PROGRAMM

Mittwoch, 6. Februar 2008

15.00 Welcome Reception and Opening Remarks
Ipke Wachsmuth (ZiF) and Alexander C.T. Geppert (Harvard)

16.00 Introduction
Alexander C.T. Geppert: European Astrofuturism, Cosmic Provincialism. Historical Problems and Historiographical Perspectives

16.30 Keynote Lecture
Steven J. Dick (NASA): Space, Time and Aliens. The Role of Imagination in Outer Space

18.00 Feature Presentation I
Philip Pocock (ZKM): SpacePlace. Art in the Age of Orbitization

Donnerstag, 7. Februar 2008

09.00 Panel I: Theorizing Outer Space
Chair: Claudia Schmölders (HU Berlin)
Debbora Battaglia (Mount Holyoke College): On Galaxies of Discourse
Thomas Brandstetter (Universität Wien): Imagining Inorganic Life. Crystalline Aliens in Science and Fiction
Benjamin Lazier (Reed College): Philosophers in Space. Towards a History of Earth and Artifact in Twentieth-Century Thought

11.15 Panel II: Personalizing Outer Space
Chair: Bernd Weisbrod (Universität Göttingen)
Rebekka Ladewig (HU Berlin): Cosmism in Early Twentieth-Century Russia. Interrelating the Technical and Cultural Avantgardes
Christina Wessely (MPI für Wissenschaftsgeschichte): Cosmic Spectacular. Rocketry, Weltanschauung and the Quest for Cosmic Ice in Weimar Germany
Thore Bjørnvig (University of Copenhagen): Transcendence of Gravity. Arthur C. Clarke and the Apocalyptic of Weightlessness

14.00 Panel III: Localizing Outer Space
Chair: Roger D. Launius (National Air and Space Museum)
Kerrie Anne Dougherty (Powerhouse Museum Sydney): Spaceport Woomera
Sven Mesinovic (European University Institute): Inner Space. Utopic Visions of Ocean Exploration

16.15 Panel IV: Screening Outer Space
Chair: Peter Becker (Universität Linz)
Burghard Ciesla (Universität Potsdam): Outer Space, Inner Fear. Cold War SF-Films in East and West
Henry Keazor (Universität Frankfurt am Main): A Stumble in the Dark. Gerry Anderson's "Space 1999"
Werner Suppanz (Universität Graz): Nazis in Space. Distant Worlds as Projection Screen of Cultural Memory

19.30 Feature Presentation II
Jürgen Ast (Berlin): Screening of Historical Films

Freitag, 8. Februar 2008

09.00 Panel V: Fictionalizing Outer Space
Chair: Angela Schwarz (Universität Siegen)
Claudia Schmölders (HU Berlin): Unwriting Heaven. A Very Short History of an Idea
Steffen Krämer (LMU München): Ancient Heroes and Early Christian Ascetics. Archetypes of Modern Science Fiction
Patrick J. Gyger (Maison d'Ailleurs): Conjuring the Final Frontier. The Role of Science Fiction in Space Exploration

11.15 Panel VI: Visioning Outer Space
Chair: Alexander C.T. Geppert (Harvard)
Pierre Lagrange (CNRS): The Invention of Ghost Rockets and Flying Saucers in 1946/47
James I. Miller (Davidson College): Encountering Aliens in a Familiar World. Fabricating a New World in Quarouble, France, 1954
Guillaume de Syon (Albright College): Between the Bubble and the Moon. Visions of Space Travel in Francophone Comic Strips

14.00 Panel VII: Politicizing Outer Space
Chair: Kai-Uwe Schrogl (European Space Policy Institute)
Monica Rüthers (Universität Basel): Space, Children's Material Culture and Soviet Imagery after Sputnik
Michael J. Neufeld (National Air and Space Museum): "Smash the Myth of the Fascist Rocket Baron." The East German Campaign Against Wernher von Braun in the 1960s

16.15 Panel VIII: Communicating Outer Space
Chair: Ralf Bülow (Berlin)
Roger D. Launius (National Air and Space Museum): Apollo Imagery and the Communication of American Culture
Bernd Mütter (Universität Bielefeld): Per Media Ad Astra? Outer Space in West Germany's Media 1957-1987

Samstag, 9. Februar 2008

09.00 Panel IX: Automatizing Outer Space
Chair: Paul Ceruzzi (National Air and Space Museum)
James Schwoch (Northwestern University): "Short, Nasty, and Brutish." The Curious Life of Telstar, 10 July 1962 - 21 February 1963
Gonzalo Munevar (Lawrence Technological University): Self-Reproducing Automata and the Impossibility of SETI

11.15 Panel X: Designing Outer Space
Chair: Peter Davidson (National Museums Scotland)
Eva Mayring (Deutsches Museum): Pictures from Outer Space. Industry and its Designers
William R. Macauley (University of Manchester): Inscribing Scientific Knowledge. Interstellar Communication, Universal Laws and Contact with Cultures of the Imagination
Tristan Weddigen (Universität Bern): Alien Spotting. Damien Hirst's Beagle 2 Mars Lander "Calibration Target" and the Exploitation of Outer Space

14.00 Conclusion
Chair: Steven J. Dick (NASA)
Helmuth Trischler (Deutsches Museum): General Comment