Lecture Series ‘Jewish Culture and Memory in a Transnational Context’
as part of the theme year "Tacheles. Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony" 2026
In the summer semester of 2026, the Faculty of Humanities at Chemnitz University of Technology is planning a lecture series in cooperation with the Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology (smac). The lecture series is dedicated to Jewish culture, history and memory from a diverse, interdisciplinary and international perspective. It sees itself as a contribution to a comprehensive cultural examination of Jewish life - past and present - and aims both to make existing research visible and to open up new perspectives on Jewish culture in a transnational context.
At the centre of the lecture series are questions of literature, history, culture and memory theory that address Jewish experiences, forms of expression and interconnections beyond regional and national borders. Possible contributions could, for example, deal with literary representations of Jewish figures such as Shylock, with intellectual dialogues between thinkers such as Walter Benjamin and Stefan Zweig, with the work and influence of the writer Stefan Heym, with biographies of Jewish personalities from Saxony such as Josef Wulf or with transnational experiences of flight and exile, such as the example of Shanghai. Questions of the culture of remembrance in the field of tension between loss, continuity and re-appropriation are also of particular interest.
Digital forms of representing Jewish history and culture are also a topic of the lecture series. For example, a project from English and Digital Linguistics (LeDiT) or virtual reality representations such as those of the ‘Mikveh’ can show new ways of communicating and visualising Jewish history.
The lecture series aims to highlight the diversity of Jewish cultural history, identify gaps and emphasise the importance of Jewish contributions to European modernity and the culture of remembrance - especially against the backdrop of current political developments and growing anti-Semitism in Europe.
The event will take place from April to July 2026 in the summer semester in presence in the lecture hall of the smac in Chemnitz. We would be very pleased if you would like to contribute to the lecture series with a lecture. A lecture title, an abstract of approx. 200 words and a short biographical note should be sent by 15 January 2026 to: teresa.pinheiro@phil.tu-chemnitz.de and cecile.sandten@phil.tu-chemntiz.de
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to your feedback and a possible contribution to this important lecture series.