cultural and literary tradition. It presents its results to the public (books, electronic archive, database of German-Moravian authors, Translation into the Czech language, exhibitions, lectures, radio transmissions, etc.). The Palacký University Olomouc was founded in 1573, is the second-oldest university in the Czech Republic and one of the oldest in Central Europe.
About the Centres for Austrian Studies:
The first Centre for Austrian Studies was founded in the 1970s by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science at the University of Minnesota. There are now nine Centres with different focuses in Vienna, Olomouc, Budapest, Leiden, New Orleans, Berkeley, Minnesota, Alberta/Edmonton and Jerusalem, all of which have the academic study of Austria and East Central Europe as their goal. Annual meetings always take place alternately at one of the locations of the Centres.
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