[ecrea] 2nd ACS Institute -- 22-26 July 2013, Klagenfurt, Austria

The Association for Cultural Studies (ACS) is delighted to announce the 
second *ACS Institute*, which will be held from 22-26 July 2013 at the 
Department of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Cultural 
Studies, of Alpen Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt in Austria. The theme of 
the 2013 Institute is "The Sights/Sites of Cultural Studies."

The ACS Institute will be a forum for critical discussions of important 
perspectives on cultural studies today.  Our paired theme is intended to 
forge productive and provocative conversations between two related, yet 
distinct, sets of issues.  On the one hand, we will explore the question 
of where cultural studies can (and should) best be practiced in the 21st 
century, and what (if any) meaningful common ground exists between the 
different existing formations of cultural studies.  On the other hand, 
we will engage in a special focus on visual culture, and the question of 
what cultural studies can contribute to a deeper understanding of a 
world dominated by images.

The Institute will provide an intense and rewarding pedagogical 
experience for postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers who 
will have the opportunity to spend the week learning from lectures and 
seminars delivered by five keynote speakers and a faculty staff of 
leading cultural studies scholars from around the world. The following 
keynote speakers have been confirmed: Ien Ang (University of Western 
Sydney, Australia), John Clarke (Open University, UK), Lothar Mikos 
(University of Film and Television, Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany), 
Nicholas Mirzoeff (New York University, USA) and Constance Penley 
(University of California, Santa Barbara, USA).

Following on the great success of the inaugural ACS Institute in 2011 
(at the University of Gent (Belgium)), the 2013 edition of the Institute 
will bring together people from a wide range of disciplines to explore 
what it means to conduct cultural studies. We invite and encourage 
participation from researchers who work in disciplines such as cultural 
studies, visual studies, film studies, media studies, cultural 
sociology, cultural anthropology, literary theory and criticism, 
discourse analysis, new literacy studies, educational studies, 
rhetorical criticism etc.

Those interested in participating are invited to take notice of the 
above mentioned dates. The website for the Institute -- 
http://acssi2013.aau.at -- is currently under construction, but will 
soon be fully operational. Email inquiries can be addressed to 
(acssi2013 /at/ aau.at). Practical information about registration and a full 
list of Institute keynotes and faculty will be disseminated in due course.

The Association of Cultural Studies <http://www.cultstud.org/> is the 
premiere international association of cultural studies and hosts the 
biennial Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference.

Cheers,
Gil Rodman
Chair, Association for Cultural Studies