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Calls for Papers: Women in German Conference 2012 & WiG Panels at MLA, AATG/ACTFL, and GSA
October 25-28, 2012

 

 

MLA 2013:Child Protagonists in [German] Literature and Film

Call for Papers: Women in German (WiG)-sponsored panel for the Modern Language Association Annual Conference (Boston, January 3-6, 2013)

Child Protagonists in [German] Literature and Film This panel seeks papers on literature and films of the 20th century that portray children and youth (especially girls) in Germany and other European countries. In contrast to the stereotypically naïve image of children, literary and filmic child protagonists often demonstrate agency and the ability to operate independently of adults. We invite paper proposals that consider children and youth in this role. Genres may include travel literature, adventure, and fantasy. Presentations focused on works by German-speaking women, writers in exile, and minority writers are particularly welcome. Send abstracts (maximum 250 words) by March 15, 2012 to Jennifer Redmann, Franklin & Marshall College (jennifer.redmann(AT)fandm.edu) AND Delene Case White, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Dmwhite(AT)german.umass.edu).

 

MLA 2013: Wenn der Toni mit der Vroni: Heimat as Gendered Space (Boston, January 3-6, 2013, WiG-sponsored panel)

In traditional Heimat expressions women and men are usually displayed in ways that lead to their eventual fulfillment of gender expectations. We would like to look at Heimat at a larger scale against the backdrop of geographical expansion and the constant political change that the notion
of Heimat has undergone, and is still undergoing. We are particularly interested in papers that explore significant transformations of Heimat and connect it with portrayals of femininity and masculinity. Our panel would like to present contrasting depictions of gender from traditional
and progressive understandings of Heimat that demonstrate the full tensions of this concept. In addition, we are interested how the building of the European Union has affected German understandings of Heimat and gender roles. We would like to invite papers that explore Heimat as a gendered space in German literature, theater, theory and film and challenge contradict or
transcend gender roles usually associated with Heimat. Please send a 250-300 words abstract and a short bio by June 1, 2012 to Imke Brust and Yvonne Franke: wigatmla13(AT)gmail.com.

 

WiG 2012:Gendered Immigration in Pre-20th Century German Literature and Culture

This panel will investigate representations of immigration to and emigration from Germany in the pre-20th century period. While much research has investigated German encounters with the other on foreign soil through travel, this panel instead explores the implications of permanent relocation and its effects on national, racial, ethnic, religious, and gender identities inside and outside of Germany.

  • Topics include:
  • women and gender in German colonialism
  • emigration to the United States
  • becoming German/losing Germanness
  • German women in exile/Germany as home to exiled women
  • hybrid German-x identities

Please submit 200-250-word abstracts by March 15, 2012 to Maureen Gallagher (mogallag(AT)german.umass.edu) and Ulrike Brisson (ubrisson(AT)wpi.edu). We are looking forward to your proposals!

 

WiG 2012: Renovating Home - Gender, Sexuality, and Race after 1989

The renovation of houses has become an increasingly common theme in German-language literature and film in recent years, reflecting the "spatial turn." Moreover, the renovation of a house in contemporary representation is often strongly intertwined with renegotiations of gender, sexuality, and race, as well as concepts of the global and the local, including Heimat.

This panel welcomes papers that examine the intersections of renovation and renegotiation in contemporary literary, filmic and theoretical representations. Themes may include gender roles, sexual identity, racial or ethnic identity, the family, domestic and/or foreign space, tensions between arrival and departure, or settlement and transition.

Please send an abstract of 250-300 words and a short bio to BOTH organizers by March 1, 2012: Hester Baer (hbaer(AT)ou.edu) and Yvonne Franke (yvf1(AT)pitt.edu).

 

Passing the "Scented" Envelope: Women's Role Transgressions Inside the Boundaries

This panel seeks to explore works by German-language women which demonstrate the phenomenon of women who subvert traditional gender roles while at the same time living them. That is, frequently in works by women we find figures who appear to remain within the parameters of traditional gender roles, and yet they are constantly pushing the "scented" envelope that encloses them by innovatively creating ways of being that fulfill their goals and desires in quietly transgressive ways.

Papers might include topics such as:

  • Female characters in literature or other media who transgress boundaries while remaining within them.
  • Quietly transgressive lives of women as expressed in their memoirs or letters.
  • Women's ways of pushing borders through travel or travel writing.
  • Women who achieved a broad education for themselves within a restrictive society.
  • Female characters in fairy tales or other fantasy genres who live out a female "wish list" of actions and behaviors beyond the boundaries of traditional women's roles.
  • Women's texts as deceptive transgressions of gender roles.
  • The rhetoric of transgression employed in order to appear to be operating within prescribed roles while subverting them.
  • The intersection of the subversion of gender roles with other categories such as sexuality, race, class, age, ethnicity, religion, disability, etc.
  • The simultaneous reproduction and rewriting of gendered scripts

Please send 200-word abstracts to the co-chairs, Michelle S. James (michelle_james(AT)byu.edu) and Sarah Reed (screed(AT)wisc.edu) by March 1, 2012.

 

WiG 2012: Guest-Related Panel: Is there a Feminist Aesthetic? Contemporary German Women Writers

Critics have used adjectives such as "precise" and "penetrating," "distanced" and "ice cold" to describe the writing style of contemporary German women authors. The frequency of such attributions begs the question whether a stylistic trend has actually emerged among contemporary female writers. Furthermore, it seems vital to ask to what extent reviewers' readings of these authors are gendered, and to what extent such gendered reading contribute to the above-mentioned observations. This panel seeks papers that explore the following questions: How do these authors exploit, contest, or problematize a gendered style of writing and reading? To what extent do they reify or queer generic categories? How do not only the content of these texts but also (perhaps more so) their construction make them feminist?

This panel is organized in conjunction with the visit of guest speaker Antje Rávic Strubel. Depending on the submissions received, it may focus exclusively on Strubel, or it could consider her works within the broader context of her contemporaries.

Please send a ca. 1-page abstract to the panel organizers, Alexandra Merley Hill (hilla(AT)up.edu) and Sonja Klocke (sklocke(AT)knox.edu), by March 1, 2012.

 

WiG 2012:Thursday night panel: The Crisis of Academic Labor

Many of us, whatever our rank, seem to be working harder – doing more research, teaching, or service – with fewer resources and for smaller rewards. The majority of contingent faculty and graduate students, whose labor is often un- or underpaid, are women. The crisis of academic labor is not just a question of work for pay, but also a question of ethics. How can we untangle success and debt, power and perspective, merit and institutionalized structures of discrimination? This panel invites contributions which address ways of coping with, confronting, and improving this situation on both an individual and collective scale.

  • Possible topics include (but are by no means limited to):
  • Work-life balance: personal and institutional accountability
  • Shifting (gendered) expectations
  • Mentoring/advising: idealism, pragmatism, and the successful advisee
  • Best practices: improving the academic climate for ourselves and others
  • Debt, ethics, and exploitation

This panel strives to bring together a variety of perspectives and experiences to inspire *constructive* discussion of these challenges. Please submit proposals for a brief (10-15) minute presentation about a relevant experience, project, or idea to Lindsay Lawton (jorge291(AT)umn.edu) and Amy Strawser (astrawser(AT)otterbein.edu) by March 1.

 

WiG 2012:Pedagogy Session: Making German Count: A Showcase of Creative Courses

In the spirit of feminist collaboration, we welcome proposals for a round-table discussion of creative courses to strengthen the undergraduate German major through high impact practices, such as undergraduate research, collaborative projects, service learning, internships, or study abroad and to connect German across the curriculum to areas such as Feminist Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Human Rights, Environmental Studies, Film Studies, Communication Studies, or International Studies.

We are also interested in courses that integrate German creatively with General Education and Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum (FLAC) programs, including team-taught and high enrollment lecture courses taught in English.

Six discussants will briefly outline their courses in context, share best practices, and provide their syllabi for the WIG website.

Please send proposals, including syllabi, to both organizers by February 15, 2012: Karen R. Achberger, krach(AT)stolaf.edu and Ute Bettray, ute.bettray(AT)huskymail.uconn.edu

 

WiG 2012: Poster Session: Open Topic

We invite submissions to the poster session at this year's WiG conference in Shawnee on Delaware, PA. The poster session was designed to create a forum for scholars to use visual forms to instigate discussion about their research, teaching, or academic life. Examples of visual forms include: posters, 3-D art, interactive exhibits, and multimedia presentations. In the past, "posters" have explored a great variety of topics such as teaching, literature, film, cultural studies, history, and politics, in form of PowerPoint presentations, websites, dioramas, sculpture, and posters. All presenters must provide their own materials and equipment at the poster session, such as projectors, computers, and headphones. To ensure that your information is available throughout the conference, all presentations MUST be accompanied by a simple explanatory handout.

Many universities support the production of posters as a way of publicizing research and offer audio-visual support and travel funds for poster presentations. Inquire about funding at your institution!

Get creative! The poster session at the WiG conference is a great way to get feedback on your academic and artistic ideas!

Please submit abstracts of 250-300 words describing the project's content, layout, and form. You can also email drafts of your poster. Please send us your proposals by March 15, 2012 to Imke Brust, Haverford College, and Daniel Kline, Michigan State University, at postersessionwig2012(AT)gmail.com. We look forward to your work!

 

German Studies Association (Oct. 4-7, 2012, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
(En)Gendering Crime (WiG-sponsored panel)

The 'feminist turn' of the late 1980s and 1990s in the German-language Krimi genre has brought gender to the forefront of mystery and detective fiction. "(En)Gendering Crime" will focus on implicit and explicit intersections between gender and genre in literary and visual forms of the Krimi through the ages. We invite proposals on a range of topics including: representations of gender; the queering of the genre; female authors, subjects (detectives, victims, Watson figures), and readers/spectators of mysteries; and negotiations of subgenre (such as the Frauenkrimi, Regiokrimi, Häkelkrimi, noir, or thriller).

Please email proposals (250 words max, plus your contact info and brief bio in 2-3 sentences) by January 31, 2012, to both organizers: Sabine Gross (sgross(AT)wisc.edu) and Faye Stewart (fayestewart(AT)gsu.edu). Please note that presenters will need to be members of both WIG and GSA (Women in German and the German Studies Association).

 

AATG/ACTFL 2012 (Nov. 16-18, 2012, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Teaching German-Language Women Authors of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Why and How? (WiG-sponsored panel)

This panel seeks to counter perceptions that works from the 18th and 19th centuries, and especially those by women authors, are either too difficult or too irrelevant to teach in undergraduate German classes. We seek contributions that provide both rationales for the inclusion of often non-canonical works by women as well as suggestions of specific pedagogical approaches and tasks.

Presentations could address the following aspects:

  • rationale and examples of entire courses on 18th and 19th century literature/culture for undergraduates that include works by women authors
  • rationale and examples of including individual works by women authors in survey-type courses or in thematically-focused courses (e.g., crime literature, literature of love)
  • relevance of 18th and 19th century women's literature for modern-day feminist projects
  • relevance of socio-historical context and author's biography in teaching women's literature
  • issues of excerpting/translating/glossing such texts for learners
  • using filmic adaptations of literature
  • models or examples of sequencing tasks to foster content and language acquisition on an academic level
  • assessment issues in literature-focused courses
  • creative writing tasks for pre-20th century literature-focused courses
  • the role of technology in teaching women's literature

Please send 200-word abstracts to co-chairs Nicole Grewling (ngrewling2(AT)washcoll.edu) and Astrid Weigert (weigerta(AT)georgetown.edu) by December 2, 2011.

 

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