Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies

Mission and History

The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies was originally established in 1998 upon an initiative by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Sciences, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Austrian Conference of University Presidents as the “Canadian Centre for Austrian and Central European Studies.” Subsequently, the Centre received the support of the Governments of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Renamed the “Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies” in October 2003 in recognition of Dr. Manfred and Dr. Alfred Wirth’s generous endowment, our principal mandate is to raise the profile of Central Europe and Central European Studies in Canada and to provide a leadership role in a network of cooperation in this field with other Canadian universities. We act as both an academic and cultural institute and sponsor and organize lectures, conferences, artistic festivals, symposia, concerts, exhibitions, and other scholarly and cultural events with an Austrian and central European theme. We also engage in international cooperative ventures with institutions in the United States and Europe.

We assist all relevant units within the university community in the task of having the University of Alberta recognized as the leading center for Central European Studies in Canada. We also work with the Embassies of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia to maintain and enhance Canada’s most outstanding resource centre for Central European Studies for the use of scholars throughout Canada and the United States.

Programs And Activities

The Wirth Institute sponsors traditional academic activities such as book publications, conferences, lectures, and student and faculty exchange programs. We host doctoral research fellows from central Europe and support a network of early career scholars connecting Canada and central Europe, the Wirth Alumni Network. As a member of the worldwide network of Austrian centres and institutes supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research, we also participate in that network’s activities. This year, we hosted the network’s annual meeting and conference.

Because the Wirth Institute is institutionally hosted by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, it is connected to scholars in a wide variety of fields in the Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This means that the Institute also sponsors creative projects such as art exhibits, concerts, CD productions, and musical compositions.

The Institute also is home to the Rudolf Vrba Holocaust Reading Room, a campus resource for students and scholars studying the European Holocaust of the mid-twentieth century. In addition to the Reading Room, the Institute sponsors annual lectures in the fields of Holocaust and Jewish Studies.

Although the Institute concentrates on the study of Austria in its central European context in the past and present, it also has an interest in promoting academic and cultural ties between Canada and central Europe. The Institute administers scholarship programs and negotiates exchange agreements between Canadian and European institutions such as the University of Innsbruck in Austria and the Universities of Silesia and Wroclaw in Poland.

Another area of interest of the Wirth Institute is migration: the experiences of men and women who moved from central Europe to Canada have been and will continue to be the focus of many of the institute’s programs. A conference on central Europeans’ migrations to Canada is planned for next academic year. Much of the funding for the Institute’s programs comes from Austro-Canadians as well as groups representing immigrants to Canada from other parts of central Europe such as Croatia, Czech Republic, and Poland.