| The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies in Canada: Wirth its Weight in Gold |
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bridges vol. 15 September, 2007 / Institutions and Organizations The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, located at the University of Alberta , Edmonton, Canada, is a fairly young institution, but it stands just as strong as any other pillar in North America for the study of Austrian or Central European culture and history. Established in 1998, the principal mandate of the Wirth Institute is to raise the profile of Central Europe and Central European Studies in Canada and to provide leadership in this field for a network of cooperation with other Canadian universities. The Institute sponsors and organizes lectures, conferences, artistic festivals, symposia, concerts, exhibitions, and other scholarly and cultural events with an Austrian and Central European theme. of the Institute's objectives is to assist in establishing the University of Alberta as the leading center for Central European Studies in Canada and in the larger academic community. It works with the University of Alberta libraries and the embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia to maintain and enhance the quality of the facility for the use of scholars throughout Canada and the United States. The Austrian government agreed to provide the University of Alberta with funding for major multi-year library acquisitions and library-building, and to establish and subsidize a new full-time academic position for a visiting Austrian scholar, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship whose recipient would be a paid Intern at the Institute. The University of Alberta agreed to house the Institute on its campus, to finance a new full-time academic position for a senior Canadian scholar to be appointed director of this Institute, and to contribute an annual operational budget. The scholar chosen as the first, and current, director of the Wirth Institute was Dr. Franz Szabo , professor of Austrian and Habsburg history at the University of Alberta. Access to the full article is free, but requires you to register. Registration is simple and quick – all we need is your name and a valid e-mail address. We appreciate your interest in bridges. |
