Projects

The Center for Austrian Studies works in conjunction with several other departments and institutions around the world to conduct research and inspire discussion on issues within the scope of Austrian studies. 

Beyond the Battlefield: Reconsidering Warfare in Early Modern Europe

Building off the 400th anniversary of the start of the Thirty Years’ War, the Center for Austrian Studies, in conjunction with the Center for German and European Studies, assembled an international team of fifteen scholars for a conference in November 2018 that investigated issues of war, society, and culture from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.  There will be a series of follow-up meetings in fall 2019 with additional contributors to assist in the next stage of this project, which will culminate with the publication of the essays. 

History of the Habsburg Monarchy (Forthcoming with Cambridge University Press)

This project dates back to 2015 when Cambridge University Press commissioned a two-volume history of the Habsburg Monarchy. The collection is intended to serve as a new synthesis that reflects the most recent currents in the field. We have brought together a team of two dozen scholars from more than half a dozen countries. The Center for Austrian Studies assisted with a 2017 conference in Vienna that brought together the authors of the edited collection and continues to offer critical support for the completion of this project. 

Printed Book in Central Europe (St Andrews University/Brill)

This collaborative project with the University of St Andrews examines the history of the book in Central Europe. The project began with a summer 2017 conference in Scotland that intentionally crossed borders of language, geography, culture, and religion. From its origins along the Rhine to its rapid spread eastward, the growth and development of printing in Central Europe was overwhelmingly transnational. For example, the first book with Cyrillic characters was the product of a German printer in Polish Cracow. For this three-day conference we had participants from over ten countries and are currently editing the essays for the Brill series, “Library of the Written Word.”

Theuerdank: The Illustrated Epic of a Renaissance Knight (Routledge Press)

Hailed by some scholars as the most important book of the German Renaissance, Theuerdank, published in 1517, is a fictional account of Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I and his journey to marry one of the most influential princesses in Europe, the wealthy heiress Mary of Burgundy. Maximilian employed a team of three artists to execute over 100 woodcuts to illustrate the poem. Despite the importance of the text, Theuerdank is not widely known outside scholarly circles, and there is no English translation of the poem. We are under contract with Routledge Press to produce the first English version of Theuerdank complete with all the woodcuts and a substantial introduction to acquaint a general readership with this masterpiece of German literature.