CFP: German Colonialism in International Perspective
"Germany's Colonialism in International Perspective"
International Interdisciplinary Conference on German Colonialism and
Post-Colonialism
September 6-9, 2007, San Francisco, USA
In response to the increasing study of Germany's colonial legacy, we
are soliciting papers for an International Interdisciplinary
Conference on "German Colonialism and Post-Colonialism" at San
Francisco State University. The 35 years of Germany's colonial rule
left a lasting impact on territories in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific
Ocean and shaped German politics. However, due to twentieth-century
historical developments in Germany and the centrality of Britain's
and France's imperialistic thrusts, Germany's brief colonial
engagement has been viewed as relatively insignificant. Recent
interest in Germany's colonial history has been motivated by
contemporary developments in the German political situation, such as
the change of Article 116 of the Basic Law in 2000, the call for a
"deutsche Leitkultur" ("defining" or "leading" German culture), the
resistance to the notion of a multicultural society, and the brutal
attacks on Afro-Germans, as well as by the interest in postcolonial
theory in academia. There does exist a wealth of significant
historical inquiry into German colonialism. However, only over the
past years has there been a change in scholarship that included, for
instance, the notion of race as one of the central components in
identifying links between historical colonialism and contemporary
German society. The conference organizers seek a broader spectrum in
order to grasp Germany's imperial project, including, but not limited
to the disciplinary fields of medicine, law, and anthropology. In
addition, we invite scholars who focus on the intersection between
modernity and colonialism. This conference will address Germany's
biased and troubled relationship with its colonial past by using as
its departure point the "scramble for Africa." While the organizers
acknowledge that colonial engagement neither started nor ended with
formal colonial rule, we wish to limit the historical frame and
focus. We invite theoretically informed papers dealing with aspects
of Germany's colonial empire to the present day addressing the
relationship(s) between:
- German National (cultural) Identity and German Post-Colonialism;
- The Construction of Race as a Signifying "Otherness"
- Race, Gender, Nation, and Religion and their connection to modern
economic and intellectual systems
- Colonialism and Modernity
- The Visual Representations of Colonialism in the Arts and
Literature (cartoons, postcards, stamps, paintings etc.)
- German Colonialism and Film
- Guilt, Responsibility and National Identity in Postwar Germany; or
Means of Coming to Terms with a Colonial Past
- Reception / Perception of Germany's Colonialism and Post-
Colonialism seen from the "Outside" - Responses from Other Countries
and Ethnicities
- Germany's Colonialism in Comparison with Other Colonial Powers such
as England, France, and Spain
- German Colonialism and the Orientalist Tradition (i.e., Ottoman,
Persian, Chinese, and Japanese)
- German Colonialism and the Relationship Between the Professional
Study of Texts and National Interest
- German Colonialism and the South Pacific (German New Guinea,
Micronesia, Melanesia and Samoa)
- Contemporary Germany, Xenophobia, and its Colonial Past
- Colonialism, Violence, and language
- German Colonialism and Black Jews
- Colonialism, Violence, Genocide and Holocaust
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. Russell Berman (Stanford University)
Dr. Klaus Scherpe (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
Dr. Alexander Honold (Universität Basel)
Dr. Beate Kundrus (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung)
Dr. Oliver Simons (Harvard University)
The conference organizers would like to acknowledge the generous
support and cooperation by the Goethe-Institute San Francisco,
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and the College of Humanities at San
Francisco State University.
Papers should be 20 minutes long and must be presented and discussed
in English. Please submit a paper proposal of no more than 400 words
and a brief C.V. simultaneously to
Dr. Volker Langbehn at
Dr. Mohammad Salama at
Deadline for submission: December 1, 2006
International Interdisciplinary Conference on German Colonialism and
Post-Colonialism
September 6-9, 2007, San Francisco, USA
In response to the increasing study of Germany's colonial legacy, we
are soliciting papers for an International Interdisciplinary
Conference on "German Colonialism and Post-Colonialism" at San
Francisco State University. The 35 years of Germany's colonial rule
left a lasting impact on territories in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific
Ocean and shaped German politics. However, due to twentieth-century
historical developments in Germany and the centrality of Britain's
and France's imperialistic thrusts, Germany's brief colonial
engagement has been viewed as relatively insignificant. Recent
interest in Germany's colonial history has been motivated by
contemporary developments in the German political situation, such as
the change of Article 116 of the Basic Law in 2000, the call for a
"deutsche Leitkultur" ("defining" or "leading" German culture), the
resistance to the notion of a multicultural society, and the brutal
attacks on Afro-Germans, as well as by the interest in postcolonial
theory in academia. There does exist a wealth of significant
historical inquiry into German colonialism. However, only over the
past years has there been a change in scholarship that included, for
instance, the notion of race as one of the central components in
identifying links between historical colonialism and contemporary
German society. The conference organizers seek a broader spectrum in
order to grasp Germany's imperial project, including, but not limited
to the disciplinary fields of medicine, law, and anthropology. In
addition, we invite scholars who focus on the intersection between
modernity and colonialism. This conference will address Germany's
biased and troubled relationship with its colonial past by using as
its departure point the "scramble for Africa." While the organizers
acknowledge that colonial engagement neither started nor ended with
formal colonial rule, we wish to limit the historical frame and
focus. We invite theoretically informed papers dealing with aspects
of Germany's colonial empire to the present day addressing the
relationship(s) between:
- German National (cultural) Identity and German Post-Colonialism;
- The Construction of Race as a Signifying "Otherness"
- Race, Gender, Nation, and Religion and their connection to modern
economic and intellectual systems
- Colonialism and Modernity
- The Visual Representations of Colonialism in the Arts and
Literature (cartoons, postcards, stamps, paintings etc.)
- German Colonialism and Film
- Guilt, Responsibility and National Identity in Postwar Germany; or
Means of Coming to Terms with a Colonial Past
- Reception / Perception of Germany's Colonialism and Post-
Colonialism seen from the "Outside" - Responses from Other Countries
and Ethnicities
- Germany's Colonialism in Comparison with Other Colonial Powers such
as England, France, and Spain
- German Colonialism and the Orientalist Tradition (i.e., Ottoman,
Persian, Chinese, and Japanese)
- German Colonialism and the Relationship Between the Professional
Study of Texts and National Interest
- German Colonialism and the South Pacific (German New Guinea,
Micronesia, Melanesia and Samoa)
- Contemporary Germany, Xenophobia, and its Colonial Past
- Colonialism, Violence, and language
- German Colonialism and Black Jews
- Colonialism, Violence, Genocide and Holocaust
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. Russell Berman (Stanford University)
Dr. Klaus Scherpe (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
Dr. Alexander Honold (Universität Basel)
Dr. Beate Kundrus (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung)
Dr. Oliver Simons (Harvard University)
The conference organizers would like to acknowledge the generous
support and cooperation by the Goethe-Institute San Francisco,
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and the College of Humanities at San
Francisco State University.
Papers should be 20 minutes long and must be presented and discussed
in English. Please submit a paper proposal of no more than 400 words
and a brief C.V. simultaneously to
Dr. Volker Langbehn at
Dr. Mohammad Salama at
Deadline for submission: December 1, 2006