(Munich, 22-23 Oct 10)

Doctoral student symposium - Call for papers

Transformations - Dissolution of boundaries in the arts

Symposium for young academics from the subjects Art History, Theatre
Studies, Film Studies, Musicology, Art Education and Music Education

Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, 22nd - 23rd October 2010
(Abstracts can be submitted up to 30th June 2010)

Exploration of boundaries and their transgression and redefinition
are phenomena which continue to engage artists and those who study
the arts. This can be attributed, on the one hand, to the fact that
the arts are subject to their own dynamics which always go hand in
hand with processes of change. In the same way, the study of the
arts must continually review its methods and ask on what levels
transformations in the arts take place, what motivations underlie
them and on which historical, geographical and social conditions
they depend.

The transformation of memory and recollection in the arts has a key
function within this discourse. On the one hand, art serves the
preservation of memory and the creation of identity; on the other
hand, recollections are defined, re-evaluated and modified by
processes of selection. Those processes of selection are reflected
both in the content and in the structure of history and stories,
which themselves are in turn tied to man's experience of reality.
Against this background, narrative strategies in the arts are
transformed over and over again and the boundaries of traditional
narrative style are demolished.

In addition to narrative strategies and structures, boundaries of
concepts are increasingly up for debate. Like the concept of writing,
the concept of image has also experienced a comprehensive rereading
in recent years. As a result of globalisation and mediatisation, the
assessment criteria of art have changed and in the process both the
ways in which image is used and its functions have increasingly come
into the focus of the study of the arts. Tendencies to break open
traditional boundaries in favour of a re-evaluation of artistic
methods of production and to investigate global exchange phenomena
can also be seen in this context.

Since artistic interests in new forms of expression and solutions
of problems increasingly transcend the borders of the particular
genre, the study of the arts is also required to take account of
these transformations with its own exploration of the boundaries
between the disciplines. In addition to the interactions between
the visual arts, music, theatre and film, the exchange of ideas
and information with the social and natural sciences is
increasingly important here.

The following questions are at the centre of the two-day symposium:

- How do memory and recollection manifest themselves in the arts,
what functions do they adopt and what role do processes of selection
play?
- What role does narrative play in the arts and to what changes are
narrative structures and strategies subject?
- In what way are new horizons opened up for the study of the arts
by the re-evaluation of the arts and the investigation of global
exchange phenomena?
- How is the change in (the concept of) writing and image expressed
in the arts and the study of the arts and what new possibilities
for research result from the interactions between the arts and
other academic branches, such as the social and natural sciences?

The symposium serves as a forum for the exchange of academic ideas
between doctoral students and post docs from the subjects Art
History, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Musicology, Art Education
and Music Education.

Please submit suggestions for contributions in the form of an
abstract (max. 300 words) with a short summary of your academic
history and your contact information by "30th June 2010".

Official language: german, english papers will be accepted

Abstracts must be submitted online by 30th June 2010 to:
transformationenlrz.uni-muenchen.de

Contact and further information:

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Department Kunstwissenschaften
Zentnerstr. 31 80798 München
Tel: +49-89-2180-6786
Fax: +49-89-2180-5316
E-Mail to transformationenlrz.uni-muenchen.de
www.lmu.de/proart