Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota

Mission and History

The Center for Austrian Studies (CAS) is an interdisciplinary research center with a mission to support the study of Central Europe across the disciplines. Established in 1977, CAS is the Western Hemisphere’s oldest and best-known research center focusing on the past, present, and future of Austria and the successor states of the Habsburg Empire. In 1976, the Austrian government decided to use the American Bicentennial as an occasion to thank the United States for its political and economic support after 1945 by giving $1 million to an American university for the purpose of promoting Austrian studies in the United States. After a nationwide competition, the University of Minnesota was chosen over fifteen other universities for several reasons: its existing faculty strength in Central and Eastern Europe, its location in the American heartland among a population with substantial German-speaking ancestry, and its status as a first-rate public university, which made it a natural partner for the public universities of Austria. Over the past four decades, the Center has served as an international leader in promoting new scholarship about Austria and Central Europe across disciplines in the humanities, the social sciences, the fine arts, and international business management. The Center connects scholars, students, and an international community to resources in Austria, Central Europe, the EU, and Minnesota. Through a variety of community events and lectures, it reaches out to students, scholars, and an international community of educated non-academics, bringing an awareness of Austria and the new Europe and its relevance to American life. It enriches the teaching mission of the University and the College of Liberal Arts by connecting its research and outreach programs with classroom opportunities for students. CAS has cultivated exchange programs and formal ties with Austrian universities and, since 1992, has hosted an Austrian graduate student through Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW) Doctoral Research Fellowship. The Center also sponsors a range of prizes, including one for the National History Day competition, a dissertation prize, a book prize, and the R. John Rath Prize for the best article published in the Austrian History Yearbook.

Programs And Activities

Since its inception, the Center for Austrian Studies has offered a regular series of presentations by scholars in a wide variety of disciplines. CAS events range from descriptions of academic works-in-progress to presentations about more general subjects including reports of current events in Austria and Central Europe. The lectures are free and open to students, staff, and the public. The Robert A. Kann Memorial Lecture is our most prestigious lecture, delivered by a renowned scholar. This year, Larry Wolff spoke about “Operatic Representations of Habsburg Ideology: Ottoman Themes and Viennese Variations.” In addition to these lectures, CAS reaches out to the larger Twin Cities community by supporting a range of events—from concerts to film screenings—that appeal to a general audience.

As part of its mission to foster scholarly collaboration and engage with broader communities and audiences, CAS sponsors a range of publications, including Austrian History Yearbook, the only English-language journal dedicated to the history of territories formerly under Habsburg rule; the Austrian Studies Newsmagazine; and an active book series with Berghahn Press, which just published its 22nd volume. The Center is also launching a new online journal dedicated to undergraduate research, Central Europe: An Undergraduate Journal.

This journal is one of the Center’s new initiatives to encourage younger scholars interested in Central Europe. In addition to this journal, CAS has launched a Seminar Fellows Program that brings together advanced graduate students. CAS has organized three workshops since 2016 on the themes of “Religious Culture and Social Change in Central Europe ca. 1400-1600,” “History and Culture in Central Europe during the Long 18th Century,” and “Authority and Power: Religion, Society, and Politics in Central Europe” and plans more for the future.