It is my great pleasure to announce that I just published a very special issue of our online Journal of Global Theatre History.
The recent edition is dedicated on the topic of „Cold War University“ and comes with 80 pages full of great content. It reflects the outcome of an international workshop on „Cold War University: Humanities and Arts Education as a (Battle)field of Diplomatic Influence and Decolonial Practice“, organized in fall 2020 by the ERC project Developing Theatre (GA No. 694559) under the auspices of Judith Rottenburg and Lisa Skwirblies
The issue addresses epistemological questions from historical, geopolitical, and institutional perspectives by investigating the reciprocal influence of Cold War politics and the conceptualization of universities. The contributors elaborate on the role Cold War politics played in the development of the university and arts education – in particular theatre education – as we understand them today; and, conversely, the role that the university and arts education – again, in particular theatre education – played in Cold War politics and the politics of decolonization that formed part of it.
Contributors:
Nic Leonhardt: Editorial
Judith Rottenburg & Lisa Skwirblies (guest editors):“ Cold War University. Humanities and Arts Education as a (Battle)field of Diplomatic Influence and Decolonial Practice“
Christopher Balme: „Arts and the University: Institutional logics in the developing world and beyond“
Gideon I. Morison: „Undercurrents of Anglo-American Collaboration: Funding, Training and Cold War Influences on the Theatre Studies Curriculum of Selected Nigerian Universities“
Hasibe Kalkan: „On the Role of the Rockefeller Foundation in Establishing Theatre Education Programmes and Transnational Theatrical Spaces in Turkey during the Cold War“
Lisa Skwirblies: „Performing the Politics of Non-Alignment in Cold War Germany“
Viviana Iacob: „The University of the Theatre of Nations: Explorations into Cold War Exchanges“
The journal is fully open access.
I wish all readers an insightful and inspiring read.
Nic Leonhardt 