by nwright | Mar 9, 2016 | Uncategorized |
A European Studies Program Lecture Title: “A Nation of Objects: Nationalist Kitsch in Imperial Germany” Speaker: Helmut Walser Smith, Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History, Vanderbilt University When: Thursday, April 28, 2016 / 7:00PM Where: 103 Gore Hall, 114 The Green Newark, DE 19716 About: Kitsch was a bridge connecting the sense of belonging to the German nation to the articulated ideology of German nationalism. But it was not as simple as is sometimes assumed. Far from merely reinforcing German nationalism, kitsch also had the effect of domesticating its claims. This is the first attempt to map out the world of nationalist kitsch – as expressed in the world of objects ranging from beer steins to street signs – and to gauge what it tells us about the sentiment of national belonging. Speaker Bio: Helmut Walser Smith is a historian of modern Germany, with particular interests in the history of nation-building and nationalism, religious history, and the history of anti-Semitism. He is the author of German Nationalism and Religious Conflict, 1870-1914 (Princeton, 1995), and a number of edited collections, including The Oxford Handbook of Modern German History(Oxford, 2011), Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany, 1800-1914(Oxford, 2001), The Holocaust and other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics (Nashville, 2002), and, with Werner Bergmann and Christhard Hoffmann, Exclusionary Violence: Antisemitic Riots in Modern German History (Ann Arbor, 2002). His book, The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town (New York, 2002), received the Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History and was an L.A. Times Non-Fiction Book of the Year. It has also been translated into French, Dutch, Polish, and German, where it received an...
by nwright | Feb 25, 2016 | Uncategorized |
University of Delaware Library Associates 2016 Faculty Lecture Lecture Title: “20th-Century Ireland: A Family Odyssey” Speaker: Anne M. Boylan, Professor of History When: March 15, 2016, 4:40PM Where: University of Delaware Library Reading Room, 181 S. College Avenue, Newark, DE This event is free and open to the public, but a reservation is required: Please RSVP to UDLA@udel.edu or call library administration at 302-831-2231. About: This lecture is sponsored by the University of Delaware Library Associates in conjunction with the Special Collections Gallery exhibition, “‘A terrible beauty is born’: The Easter Rising at 100.” “‘A terrible beauty is born’: The Easter Rising at 100,” on view through June 12, 2016, commemorates the anniversary of a brief insurrection mounted by a small band of republicans over Easter Week 1916 that was quickly and violently quashed by the British. The uprising became a defining moment for the complex landscape of Irish culture, politics, and history in the twentieth century. The exhibition examines events and attitudes before and after the events of Easter Week 1916, including the Celtic Gaelic Revival period, the rise of Irish Nationalism, the War of Independence and the Civil War, as well as Irish literature produced in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland during The Troubles in the latter half of the twentieth century. Literary texts—with the rare first edition of Yeats’s Easter, 1916 as the iconic centerpiece—are shown alongside political broadsides, manuscripts, letters, periodicals, and graphics, indicating the rich history of Irish print culture and the deep resources of the University of Delaware Library. The exhibition is curated by Maureen Cech, senior assistant librarian in the Manuscripts and Archives Department of the University of...
by nwright | Feb 8, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Once again, the Center for Material Culture Studies is running the Delaware Public Humanities Institute (DELPHI). University of Delaware MA and PhD students who are pursuing material culture-related projects are invited to apply for this fellowship. Twelve recipients will participate in a two-week Institute, June 6 – June 17, 2016, during which they will learn a variety of skills for engaging nonspecialists through public speaking and digital media. Fellows are also given $4500 to facilitate uninterrupted research to bring material culture projects to fruition. Interested parties should attend the upcoming DELPHI information reception, on February 15th at 5:00PM. The reception will be held at Old College, Room 221, Newark, DE. For more information on DELPHI and the application process, see: https://sites.udel.edu/materialculture/files/2016/02/Delphi-Summer-fellowship-Announcement-2016-294wcjr.pdf See also: https://sites.udel.edu/materialculture/delphi/ Event Information: DELPHI Information Reception When: February 15th, 5:00PM Where: Old College, Room 221, Newark,...
by nwright | Jan 22, 2016 | Lecture, Uncategorized |
Title: “Unfurling Western Notions of Nature and Amerindian Alternatives” Speaker: Dr. Eglee Lopez Zent When: February 15th / 12:20 – 1:10 Where: TBD Dr. Zent’s passions reside at the intersections of anthropology, art, botany, and conservation biology. After studying Anthropology and Ecology at the Masters and Doctoral levels, Dr. Zent went on to lead ethnographic and ecological studies focusing on the ecosystems that make up the rainforests of Venezuelan Guyana. Dr. Zent has conducted over two decades of field research with the Jotï people, an Amerindian group that inhabits this territory. Through this work, Dr. Zent has explored such interdisciplinary fields as ethnoecology, ecocosmology, ethnocartography, ethnobotany, ethnomycology, ecogony, and behavioral ecology. Her latest work, “Unfurling Western Notions of Nature and Amerindian Alternatives,” addresses many of these fields as she explores global and historical definitions of “nature.” In this investigation, Dr. Zent examines the variety of values that societies have given the term “nature.” Here, Dr. Zent focuses on a portion of the Western tradition as her study spans Ancient-Greece to the present day. Discussing Western, Amerindian, and global conceptions of “nature,” Dr. Zent goes on to explore pragmatic solutions to create improved environmental ethics. Dr. Zent will be sharing her research on February 15th at 12:20 – 1:10. Students and faculty are encouraged to attend to learn more about Dr. Zent’s unique approach to both the arts and the sciences. BIO: Eglee L. Zent is a Venezuelan mother of two sons. She has en eclectic academic background (art, anthropology, botany, conservation biology). She conducted studies for her PhD at the Universities of California at Berkeley and Georgia finishing in 1999. She...
by nwright | Sep 30, 2015 | Uncategorized |
“Home/Not Home: Centering American Studies Where We Are” Call for Participation: Material Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association November 17-20, 2016 / Denver, Colorado Application deadline: January 10, 2016 Send ideas/abstracts to: Anne Verplanck (aav3 at psu dot edu) The Material Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association wishes to encourage participation in the 2016 Annual Meeting: “Home/Not Home: Centering American Studies Where We Are,” November 17-20, 2016, Denver, Colorado. To read the conference Call for Papers please click here. Areas of interest related to the theme include (but are not limited to) the material culture of: Dwellings House vs. Home Consumerism – what things make a house? What things make a home? Non-traditional houses/homes Communities Institutions Gender Feminism/patriarchy Heteronormism/queerness Racism Access Hospitality Defense Families, friendships, relationships Communications Diaspora/migrations Work and management Other uses or understandings of home Comfort/discomfort Youth and/or aging Social status Empire and colonialism Slavery Crisis and trauma Poverty ‘Basic needs’:shelter Household labor Ruins and preservation NAGPRA, repatriation, and cultural patrimony Religion and spirituality Disability/access Entertainment We hope to help link potential panelists with shared interests in material culture topics. If you, your colleagues, or doctoral students are considering proposals for the conference, please email us your panel CFP or your paper idea and we will work to connect similar panelists and papers. We are also happy to offer suggestions on complete panels. Additionally, we welcome opportunities to work with other ASA caucuses and committees. NB: All interested parties who email us will still be responsible for following all posted instructions and for submitting their own panels or papers to the ASA by the ASA deadline (February 1,...
