(Re-)Shaping the Public Sphere

Since its inception in 1989, the PGF has been a platform for early career researchers in the broader field of American studies, offering them the opportunity to present and discuss their on-going projects and to engage in critical conversations with scholars working in similar as well as different disciplines. This year’s conference is hosted at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg from November 21-23, 2024.
Please note that this conference is designed for early career researchers only.

The form for registration is now open, in which you may let us know if you need reimbursement of travel expenses, or about other special needs that you may have. In case institutional funding for the travel expenses to Erlangen is unavailable to you, we will do our best to support you financially to the degree that our budget permits. The deadline for registration is October 26, 2024.

Please register here.

There are no conference fees.

Download our conference program here.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be submitted along with a 50-word biography to pgf@dgfa.de by September 07, 2024. If you want to contribute to our workshop in Nuremberg with a cultural production of your own, please send in a separate 250-word proposal for each contribution. Presentations should not be longer than 15 minutes. Please refer to our CfP for further information.

Please download our CfP here.

The conference will take place on Thursday and Friday at the Kollegienhaus (Universitätsstraße 15, Erlangen) and on Saturday at the PSG Building (Kochstraße 6a, Erlangen). 

The reception on Thursday evening will take place at Universitätsstraße 40, 1. OG.

Here are some hotels we recommend for your stay in Erlangen:

1. A.B. Hotel,  Harfenstraße 1c (very affordable, simple rooms, but booked out very quickly)
2. The Kepos Hotel, Östliche Stadtmauerstraße 7
3. Zeitwohnhaus, Luitpoldstraße 10
4. Altmanns Stuben, Theaterplatz 9
5. Hotelchen, Theaterstraße 10

From the Erlangen central train station to the Kollegienhaus is approximately a 5-minute walk, and from the A.B. Hotel, around 12 min.

You can find some important locations (venues, hotels, restaurants) pinned on Google Maps here.

We would like to thank our generous sponsors for funding this year’s Postgraduate Forum:

• The German Association for American Studies (GAAS/DGfA)
• Research Training Group 2806: Literature and the Public Sphere in Differentiated Contemporary Cultures
• Dr. Alfred-Vinzl-Stiftung
• Universitätsbund Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Dr. Alice Rössler-Stiftung

Speakers at our conference will have the opportunity to publish their papers in the next issue of COPAS—Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies.