German teachers and researchers from across Sweden met in Stockholm
On 23–24 April, teachers and researchers in German from across Sweden gathered for two productive conference days in Stockholm. The event was organised by the colleagues in German at Stockholm University. Participants included representatives from Umeå University, Dalarna University, Uppsala University, the University of Gothenburg, Linnaeus University, and Lund University.
Participants at the annual conference in German Studies 23 April 2026.
This year’s annual conference in German Studies was held at the Goethe-Institute in central Stockholm on Thursday, 23 April. The day opened with discussions on how collaboration between different higher education institutions might be further developed within master’s and doctoral programmes, teacher education, and professional development for teachers of German, as well as with regard to course literature. Participants were also informed about the activities and student-oriented resources offered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and its Austrian counterpart (OeAD), both of which are represented in Sweden. In the afternoon, Charlotta Seiler Brylla led an inspiring panel discussion with the title ‘A peek over the fence: Cooperation beyond language and cultural borders’ with Monika Gänssbauer and Johan Fresk from the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Stockholm University. The conference day concluded with Austria’s ambassador Doris Danler welcoming the participants to a reception at the Austrian residence in Östermalm.
The annual conference in German Studies at the Goethe-Institute 23 April 2026.
Friday, 24 April was devoted to the biennial research conference ‘Text im Kontext’. This year, the conference took place at Gula Villan on the Stockholm University campus and had the overarching theme ‘Time(s) in language, literature and didactics’. The first presentation of the day, given by Corina Löwe from Linnaeus University and Linda Karlsson Hammarfelt from the University of Gothenburg, provided all participants with an overview of German studies in Sweden since the year 2000 through a compilation and an analysis of the dissertation topics in the field. The conference participants then presented their research in parallel sessions on linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, and didactics. The presentations reflected the great diversity of our subject field in Sweden: from the language of medieval female mystics and the literary style of Nobel laureate Thomas Mann to language use in Swiss healthcare, West German cultural policy in Sweden during the Cold War, and students’ use of generative AI in writing processes in German.
The conference Text im Kontext 24 April 2026.
After two days of inspiring collegial exchange and academic discussions, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the Austrian Embassy and the Goethe-Institute Stockholm for their generous hospitality, and to the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities for its financial support of the conference organisation.
The Section for German outside Gula villan 24 April 2026.
Last updated: 2026-05-13
Source: Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies Finnish Dutch and German