Projects

MASCAGE

Interpreneurship: Styria Meets the USA

The project "Gendering Age: Representations of Masculinities and Ageing in Contemporary European Literatures and Cinemas - MASCAGE" deals with social constructs of aging masculinities/malenities and their cultural representations in contemporary, European literary and cinematographic works. The concrete tasks of the project are: Analysis and understanding of the relationship of masculinities/malendresses, the behaviour and habits of men in relation to a variety of social problems specifically associated with male ageing, the exploration of gender-specific experiences of men and women and their attitudes towards ageing in different European regions, gaining a deeper understanding of contemporary and changing representations of ageing masculinities/malendresses in and through different media contexts, and sharing the results with researchers, practitioners and policy makers. Six partner universities from Spain, Ireland, Austria, Estonia, Sweden and Israel are participating in this project. The interdisciplinary and diverse team, headquartered at the University of Graz and headed by Prof. Dr. Roberta Maierhofer, will examine a collection of literature and film from Central and Southeastern Europe (in German, Slavic, Hungarian and Romanian). 

Link: https://www.mascage.eu/

Entrepreneurial thinking and acting, as well as their cultural appreciation, are not only a core component of the US-American national identity, but, due to the cultural diplomatic dominance of the United States, are also understood in large parts of the Western world as desirable ideals, ranging from the popular cultural myth of "from dishwasher to millionaire" to the current start-up paradigm.

In Styria, too, being an entrepreneur are all written in capital letters, even though the entrepreneur is not as important as in the USA. From a cultural studies perspective, challenges of understanding can be identified here, which can be counteracted by adequate translation. Here, "translation" is not only the overcoming of language barriers, but also the intercultural understanding and explanation of sometimes complex values.

The research project "Interpreneurship: Styria Meets the USA" will bring together the Styrian entrepreneurial spirit with the "American Entrepreneurial Spirit" in research, teaching and practice by means of interdisciplinary and intercultural - but at the same time regionally anchored - forums and formats, which will address different target groups.
In the winter semester 2019/2020 there will be a lecture series "Interpreneurship", which will include lectures of a multitude of experts and professors. The focus will be on the intercultural and interdisciplinary aspects of the project.