Call for Entries: Umwelt Wiki for Key Concepts in the Environmental Humanities & Germanic Studies
Due dates: June 15/July 30 - Contact: Anna-Maria Senuysal, senuysal.1@osu.edu
The Umwelt Center for Germanic Studies and Environmental Humanities at The Ohio State University is an international research center dedicated to exploring the intersections of Environmental Humanities and Germanic Studies, while forging connections to a variety of disciplines and perspectives. Among the current initiatives of the Center is the establishment of an open-access Umwelt Wiki, a lexicon for key concepts in Germanic Studies and Environmental Humanities, for which we are now inviting submissions. The project seeks to map out foundational and emerging ideas shaping the field.
We are soliciting entries of 750–1500 words on core terms and concepts in the Environmental Humanities with a focus on their relevance in Germanic and Scandinavian cultural, philosophical, or literary contexts. Entries should provide an introduction and overview to a key term or theoretical concept pertinent to the (Germanic) Environmental Humanities, such as (but not limited to):
- Ecocriticism/ Material Ecocriticism
- Anthropocene
- Deep Time
- Naturphilosophie
- Heimat
- (Ecological) Crisis
- (Deep) Ecology
- Ecofeminism
- Posthumanism
- Entanglement
- Hyperobject
- Environmental Humanities
- The Sublime
- Umwelt
- Vitalism
- Sustainability
- Etc.
Entry Guidelines:
- 750–1500 words, in English
- Lexicon-style: provide an overview, definitions, historical background, and relevance to the Environmental Humanities
- No footnotes; minimal in-text citation
- Use Chicago (Author-Date) citation style
- Include a 5–10 source bibliography of key primary and/or secondary texts
- Entries may include internal cross-references to other lexicon terms
Timeline:
- Proposal Deadline: June 15, 2025: Please submit a brief proposal of 100–200 words outlining your chosen concept and sources to Anna-Maria Senuysal at senuysal.1@osu.edu in a Word document. Please also include your name, position, and institutional affiliation.
- Acceptance notifications will be sent by June 20. Proposals are intended to ensure that entries fit with the thematic focus of the Umwelt Center and have not yet been assigned to other authors.
- Final entries are due July 30, 2025. The Wiki will launch in August 2025 and we will be accepting new entry proposals on a rolling basis from that time on.
For any question or inquiries, please reach out to senuysal.1@osu.edu.