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Cultural Heritage and the Media - Sommerschool in Weimar 2005
The HERMES Summer School 2005 ‘Cultural Heritage and the Media’ took place 13-27 August 2005 in Weimar, Germany
Introduction
One of HERMES’ general aims is to provide educational and qualification offers for young experts and multipliers from all over CADSES (Work Package 5, www.swkk.de/hermes). It is understood as a means of continuous capacity-building and networking within the project’s structures and beyond. The 2nd HERMES Summer School in Weimar, to be held on 13-27 August 2005, will be an important event in this respect. While the first event of this kind, carried out in August 2004, pursued a general approach to the topic of cultural heritage and regional development, the Summer School 2005 will focus on the role of media in the construction, promotion and use of cultural heritage.
Contents of the summer school
The overall aim of the course will be to explore the role of media in heritage work. Course work will comprise lectures, reading, discussions, workshops, and presen-tations. The seminar will be structured into four main sections.
Section 1: Basic Terms and Concepts
At the beginning there will be an introductory discussion of the basic terms ‘culture’, ‘heritage’ and ‘media’. Based on theoretical approaches from the social sciences and cultural studies, the (possible) connections between these three concepts, and related ones like ‘identity’ and ‘history’, will be examined. It will be asked how these central terms can be conceptualized, and for what purpose these concepts can be used and instrumentalized by different social actors. Furthermore, the significant role of (mass) media for the production and distribution of knowledge is to be discussed.
Section 2: The Politics of Regional Heritage and Identity
Based on the mainly theoretical discussion of central terms and concepts in the field of cultural heritage and the media, the second part of the course will present and discuss several practical case-studies. These examples, predominantly from a contemporary Central and East European context, will serve to illustrate important aspects of ‘place-making’ and heritage politics. It will be examined, how, by whom and for what purpose certain images and representations of places and regions are created and conveyed. Particular attention will be dedicated to the role of (mass) media in these processes.
Section 3: Mass Media in Countries in Transition
In its third part, the Summer Course will deal with the social and political framework of mass media, focussing especially on the internet and other New Media. What are the current working conditions for the media sector in European countries in transition? What role do media actors play in democratic and democratizing societies? How could the HERMES project, especially the Heritage Radio Network, contribute to a multi-faceted approach to history and heritage, and to alternative narratives about our world in general?
Section 4: Workshop
The Summer Course will also contain practical workshops in which participants produce their own programmes and features. These will then be broadcast via HERMES Heritage Radio (www.heritage-radio.net). The general theme of all programmes will be ‘Weimar as a place of European cultural heritage’. Small working groups will be formed at the beginning of the course, each of them working on one of the following topics (list to be completed and discussed):
• The Weimar Summer Courses – A Portrait
• Buchenwald – Heritage? Whose Heritage?
• ‘Resurrected from ruins’? – Legacies and images of the GDR in present-day Weimar
• Weimar Tourism – Protagonists, Interests, Images, Impressions
• Weimar in the eyes (and in the work) of young Polish artists
All participants who work as journalists are kindly requested to bring technical equipment which may be necessary or helpful for this workshop. Digital cameras may also be useful.
Keywords
Media
The course will explore the construction of knowledge, and of reality in general, through (mass) media, by applying theoretical approaches to communication and representation. Other aspects of interest include the political and economic organisation, and the interests of mass media (especially in countries in transition to democracy and market economy), and the emergence of ‘New’ Media (internet, internet-radio etc.).
Cultural Heritage
‘Heritage’ will be conceptualized as a cultural phenomenon which is socially constructed for socio-political and/or economic purposes (i.e. the contempo-rary use of the past). Furthermore, the function of cultural heritage as a source of identity, and of legitimacy for structures of power, will be examined.
Place-making and region-building
How are places ‘made’? How are meaningful images created which relate to places, ‘their’ past and ‘their’ heritage, and why? Particular attention will be paid to ‘region’ as a social and political concept which is often supported and solidified through regional (mass) media.
Teaching methods & activities
The Summer Course will be prepared and facilitated by Sebastian Schröder-Esch, in conjunction with other specialists from the HERMES project and its network. Course work will comprise lectures, reading, discussions, workshops, and presentations. An important element of the course is also the preparatory work (mainly reading) which has to be done before the beginning of the event. An average working day will consist of two sessions (9-12 am, 2-5 pm), often with leisure activities in the evening.
Lecturers
Several experts from various fields and backgrounds will act as guest lecturers during the course.
• L. Bialasiewicz (Durham, UK): geographer, specialist in the cultural and political geography of Europe (especially Central and Eastern Europe) and in the processes of region-building and European integration
• S. Jędrzejewski (Warsaw, PL): sociologist and media expert, official representative of ‘Polskie Radio’
• A. Schlottmann, T. Felgenhauer (Jena, D): geographers, specialists in the field of media geography, researchers in a project on the construction of ‘Mitteldeutschland’ (Central Germany)
• L. Wieneke (Weimar, D): expert on media technology and interface design, research assistant in the Faculty of Media at Bauhaus University responsible for multi-media applications in the new Wieland museum at Oßmannstedt
Excursions
Another important part of the regular programme will be guided field-trips to several different sites and institutions:
• Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), Erfurt the main public broadcasting station for the region
• Radio Lotte, Weimar a local radio-station (‘free citizens’ radio’), also the project office of the HERMES Heritage Radio Network
• Wieland estate, Oßmannstedt near Weimar an important site of HERMES activities (multi-media museum, designed by Bauhaus University experts)
• Buchenwald memorial site, Weimar site of the former German concentration camp and Soviet internment camp
Extracurricular activities
Some social activities are also foreseen in the programme of the Summer Course, although none of them will be compulsory. There will be several opportunities for games and sports activities (football, volleyball, cycling etc.), to play music (folk songs), to present typical drinks and food from one’s home country etc. This will usually take place together with the other participants of the Weimar Summer Courses. Attendees of the HERMES course are invited to bring along whatever they think appropriate and suitable for such events!
Conditions for participation
The course is designed for 10-12 participants, the majority of whom will represent HERMES partner institutions. Participants in the Summer Course should have a profound knowledge of English, the working language of the seminar. They should also be prepared to work individually as well as in groups on all elements of the course, containing theoretical and practical aspects, before and during the event.
Practical information
Costs for accomodation, food (usually three meals a day) and tuition will be covered entirely by HERMES. Participants from CEE countries may receive a refund of their travel costs upon arrival. Whoever wants to be collected at the train station in Weimar on 13 August is requested to announce the time of arrival well in ad-vance, so that everything can be arranged accordingly. Participants will be accommodated in twin rooms in modern houses at the European Centre for Youth Educa-tion (EJBW, Jenaer Str. 2/4, 99425 Weimar) near the centre of Weimar, adjacent to the Ilm Park (www.ejb-weimar.de).
For further information, please contact:
Sebastian Schröder-Esch, M.A., M.E.S.
For general information see www.sommerkurse-weimar.de (also in English)
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