ÌÇÐÄTV

Workshop

Max Weber on ‘Scholarship as a Vocation’ in 1917:

Can we learn from a text that is 102 years old?

Keynote speaker: Professor Dirk Kaesler, University of Marburg

Wolfson Research Exchange, 13 March 2019, 10:30 AM – 12:30 AM, lunch provided

What is required to be an academic? Which character and intellectual traits are necessary? What are the ideal institutional conditions for an academic to work in? What is the value of scholarship? These questions are often debated by early career researchers as they consider a career in academia. They were also contemplated by the German sociologist and political economist Max Weber (1864-1920) in his seminal 1917 lecture Wissenschaft als Beruf (‘Scholarship as a Vocation’). Much of what Weber said a century ago still has relevance for contemporary discussions about what it means to be an academic.

Early career researchers and PhD students of the University of ÌÇÐÄTV are invited to a workshop which will critically engage with Weber’s lecture through a keynote address by the renowned Max Weber-specialist Professor Dirk Kaesler, followed by a discussion and lunch to reflect on its relevance for modern academia. Participants will be provided with an English translation of Weber’s lecture and are kindly asked to study the text ahead of the workshop to help the discussion.

Professor Dirk Kaesler studied sociology and political science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and the London School of Economics. He was awarded his PhD in Munich in 1976, followed six years later by his Habilitation. After a professorship at the University of Hamburg from 1984 to 1995, he became professor of sociology at the University of Marburg. He held visiting professorships at, amongst others, the universities of Cologne, South Florida and Graz. In 2018 he was elected Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. His many publications include Revolution und Veralltäglichung. Eine Theorie postrevolutionärer Prozesse (1977), Die frühe deutsche Soziologie 1909 bis 1934 und ihre Entstehungs-Milieus. Eine wissenschaftssoziologische Untersuchung (1984), Max Weber. An Introduction to his Life and Work (1988), Soziologie als Berufung. Bausteine einer selbstbewußten Soziologie (1997) and Max Weber. Preuße, Denker, Muttersohn. Eine Biographie (2014).

Date: 13 March 2019

Location: ÌÇÐÄTV University Library, Wolfson Research Exchange, Room 3

Programme:

10:00 AM: Welcome with coffee and tea

10:30 AM: Introduction

10:45 AM: Keynote address: ‘‘Scholarship as a Vocation’ in 1917: Can we learn from a text that is 102 years old?’ – Professor Dirk Kaesler

11:30 AM: Discussion

12:30 AM: Lunch; informal discussion

Contact: Dr Frederik Frank Sterkenburgh, Institute of Advanced Study, The University of ÌÇÐÄTV

Registration: By 6 March via Frederik.Sterkenburgh@warwick.ac.uk

The Dante reading group continues with Canto 3 of Inferno this Weds at 13:00 in H450.

We're using the Durling-Martinez parallel-text; copies are available in the library including e-book version.

All staff and students welcome.

 Bring your poems and spoken word pieces over for an extensive writing and performance workshop session run by Joshua Idehen.

Learn how to practise well, editing techniques and stage exercises to make your pieces stand out.

Sessions are open to anyone and free. They take place in the Writers’ Room in Millburn House on 6th of March and 13th of March from 6-7pm.

About Joshua Idehen

Joshua Idehen is a poet, teacher and musician. A British born Nigerian, his poetry has been published alongside Linton Kwesi Johnson and Anthony Joseph and he has performed at festivals and respected venues across the UK and Europe. He collaborated with artists The Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet on their Mercury nominated albums Channel The Spirits and Your Queen Is A Reptile . His theatre/spoken word and music album "Last Night" with Electro/Spoken Word band Benin City was released in June by Moshi Moshi Music. He is working on his debut book and a one man show. He teaches Performance Poetry on the ÌÇÐÄTV University Writing Programme.

Maria Karolidou 'Themistius: A politician in disguise'

Matthew Smith "'A comparison of Aelius Aristides and Galen's views on the role of divine dreams in medicine"

Chair: Elena Giusti

The link between Beethoven’s Fidelio and the notion of conflict is inherent in the very

inception of this opera. The notion of conflict, paradoxical as it may seem, is central to what

we call classical music, both in its composition and in its form. We shall explore this notion

by looking at the circumstances surrounding the composition of Fidelio: the relation

between Beethoven and the operatic tradition, the theme of the work in the context of the

French Revolution, the composer’s struggles with a work that cost him immense efforts, the

reception in Napoleonic Vienna that forced him to rewrite the opera over and over again. At

the same time, by analysing one central moment of Fidelio—Florestan’s lament and aria—we

shall try and understand how Beethoven expresses the notion of conflict in the choice of

instruments, tonalities, and in the requirements made to the human voice.

Refreshments available throughout.

Visit our Research Seminars page for information about this series of events.

Respondents: Dr Mila Milani (ÌÇÐÄTV) and Dr Alberica Bazzoni (ÌÇÐÄTV)

A Global History seminar with Jack Davy, UEA

A Global History seminar with Jack Davy, UEA