SCAS News - 22 February, 2019

Event in Honour of Former SCAS Principal Björn Wittrock Held in Uppsala

On Friday, 15 February, the Swedish Collegium organized a full-day event in honour of former SCAS Principal
Björn Wittrock and his contributions to research and to the foundation and development of the Collegium. Held
in the Uppsala University Main Building, the day contained an extensive programme attracting participants from
near and far.

After introductory comments by Eva Åkesson, Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, and Christina Garsten,
current SCAS Principal, the new SCAS lecture series, named after Björn Wittrock, was presented. The idea is
to organize an annual, public lecture, to which prominent scholars from a wide range of scholarly fields -
reflecting the research interests of Wittrock - may be invited as speakers.

The inaugural, first Wittrock Lecture was held by Professor Jürgen Kocka on the theme "Historians and the
Future". View the lecture here. Kocka is Professor emeritus of History at Freie Universität Berlin and Chair
of the Academic Senate of SCAS. As the research interests of Kocka and Wittrock overlap, their paths have
crossed many times over the years. In the spring of 2018, Kocka was in residence at the Collegium as a Guest
of the Principal.

In addition, a portrait of Björn Wittrock, commissioned by SCAS and painted by artist Bo Larsson, was unveiled
during the morning session of the event. Read more about the portrait here.

The afternoon session was devoted to a symposium on the theme "Expanding Horizons: Modernities, Globali-
ties, and Future Academes". The symposium aimed at being forward-looking, and, at the same time, at high-
lighting the many facets of Björn Wittrock’s research, as well as his contributions to advancing institutes for
advanced study in the larger academic landscape. Five presentations, with the invited scholars speaking on
topics that in some way connect to Wittrock’s research interests, were followed by a concluding panel
discussion. The speakers included Bruce G Carruthers, Hans Joas, Mirjam Künkler, Michael J. Puett and Sia
Spiliopoulou Åkermark. The full programme of the event is available here.

Music composed by former SCAS Composer-in-residence Anders Hillborg concluded the scientific part of the
event, which was followed by a reception for all participants.

Read more about Björn Wittrock >>