Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies
Call for Submissions:
Seminar invites submissions to a special theme issue entitled:
Visions of Tomorrow: Science and Utopia in German Culture
At the beginning of the 21st century, grand utopian thinking seems to have lost much of the cachet it once had. Yet as scholars such as Wolfgang Emmerich have observed, utopian modes of cultural production might nonetheless offer indispensable tools for thinking through the implications of rapid advances in the sciences and medicine. In asking whether science represents one area where utopian thinking might retain—or regain—critical purchase in today’s world, this special issue seeks to broadly examine modern German-speaking cultural production (e.g. literature, film, music, architecture, photography) through the lens of science and utopia.
Possible questions to address include: How might current cultural and scientific exigencies draw on or reshape past attempts to mediate and evaluate scientific ideas and advances? How do cultural discourses mediate and evaluate scientific ideas and advances? How do cultural representations of the natural sciences, the scientist and scientific processes of knowledge production impact scientific discourses themselves? How do these texts articulate the tensions between the perceived credibility, reliability, and the limits of science on the one hand and the subjective intervention of the artist on the other? Are utopian modes evident in areas other than the sciences? Within this broad framework, we are especially interested in the intersections of scientific discourses and utopian thinking on
• society’s changing social structure
• racial, ethnic, and gender differences
• generational relationships
• urban spaces
• natural environment
• education and knowledge
Manuscripts (max. 7500 words) may be submitted in German, English or French and should conform to the Seminar guidelines (http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/Seminar/submissions.htm). Enquiries and questions may be directed to Gabriele Mueller ([log in to unmask]), Peter McIsaac ([log in to unmask]) or Diana Spokiene ([log in to unmask]) Submission due date: September 1, 2009.
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