200 years of Indo-European Studies
The Forum Celtic Studies and the Deans’ Offices of faculties II and III held the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Franz Bopp’s (1791–1867) Ueber das Conjugationssystem der Sanskritsprache in Vergleichung mit jenem der griechischen, lateinischen, persischen und germanischen Sprache (1816), as a result of which comparative Indo-European linguistics was founded as an academic discipline. 2016 also marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Forum Celtic Studies. In exploring Celtic languages and cultures, Indo-European studies play a major role.
On Friday, 16 December 2016, at 2:30 p.m., in theatre HS 2, the president of Trier University, Prof. Dr Michael Jäckel, opened the event.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Kühlwein and Prof. Dr Jürgen Zeidler gave an introductory address on Indo-European and Celtic Studies and on the Forum Celtic Studies.
The highlight of the event was the guest lecture by Prof. Dr Sabine Ziegler (Humboldt University Berlin / University of Jena) about
Keltische Mythen als Grundlage für moderne Fantasy-Literatur (Celtic Myths as a basis for modern fantasy literature).
Subsequently, a poster presentation about the activities of the Forum Celtic Studies was shown.
Readings in Lithuanian, Irish and Albanian
In the context of the celebration 200 years of Indo-European Studies, three modern Indo-European languages were presented by means of excerpts from translations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit on Thursday, 15 December 2016, from 4 to 8 p.m. in seminar room P 13.
Following introductory remarks about the language itself, about the country and the people, the same section from The Hobbit was read in each case by native speakers. After this, the text was analysed and translated with the help of a commented word list. And finally, etymological connections with other Indo-European languages were demonstrated.
- 4:00 p.m. – Lithuanian (Ugnė Čepulytė, University of Trier)
- 5:15 p.m. – Irish (Íde Ní Riagáin, European Court of Auditors, Luxemburg)
- 6:30 p.m. – Albanian (Blerina Xhakolli, University of Trier)
The poster in formate ISO paper size A 4 may be downloaded here .
Scoil na Samhna ("November school") on 12 November
On Saturday, 12th November, the Scoil na Samhna ("November school") titled
Who are "the Celts"? – Identities in the past and the present
was held in seminar room A 6. The programme included the following papers:
- Wer waren die antiken «Kelten»? – Die Frage der «Keltizität» (Who were the ancient "Celts"? – The question of "Celticity")
- Einmal «Kelte» - immer «Kelte»? – Kulturelle Identität in den Kernlanden und bei Auswanderern (Once a "Celt" - for ever a "Celt"? – Cultural identity in the core countries and among emigrants)
- Wer waren die «Druiden»? – Keltische Religion zwischen Wissenschaft und Esoterik (Who were the "druids"? – Celtic religion between science and esoterism)
- and probably a paper on "Celtic" music.
The poster can be downloaded here.
Seminar on 2 July 2016
On Saturday, 2 July 2016, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., a seminar took place in room A 6, titled
Celtic mythology, Green Men, Gargoyles and Sheela-na-Gigs.
Scoil na Bealtaine on 30 April 2016
On Saturday, 30 April 2016, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the next Scoil na Bealtaine ("May school") will take place in seminar room A 6.
King Arthur and the Celtic tradition
- Christiane Pauly – Celtic motifs in the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach
- Jürgen Zeidler – The Celtic origins of the Arthurian tradition
The seminar is free of charge and open to all interested people. No prior knowledge is required. We kindly ask you to register by filling in the registration form below untilThursday, 28 April 2016. The papers will be given in German. Short summaries in English can be provided on previous request, please specify on the form.
Conference of Archaeologists Otzenhausen 2016
The Forum Celtic Studies will participate with a poster presentation in the Third Conference of Archaeologists, the international symposium on the archaeology of the greater region, organized by the European Academy Otzenhausen, from 14 to 17 April 2016.
See the map under "Projects".
