600003 EX Seminar for Dissertants (2026S)

Content:
The excursion focuses on the cities of Vienna and Trieste, both of which look back on a long multi-religious and rich cultural tradition. As part of the former Danube Monarchy, they share a common history that reflects the differences between Central Europe and the Mediterranean region. Both cities were and are destinations or transit points for migratory movements, which have left their mark on the cities. In their cultural and religious richness, the two cities can be read as an aesthetic program. To this day, they are places of productive artistic creation and an active cultural scene. But beyond that, anyone who approaches Vienna or Trieste enters an aesthetically coded landscape. On the one hand, the two cities represent a religious and cultural mosaic, and on the other, they have always been places where different traditions overlap, giving rise to new developments. Despite their loss of political and economic significance in the past century, both cities remain important cultural centers in Europe.

Objectives:
• To learn about the religious and cultural diversity of Vienna and Trieste in the past and present
• To raise awareness of the close connection between religion and art in the context of the two cities
• To learn to read the cities of Vienna and Trieste as an aesthetic programme
• Students will learn about the objects of their previous literature research on site and deepen their knowledge.
• Students will reflect on the insights gained from the tension between literature research and concrete encounters on site.

Method:
The course comprises four sessions: A preparatory meeting (one session) provides an introduction to the topic and distributes topics for preparation. Based on the selected topics, there is then a day trip to Vienna, followed by a four-day trip to Trieste, during which the same topics are discussed with regard to Trieste. A final session in Vienna serves as a review and summary.

Students prepare a topic based on literature and their own research, which is taken from a pool of topics presented in the first unit. The presentation then takes place during field trips in Vienna and Trieste in the vicinity of the respective locations. Students then write a reflection on the excursion of 10,000 characters.

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Language of instruction: German