Research Group "Cultural History & Literary Imagination"
University of Cambridge
Presents its:
2nd International Conference
at St. John's College, Cambridge
IMAGINING THE CITY
(30 July - 1 August 2004)
Sponsored by:
The British Academy
The Tiarks German Fund
St John's College
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Peter Burke (University of Cambridge)
Prof. Susanne Hauser (Technical University Graz)
Prof. Nigel Thrift (University of Oxford)
The full programme, including registration form, can be found at:
http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/german/researchgroup/imaginingthecity.html
Urban culture, its impact on the creative imagination, and the representation of
both individual cities and the general nature of life in cities have provided a
rich seam of inquiry in recent years for those who work in literary and cultural
studies as well as in sociology, geography, and architectural history. The
purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for experts in these fields to
compare notes on the role of the imagination in conceiving the city as a
symbolic place for the intersection of historical and cultural identities, and
in representing the city through the media of literature, art, film and
performance. The organizers have sought to develop a programme which will look
beyond the familiar images of cities in antiquity, the Renaissance, the
industrial and the post-industrial world, and focus rather on such aspects of
the city as the following:
* the city as a place of utopia, dystopia and myth
* the cultural effects of the social, political and spatial organization of the
city
* the city as a historical and/or symbolic space for the formation of the
political imaginary
* the relation between the human and the technical in urban space
* the role of time, emotion and affect in the city
* scenes of cultural exchange and intercultural tension
Further information can be obtained from the organisers:
Dr David Midgley, Director of Studies in Modern Languages, St John's College,
Cambridge CB2 1TP, United Kingdom, Telephone: +44 (0)1223 338779, Fax: +44
(0)1223 337720, E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Dr Christian Emden, Assistant Professor, Rice University, Department of German &
Slavic Studies, Houston, TX 77005, USA, Telephone: (+1) 713-348-5312, Fax: (+1)
713-348-4863, E-Mail: [log in to unmask], URL:
http://lang.rice.edu/germanfaculty/emden.html
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