On March 13th and 14th, 2026, the University of Missouri will host “Image, Text, Politics: A Regional Meeting of the German Studies Association.” This two-day, five-panel event will begin on March 13th with a curators’ tour of the German collections at the St. Louis Art Museum, followed by an initial panel hosted by the Museum; participants will then travel by van from St. Louis to Columbia for a conference-opening reception. The following day, March 14th, four panels will be convened on the University of Missouri campus; the conference will conclude with a group dinner.

Two nights of accommodations in Columbia, MO and three group meals will be provided to all visiting participants, along with stipends to assist with travel costs to Missouri. These arrangements have been made possible by the financial support of the German Studies Association, and of the School of Visual Studies and the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Missouri.

Organizers James Van Dyke (Art History) and Seth Howes (German Cultural Studies) invite German Studies scholars of all career stages working in the Midwestern United States and Canada to submit 200-word presentation abstracts and 2-page academic CVs to gsconferencemissouri.edu by close of business on October 15th, 2025. As the theme of this regional conference is “Image, Text, Politics,” we are particularly interested in receiving contributions that consider the relationships between visual and verbal media and political conditions, conflicts, and crises in German-speaking Europe. Papers might, for instance:

--focus on relationships between cultural production and institutions across the political and ideological spectrum;

--address the politics of the representation of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity; or

--explore the ecological politics of cultural materialities in extractive economies.

After reviewing all proposals carefully, the organizers will group the papers into thematically cohesive sessions.

Invitations to present, along with logistical information regarding travel, scheduling, and accommodations, will be sent during the first week of November. All further inquiries may be directed to the email address provided below.

Contact Information

James Van Dyke (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Missouri)

Seth Howes (Associate Professor of German, University of Missouri)

Contact Email
gsconferencemissouri.edu