Race and Antiracism in the German Cultural Sector

Tegan White-Nesbitt Announcement
Location
Maryland, United States
Subject Fields
Black History / Studies, German History / Studies, Race Studies, Sociology, Humanities

In English, the term race designates a social construction. In German, by contrast, there is no direct translation; Rasse is a biological concept, not applied to humans, and race is often used as a loan word. Taking this translation issue as a point of departure, our conference aims to examine and expand the discourse of “antiracism” from a Humanities, and specifically German Studies perspective. In Undeutsch (2016), for example, sociologist and cultural theorist Fatima El-Tayeb criticizes a notion of Germanness that excludes Muslim and Black (among other) identities, and argues that realizing the vision of an inclusive post-migrant German society demands a rethinking of historical narratives. More recently, sociologist and filmmaker Natasha A. Kelly published Rassismus: strukturelle Probleme brauchen strukturelle Lösungen (2021), which calls for readers to consider the deeply structural roots of racism that permeate philosophy, education and politics.


This bilingual conference will take place in-person at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA on March 10th-12th 2023, with a keynote from Natasha A. Kelly and a screening of her 2018 film, Millis Erwachen (Milli’s Awakening). We invite 20-minute contributions from graduate students and scholars engaging with antiracist scholarship from a wide range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives. Research areas may include, but are not limited to:

  • Racism/antiracism in the German-speaking world
  • Decolonizing the curriculum
  • Pedagogy
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Media Studies
  • Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Presentations may be in German or English. Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words, and a brief academic bio, by December 16th.

Contact Information

Käthe Erichsen; Lisa Schmitz; Tegan White-Nesbitt

Contact Email
jhugergradconference@gmail.com