Student Conference : Culture Within Culture
11th - 12th July 2019
Englisches Seminar
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
“Culture,” as Peter Farb notes in Man's Rise to Civilization, “is all the things and ideas ever devised
by humans working and living together.” One way to understand culture is to investigate its
variations, like subcultures and countercultures. Subcultures are created by groups of like-minded
people who accommodate themselves in a newly established platform or environment within the
wider context of a parent culture. A counterculture is a type of subculture that manifests itself in
opposition to the mainstream. Both subcultures and countercultures not only reveal characteristics
and prevailing norms of the dominant culture, but also challenge commonly accepted values and
nurture societal progress by developing their own, specific means of communication. In doing so,
they help enrich the parent culture by providing fresh viewpoints and inspiring changes.
The aim of this conference is to bring together undergraduate (B.A. and M.A.) students who are
interested in the different aspects of these concepts and provide an opportunity to exchange ideas in
an academic environment.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
• the interplay between the parent culture and subculture/counterculture
• whether certain areas of interest can be defined as subculture (such as music genres,
fandoms, cosplay, religious groups, criminal organisations etc.)
• countercultures and subcultures over the course of history
• the effect of new media on the formation of new subcultures and countercultures
• contemporary examples of subculture and counterculture
Please note that we extend this call to proposals for poster presentations. Attendees will have the
opportunity to present posters for their upcoming projects. In order to do so, please send your
proposals within the same deadline with the poster and a short introductory text attached.
The conference is not subject to fee for speakers and guests. Speakers will be presented with a
certificate of attendance/scholarly contribution at the end of the conference. We welcome all
speakers to attend the art exhibition that will take place after the conference.
Deadlines:
Please send your abstracts of max. 350 words including the title of your research and key words
until 16th June 2019 to culturewithinculture@gmail.com. Notification of acceptance will be sent by
25th June 2019.
