Conference Group for Central European
History
Newsletter
Spring 2004
Dear Colleagues,
Here is the Spring 2004 Newsletter. Items of particular interest include the annual report and a special retrospective by the Editor of Central European History, the report of the 2003-2004 Article Prize Committee, the announcement of the competition for the Hans Rosenberg Book Prize to be awarded in January 2005, and guidelines for submitting proposals for panels to be presented at the 2005 AHA meeting. To go directly to a subject listed in the table of contents, please click on the relevant line below.
Kees Gispen
Contents
Report of the Business Meeting in Washington, D.C., 10 January 2004
Welcome by the
President
Report of the Executive Secretary
and Treasurer
Report of the Editor of Central
European History
Report of the
2003-2004 Prize Committee: Michael Geyer wins the Hans Rosenberg Article Prize;
Larry Wolff gets honorable mention
Report
of the Archives Committee
Report
from the German
Historical Institute
Report
from the Society for Austrian and Habsburg History
New Business
Election of new officers
H-German
proposal regarding the posting of conference-paper abstracts on H-German
Announcements
Guidelines for
submitting panel proposals to the CGCEH-sponsored segment of the AHA program
2004-2005
Hans Rosenberg Book Prize Competition
2004
Executive Committee
Nominations
for positions on the Executive Committee
Join
the CGCEH
Subscriptions
to Central European History
Subscriptions
to Austrian History Yearbook
Contact the editor of the Newsletter
Business Meeting, Washington, D.C.
January 2004
Welcome
and Introductory Remarks by the President
Omni Shoreham Hotel. Director's Room. President David Blackbourn chaired the meeting and welcomed the members in attendance.
Blackbourn invited everyone to participate in the Bierabend
(which took place from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 in the adjacent Executive room and was
the usual lively affair). The
minutes of last years business meeting were approved.
Report of the Executive
Secretary and Treasurer
Kees Gispen reported on the Conference Groups finances and gave the following
overview.
Budget summary January 2003-January 2004
Balance Forward January 3, 2003 |
|
|
|
7875.91 |
Income |
AHA return of capital invested* |
20,607.00 |
|
|
|
Brill royalties |
6,012.00 |
|
|
|
Total income |
|
26,619.00 |
|
Expenses |
Book prize award January 2003 (Harold Marcuse) |
750.00 |
|
|
|
2003 Bierabend and Executive Board meeting |
361.69 |
|
|
Legal fees (filing for tax exempt status)*** |
832.87 |
|||
United States Treasure (filing fee tax exempt status) |
150.00 |
|||
|
2003 National Coalition for History dues |
500.00 |
|
|
|
2003 Subsidy to CEH |
2,500.00 |
|
|
|
Total expenditures |
|
5094.56 |
|
Net income |
|
|
|
21,524.44 |
Balance forward |
|
|
|
29,400.35 |
* Investment capital returned by AHA to CGCEH
** Brill Academic Publishers provided the following breakdown: amount includes $5,490.00 advance on royalties for 2004 ($6.00 per subscription) plus $522.00 for additional subscriptions in 2003
*** Legal fees charged by the Oxford, Mississippi law firm, Clayton, O'Donnell, Walsh, PLLC for preparing and filing the application to the IRS for tax exempt status.
The business meeting approved the 2003 financial report.
Report of the Editor of Central
European History
Ken Barkin presented the following overview.*
*In connection with Ken Barkin's retirement as editor of CEH, this agenda item was addressed toward the very the end of the business meeting.
Publishing record for 2003 (vol. 36):
Number of issues | 4 |
Number of articles | 11 + 2 replies |
Number of review articles | 3 |
Number of book reviews | 89 |
At the publisher:
vol. 37:1 | 3 articles, 1 other | 18 reviews |
Current editorial status (January 2004):
In progress | vol. 37:2 (2 articles, 3 other, 22 reviews) |
Articles accepted | 5 |
Review articles accepted | 0 |
Articles to be revised | 3 |
Articles at referees | 3 |
Articles rejected in 2003 | 13 |
New articles to be read | -- |
Book reviews on hand | 89 |
Book reviews outstanding | 111 |
Book reviews outstanding--retired (1999-2000) | 16 |
Number of subscribers | 915 |
Barkin also announced that (1) Robert Moeller was reappointed to continue serving on the editorial board and (2) Kathleen Canning replaced Atina Grossmann on the journal's editorial board.
Following the routine part of his report, Barkin offered the following
THOUGHTS ON A THIRTEEN-YEAR EDITORSHIP OF Central European History
When I took over the editorship
of CEH the discipline of history was changing rapidly.
Political, diplomatic, and economic history seemed to be fading after a
long run, and even the nation state was being challenged as a central focus of
research. . Given the increasing interest in gender, r
Thus, the main issues for me were: quality and depth of scholarship, how
convincing the argument was, and the degree to which the manuscript made a
serious contribution to our knowledge of
There were two successes during these
years worth mentioning. The introduction of book reviews in 1991 has met with
very positive responses. Excellent reviewers have been willing to take the time
to write critical and analytical reviews. i never counted words or pages. An
effort was made to particularly review books in areas such as Medieval Central
Europe and the eighteenth century—that is, areas in which we do not get too
many submissions. I hoped this would
maintain subscribers who would not find many articles published in their areas
of interest.
Last year, I was
Lastly, although we have published very distinguished authors such as Geoff
Eley, Gerald Feldman, Wolfgang Mommsen, Adelheid von Saldern, and Hans-Ulrich Wehler during my
years as editor, the majority of authors were either advanced graduate students
or assistant professors. The high quality of the manuscripts they have submitted
convinces me that the discipline of German history is in very good shape in this
country.
***
David Blackbourn thanked Barkin and turned over the floor to Roger Chickering, who, on behalf of the membership and the executive board, paid tribute to Barkin with the following remarks.
Kenneth Barkin: An Appreciation
If the one aspect of this episode
reflected the eminence that Douglas Unfug had brought to the journal while he
was editor, the other spoke to practical problems that had begun to plague it
during the final years of his tenure. Production
had fallen significantly behind schedule. To
those of us on the board of directors of the Conference Group a decade and a
half ago, it was clear that maintaining an enterprise like this would entail
daunting administrative burdens, which would call in turn for extraordinary
determination and organizational skill. Much
was at stake, for the survival of both the journal and the Conference Group
appeared to lie in the hands of the scholar who agreed to take on these burdens.
The rest is history. The
journal's recovery began immediately upon Ken Barkin's arrival in office.
It was in fact an editorial feat that Nipperdey died only six months
after the appearance of his obituary. Within
two years the journal was fully up to date, despite the challenges the editor
faced in breaking in a new publisher (a challenge that he faced again several
years later). To a significant
degree, credit for the achievement belongs to Ursula Marcum, who contributed
much of the efficiency, discipline, and good sense that have characterized daily
business in the journal's office. Still,
Ken Barkin had the wisdom to hire her; and he has provided masterful editorial
guidance and a sense of mission to the whole operation.
As a consequence, Central European History has not only retained the distinguished
standing that it enjoyed in the world of historical scholarship.
It has also become a better journal.
The issues have become more thematically cohesive.
The quality of the articles has remained uniformly high, but they have
broadened methodologically and now enjoy the company of historiographical essays
and comprehensive book reviews.
As Ken Barkin leaves the editorship,
he can look back on extraordinary success. To
Ken Ledford he leaves both a distinguished journal and a record of
accomplishment that will be difficult to match.
Let us wish our new editor every success.
To us in the Conference Group, Ken Barkin leaves an achievement for which
we must be profoundly grateful. Thanks
in large part to him, our organization is today more alive and healthy than it
has ever been before. In gratitude,
let us all wish him well.
***
Following Chickering's comments, Blackbourn presented Barkin with an antique pewter flagon as a token of the Conference Group's deep appreciation for his energy, vision, and grace as editor of Central European History.
Report of the 2003-2004 Hans Rosenberg Article Prize Committee
The next item of business was the report of the Hans Rosenberg prize committee, which this year consisted of Belinda Davis (chair), Karl Bahm, and Mary Lindemann. The prize for the best article in Central European history published in 2001 or 2002 was awarded to Michael Geyer for his article, “Insurrectionary Warfare: The German Debate about a Levee en Masse in October 1918.” The committee singled out for honorary mention Larry Wolff's article, “Dynastic Conservatism and Poetic Violence in Fin-de-Siècle Cracow.” Committee Chair Belinda Davis read the prize committee's award statement and congratulated Larry Wolff in person. Michael Geyer was not present. The text of the Committee's award letter follows.
Karl Bahm
Report of the
Archives Committee
David Barclay, chair of the Archives Committee, submitted the following
report, which was read by Kees Gispen
This year’s report will be
quite brief. We have received no
reports in the last year of serious problems regarding access to materials in
North American or Central European archives.
Archives in
Some Central European archives
are continuing their efforts to make their collections more readily accessible;
and their Web sites, which will be immensely helpful to overseas scholars
planning research trips, are steadily improving.
Thus, for example, the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz in
CGCEH members are urged to contact David Barclay, Chair of the Archives Committee, with suggestions, comments, additions, and observations (barclay@kzoo.edu).
Report from the
German Historical Institute in Washington
There was no report from the GHI in Washington. However,
detailed information is available at: http://www.ghi-dc.org/
Roger Chickering on behalf of Friends of the German Historical Institute announced the 2003 Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize winners:
Chad Carl Bryant (University of California, Berkeley)
"Making the Czechs German: Nationality and Nazi Rule in the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, 1939-1945"
and
Jeffrey T. Zalar (Georgetown University)
"Knowledge and Nationalism in Imperial Germany: A Cultural History of the
Association of St. Charles Borromeo, 1890-1914"
Report from the
Society for Austrian and Habsburg History
Gary Cohen, President of the SAHH, presented a brief report
on the state of our sister organization. He reminded those present of
language in the CGCEH by-laws,
which calls for representation on the executive board of a representative from
the SAHH. The new representative is Ron Smelser.
Cohen also announced the winner of the R. John Rath Article Prize for the best essay published in the Austrian History Yearbook, vol. 23 (2003). The prize was awarded to Cathleen M. Giustino, Associate Professor of History at Auburn University, for "Municipal Activism in Late-Nineteenth-Century Prague: The House Numbered 207-V and Ghetto Clearance," pp. 247-78.
In its Laudatio the jury (William E. Wright, Gerald Stourzh, and Karl F. Bahm) noted that,
"Professor Giustino focuses on an area of the city of Prague––the
former Prague ghetto––to examine and illuminate the processes and problems
of the quickening activities of growth and reform in the cities of the Habsburg
Monarchy. She has skillfully mined a rich, wide range of sources: municipal
records; reports of officials; correspondences of private parties; and
periodical publications, inter alia. From these she has composed a
strikingly lively depiction of the conditions of the poor and the modestly
situated, the conduct of building and health officials in pursuing programs of
betterment for the city, the relation of these programs to the notions of
economic liberalism, the growing sense of municipal self-consciousness and
desire for recognition, and, finally, the troubling tensions of ethnic
differences and anti-Semitism. Further, she brilliantly relates the microcosm of
the Judenstadt in Prague to the larger city and to the macrocosm of the
municipalities in the Monarchy.
In sum, Professor Giustino's article
is a masterful demonstration of a historian's ability to infuse the life and
immediacy of the particular, a small portion of Prague, into an overall
understanding of the whole, the burgeoning municipal activism of Central Europe.
Hers is a work of such value to the community of scholars as to merit the R.
John Rath Prize for the year 2003.
New Business
Election of New Officers
The nominating committee proposed Ron Smelser (University of Utah) for the
position of Vice-President elect and Suzanne Marchand (Louisiana State
University) for a three-year term as
at-large member of the executive board. Both nominees were approved
unanimously and commenced their terms of service at the end of the
business meeting.
H-German Proposal Regarding the Posting of Conference-Paper Abstracts on
H-German
In early December, the Executive Secretary and other members of the
Executive Board received a proposal from H-German moderator and co-editor Susan
Boettcher to expand H-German's coverage of conferences by including in its
postings reports on CGCEH-sponsored or co-sponsored papers and sessions at the
annual AHA meeting. Following a round of email consultation, a majority of
the Executive Board gave its provisional and tentative blessing to the proposal
for this year's conference (January 2004). The Executive Board is of
the opinion, however, that it lacks the authority either to grant or to withhold
permission concerning H-German's (or, for that matter, anyone else's) reporting
on sessions. The Executive Board therefore endorses H-German's proposal in
principle, with the proviso that it urges H-German to obtain session organizers'
and individual panelists' approval for the reports in question. The
Business Meeting voted to endorse the Executive Board's position.
The business meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. David Blackbourn invited everyone present to the Bierabend, which commenced immediately in an adjoining room .
Announcements
Guidelines for Submitting Panel Proposals to the CGCEH-Sponsored Segment of the AHA Program
AHA panel organizers whose proposals were rejected by the AHA program committee but who would like their proposals to be reconsidered for solo-sponsorship by the CGCEH are encouraged to submit copies of their AHA proposals to the CGCEH's executive secretary. Deadline for submissions: Friday, May 21, 2004. To facilitate evaluation by the executive board, organizers are asked to submit their proposals and supporting documentation in electronic format as early as possible. The decisions of the Executive Board will be announced no later than June 2.
Hans Rosenberg Book Prize Competition
In January 2005 the Conference Group will award its biennial Hans Rosenberg prize of $750 for the best book in Central European history. Central European history is understood to include all German-speaking countries as well as areas previously included within the Habsburg monarchy. This year the prize competition is open to books published in 2002 or 2003, in English, by permanent residents of North America. The Conference Group discourages submissions of reprints, second editions, multi-authored anthologies, and document publications. Letters of nomination for the prize may be submitted by authors, publishers, or others, and should be addressed to the chair of the book prize committee, Professor George Williamson of the University of Alabama. Nomination deadline: June 30, 2004.
David M. Luebke | Harold Marcuse | George S. Williamson |
Department of History | Department of History | Department of History |
University of Oregon | University of California | University of Alabama |
Eugene, OR 97403-1288 | Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9410 | Box 870212 |
voice: 541-346-4802 | voice: 805-893-2991 | Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0212 |
fax: 541-346-4895 | fax: 805-893-8795 | voice: 205-348-7100 |
email: dluebke@darkwing.uoregon.edu | email: marcuse@history.ucsb.edu | fax: 205-348-0670 |
email: gwilliam@bama.ua.edu |
For further information, please contact the executive secretary of the Conference Group, Kees Gispen, Department of History, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, email: hsgispen@olemiss.edu, telephone: 662-915-7148, fax: 662-915-7033.
The members of the Conference Groups 2004 executive committee are:
President: Jonathan Sperber, University of Missouri, Columbia
Vice-President: Roger Chickering, Georgetown University
Vice-President Elect: Ron Smelser, University of Utah
Immediate Past President: David Blackbourn, Harvard University
At-Large Member (exp. January 2005): Dagmar Herzog, Michigan State University
At-Large Member (exp. January 2006): Kevin Repp, Yale University
At-Large Member (exp. January 2007): Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State
University
Editor of Central European History, Kenneth Barkin, University of California,
Riverside
Executive Secretary and Treasurer, Kees Gispen, University of Mississippi
The Conference Groups 2003 nominating committee is made up of the executive committee. The committee has nominated Isabel Hull (Cornell University) for the position of Vice-President-elect and Richard Wetzell (German Historical Institute in Washington) for a three-year term on the executive committee. Nominations will be voted on at the January 2005 business meeting. Members are invited to submit additional nominations to the Executive Secretary.
Membership of the Conference Group
Interested scholars and individuals may join the Conference Group by acquiring an individual subscription to Central European History. The price of an individual subscription in 2004 is $55.00. Please contact the publisher's Boston office.
Subscriptions to Central European History
The publisher of CEH is Brill Academic Publishers. Brill may be contacted at the following addresses:
Editorial & Marketing
Brill Academic Publishers Inc.
112 Water Street, Suite 602
Boston, MA 02109
Tel: 1-617-263-2323
Fax: 1-617-263-2324
e-mail: cs@brillusa.com
Office hours: 08.30 hrs to 17.00 hrs.
Ordering & Customer Services
Brill Academic Publishers
P.O. Box 605
Herndon, VA 20172
Tel: 1-800-337-9255 (toll free, USA and Canada only)
Tel: 1-703-661-1500
Fax: 1-703-661-1501
e-mail: cs@brillusa.com
Subscribers outside North America, please contact:
Brill Academic Publishers
P.O. Box 9000
2300 PA Leiden
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-71-535-3566
Fax: +31-71-531-7532
E-mail: cs@brill.nl
Brill is located on the web at: http://www.brill.nl/
Subscriptions to Austrian History Yearbook
Berghahn Books is pleased to announce the following special offer to all CGCEH members: Subscribe now to the AUSTRIAN HISTORY YEARBOOK (Vol. 33/2002 or Vol. 34/2003, 1 issue p.a.) and receive $2.00 off the individual subscription rate of $35.00. For further information, please visit http://www.berghahnbooks.com/journals/ah/index.html, or contact us at journals@berghahnbooks.com.
Contact the Executive Secretary
Readers who would like to post information of interest to other members of the Conference Group or have questions should contact the executive secretary:
Kees Gispen
Department of History
University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
Telephone: 662-915-7148
FAX: 662-915-7033
Email: hsgispen@olemiss.edu
This document was last updated 03/23/04