Interdisciplinary Discourse

Call for papers

Workshop Master-Disciple Relationships in the Interdisciplinary Discourse

Part 2: Humanities, Sciences and Arts

23rd -25th April 2010
FU Berlin
Department of History and Cultural Studies

Head:
Prof. Dr. Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch, Institute of Art History, Department of
East Asian Art History,
Koserstr. 20, 14195 Berlin, Prof. Dr. Almut-Barbara Renger, Department of
Religious Studies,
Goßlerstraße 2-4, 14195 Berlin

Organisation:
Anja Kreienbrink, M.A. (Department of Religious Studies), Antje
Papist-Matsuo, M.A.
(Department of East Asian Art History)
Contact:
MasterDisciplegeschkult.fu-berlin.de

The many different relationships between master and disciple constitute an
influential and universal moment in human society. Even if the forms and
characteristics of specific individual master-disciple relationships differ
greatly according to period and region and the prestige accorded to them in
the East and West, the relationships contain a high degree of culturally
constitutive and integrating content over and beyond regional, cultural and
historical variations. Here the transmission of knowledge and skills,
traditions and competence plays a central role. In theoretical
considerations of masters and teachers, the concept of the master is clearly
distinct from that of the teacher. While the teacher’s role is to educate
and equip students with skills and knowledge, the master, on the other hand,
is predominantly defined by the emotional bond he arouses in his disciples.
Indeed, although the figure of the master exerts a fascination over his
disciples and attracts them to him in part by virtue of his knowledge and
wisdom, the true force of his persona lies in much more ambiguous qualities,
often characterised as spirituality and charisma.
To date there has been no interdisciplinary academic research on the theme
of master-disciple relationships in time and space. For this reason the
multiple workshop will explore the incidence of this relationship in
societies and its theoretical considerations in widely different cultural,
religious, historic and social contexts. Here the focus of the workshop will
be on continuities, shifting and caesuras in the relationship from ancient
times to the present day. Whereas a first workshop taking place in November
2009 will deal with masters and their disciples in the areas of religion and
philosophy, the focus of this workshop will center on the various traditions
in the humanities, social sciences and arts (for example fine art,
architecture, theatre, music, film, martial arts), on (artisan) craftwork
and on literature.
In all these areas, master figures and their disciples have had an
influential role in shaping cultural developments. The rise of schools,
traditions and epochs founded on a charismatic master-figure demonstrates
not only how significant the teaching of this (secret) knowledge is, it can
also throw light on the positions the disciples held in their respective
societies and the importance their relationship to the master had for them
in shaping their entire lives. In East Asian traditions especially, the
custom of passing down knowledge underlies the student’s often lifelong
attempt at self-completion and self-perfection. Also to be considered are
the mechanisms involved in forming master-disciple relationships. This will
focus on the one hand on the master’s criteria in selecting those followers
chosen to receive his teaching, limiting the number of disciples who
surround him. On the other hand, it will focus on the role the disciples
play in solidifying the master's legitimacy. The societal ramifications of
this reciprocal relationship are also to be examined in various cultural and
historical contexts, as are the concepts of "charisma" and "spirituality",
which are repeatedly used to characterize master figures. Another challenge
for this workshop is to constitute a more pronounced formulation of the term
"disciple" and its correspondence and differentiation with terms like
"student", "follower" or "apprentice". The range of workshops is expressly
addressed to young academics, in order to offer them a platform for
discussions and to encourage them to exchange views and information on past
and future research projects, methodical questions and possible
interdisciplinary links. The workshop languages are German and English.
Papers from all disciplines will be considered, not only from the social
sciences and humanities, but also from the natural sciences. Scholars of
ancient and modern history, philology, literary, cultural and religious
studies, theatre, film and media studies, art history, philosophy and
theology, sociology and political science, psychology and education are
welcome as well as colleagues from the natural sciences and (history of)
medicine.
The papers should ideally fit in thematically with one of sections. Please
e-mail your abstract (max. 500 words) along with a brief outline of your
intentions concerning the theme, a CV (1-2 pages) and a list of
publications, not forgetting your institutional affiliation, your full
postal address, telephone number and e-mail address to:
MasterDisciplegeschkult.fu-berlin.de
The deadline for submitting abstracts is 20st December 2009.
We plan to publish a selection of the workshop papers. Manuscripts should be
submitted before the middle of March 2010. More precise information on the
detailed workshop programme will shortly be announced.