The Center for Austrian Studies 2019-20 Annual Report the 2019-20 Cas Staff
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the center for austrian studies 2019-20 annual report the 2019-20 cas staff 2019-20 CAS staff, left to right: Christina Traxler (Fulbright visiting researcher from the University of Vienna), Jacob Smiley, Igor Tchoukarine, Timothy McDonald, Jennifer Hammer, and Howard Louthan Director Editor Program Administrator Howard Louthan specializes in the intellectual Igor Tchoukarine has been editor of the Jennifer Hammer joined the Institute for Global and cultural history of early modern Central Austrian Studies Newsmagazine (ASN) since Studies in January 2015 to manage programming Europe with special attention to religion. His September 2017. Tchoukarine holds a PhD for the Center for Austrian Studies and the Cen- books include The Quest for Compromise, an in history from EHESS (France). He works on ter for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. A UMN examination of toleration in late 16th century Yugoslavia and Central Europe as well as on the alum (Anthropology and Japanese), she went on Vienna, and Converting Bohemia, an exploration history of tourism in the 20th century, and he is to study design history and is currently pursuing of the recatholization of the Czech lands in the author of several articles on these topics. He a Masters in Arts and Cultural Leadership. She the 17th and 18th centuries. His current work replaced Daniel Pinkerton, who was editor of has lived in Japan, Austria, and New York City, examines the religious cultures of 16th century the ASN from 1992 to 2016 and the CAS Annual and has worked in the academic / not-for-profit Poland. Louthan has previously taught at the Report from 1991 to 2017. sector for over 15 years specializing in collections University of Notre Dame, Warsaw University, and data management, resource development, and the University of Florida. AHY Assistant Editor programming, processing, and communications. Timothy McDonald began serving as the as- sistant editor of the Austrian History Yearbook CAS-BMBWF Fellow contents in September 2019. A PhD candidate in the Peter Wegenschimmel (University of Vienna/ Department of History, he works on modern University of Regensburg) was the 2019-20 Director’s View 3 Russia and is currently writing his dissertation BMBWF Fellow. Please see the back cover for de- tails about the fellowship and Peter. Publications 4 on the expansion and intersection of Russian cultural, religious, and political interests in Ot- Events 5 toman Palestine in the mid-nineteenth century. Faculty 7 Student Support 8 Student employees Partnerships 9 Jacob Smiley is majoring in history and will graduate in the Fall of 2020. His studies are con- Support & Collaboration 10 centrated on Modern Europe and his interests Making a Gift 11 include economic history, the history of the Cold 2019-20 BMBWF Fellow 12 War, and the history of nationalism. After gradu- ation, he plans on pursuing a graduate degree in history. CAS also employed Tyler Ofstad. 2019 2020 2 the director’s view remember the moment vividly. It was the Tues- Europe. Both scholars highlight how Wilson’s heri- day after Memorial Day, and my adult children tage, especially his Southern background, shaped I(now back home due to the pandemic) alerted his understanding of race and ethnicity in the Eu- me to a video going viral on the internet. Like many ropean context. Wilson was generally critical of of you, I could not bring myself to watch the entire immigrants from Eastern Europe including “men clip. But what I saw was enough—a white police of the meaner sort of Hungary and Poland, men officer slowly, methodically, and dispassionately out of the ranks where there was neither skill nor choking to death a Black man who lay prone and intelligence.”1 Neither Phelps nor Wolff wrote their helpless beneath him. I did not know it at that books with the intent to either lionize or demon- moment, but what I was witnessing, an event tak- ize Wilson. Like all scholars, they sought to under- ing place six miles from my home, would trigger a stand and explain. In so doing, they have painted a worldwide movement of protest. portrait of a complex man who though motivated by lofty ideals was also stained by racism. Such moments, of course, have rightly prompted Photo: Lisa Miller so many of us on a personal level to take stock of So let’s return to the question of relevance at CAS. where we stand in light of the persistent inequities This example of Wilson highlights current scholar- issues. Indeed, we launched our speaker series by and injustices that remain stubbornly embedded ship that has real significance today as we collec- addressing one of the most pressing and compli- in our respective societies. They can also help us tively re-examine our past and what values we as a cated matters today, climate change. Debbie Coen, question the relevance of our professional lives. In society want both to cherish and challenge. Some whose prize-winning book, Climate in Motion, fol- our case at the Center for Austrian Studies, how of our presentations this year in Minnesota have lows the history of climate science back into the does running a research center dedicated to the followed this line by tackling topics where moral nineteenth century and discusses the critical role study of Central Europe address any of these prob- questions are central to the analysis. In the fall Brit- that scientists from the Habsburg Empire played in lems? Are we simply academic ostriches with our ta McEwen spoke on the deep-seated problems of those early days. We also hosted a symposium that heads in the sand while we distract ourselves with illegitimacy in late-imperial Vienna, while in the considered the permeability of cultural boundaries self-referential discussions that have little meaning spring Heather Morrison examined eighteenth- through an architectural exploration of Habsburg and utility for the world today? century botanical expeditions to the Americas that successor states (see page 6). relied extensively on unacknowledged Black labor. The tragic death of George Floyd has initiated a There is, however, another lesson we can take from The point here is not that we need public leaders process where societies are looking more criti- the Wilson example that points to a more a gen- who better understand the society and culture of cally at their own past. Here in the US we have eral observation about our work at CAS. Central Europe, though that certainly would not seen renewed attention dedicated to the Civil War hurt. If such an intelligent president as Wilson and the long history of slavery and its troubled af- Phelps and Wolff also illustrate how an astute and stumbled over this terrain, what greater challenges termath. One of the most prominent individuals high-minded individual was utterly unprepared to do political and intellectual leaders face today? now under review has a direct connection with deal with the collapse of the Habsburg and Otto- Rather, we need more generally a return to deep Central Europe. More than any other American of man empires. Though Wilson was the first sitting study, reasoned analysis, and respectful debate. the twentieth century, Woodrow Wilson had the president to visit Europe, he never traveled to the These are the values that undergird the Center for greatest influence shaping this region after the First continent’s eastern half and had no real grasp of Austrian Studies. And though these ideals are most World War. the region’s ethnic diversity and the impossibil- obviously reflected in our intellectual agenda, they ity of creating clearly defined nation-states from are also civic virtues that bear cultivating in our From Zagreb to Warsaw, Wilson’s legacy was pub- such mixed populations. Central Europe, as we troubled times today. licly honored and widely celebrated. A Minnesota all know, is an incredibly complicated region and graduate and former member of the CAS team, one that cannot be understood without signifi- Endnote Nicole Phelps, has written insightfully about US- cant effort and study. That is the reason why CAS 1. Cited in Gary Gerstle, “Race and Nation in the Thought Habsburg relations that culminated at the Paris was created in the first place. We see ourselves as and Policies of Woodrow Wilson,” in Reconsidering Peace Conference, and now our former Kann lec- a venue for careful consideration of very compli- Woodrow Wilson: Progressivism, Internationalism, War, turer, Larry Wolff, has published his timely volume, cated questions and problems. Again, our program and Peace, ed. John Milton Cooper Jr. (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson and the Reimagining of Eastern this academic year drew attention to some of these Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2008), 101. OUR MISSION THE CENTER FOR AUSTRIAN STUDIES • SERVES as an international leader in promoting new scholarship about Austria and Central Europe across disciplines in the humanities, the social sciences, international business management, and the arts; • CONNECTS scholars, students, and an international community to resources in Minnesota, Austria, Central Europe, and the European Union; • REACHES OUT to students, scholars, and an international community, bringing an awareness of Austria and its relevance to American life; • ENRICHES THE TEACHING MISSION of the university and the College of Liberal Arts by connecting its research and outreach programs with classroom opportunities for students. The Center pursues its mission through a variety of activities, including research, publications, international interdisciplinary symposia, student and faculty exchanges,