Wirth institute for austrian and central european studies

Part of a global network extending from Vienna to Jerusalem and beyond, the Austria Centers of North America share a common mission to deepen knowledge of Austrian and Central European history, culture and society around the world.

The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies is the only university institute in Canada that devotes itself exclusively to the interdisciplinary study and understanding of .

North America is home to both the oldest and the newest of these dynamic hubs for research and education: the Center for Austrian Studies at the University of Minnesota, founded in , and the Austrian Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley, established in and unique on the West Coast. Each plays a key role in building bridges between students, scholars and innovators across Austria and North America.

Through lectures and conferences, publications, research exchanges and outreach activities, the Centers advance scholarship on Austria in a European context, as well as strengthen transatlantic cooperation. Yet, with international mobility and in-person gatherings put on hold by COVID, the North American Austria Centers have had to find new ways to connect and collaborate—from a distance.

Starting this fall, we have joined forces to pilot a joint online event series designed to make the most of our shelters-in-place. Petritsch examined shifting understandings of identity, nation, heritage and memory in the Balkans, with a focus on Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia where he formerly served as the Austrian Ambassador. To round out the lineup in November, Center Austria at the University of New Orleans hosted a conversation with Austrian scholar Gerald Steinacher University of Nebraska on identity and ethnonationalism in the borderland region of South Tyrol.

Virtual partnerships like this one have further strengthened ties between our Centers, and between Austrian and North American researchers. At the same time, they have encouraged connections across fields of study, highlighting innovative interdisciplinary perspectives on critical questions.

We act as both an academic and cultural institute and sponsor and organize lectures, conferences, artistic festivals, symposia, concerts, exhibitions and other scholarly and cultural .

Building on the success of the current series, the North American Austria Centers are already looking ahead to Berkeley director Jeroen Dewulf welcomes the opportunity for continued collaboration. We see this as a first step towards closer cooperation to the benefit of all Austrian Studies Programs in North America. Julia Nelsen, Ph.

Austrian Studies Goes Virtual. Oct 19 Written By Embassy of Austria.