I am visiting the University of Innsbruck because ...

... every year, the Wirth Institute invites a UofA professor to UofI. This year it was me. The goal is to contribute to strengthening and enriching the relationships between the Institute, Arts Faculty Depts and the University of Alberta that hosts it and various depts (Anglistik, Romanistik, Germanistik, …) and researchers (in a few research fields such as Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Music, Arts,  ….) from the University of Innsbruck. Comics Studies is an interesting specialty bridging these different fields and Depts.

 

Innsbruck for me is ...

... an amazingly beautiful and warm city in spite of the bad, rainy weather we had this month of June. I could both take advantage of the city life with colleagues and friends at good places to eat (e.g., Schnitzel and much more, like Italian food—Italy is only one hour away) and drink local, delicious wines (e.g., Grüner) and have an affogato or passion crepes, and the walks and hikes that are not very far and of various difficulties according to the mood, weather, shape and age through these Alpine meadows (e.g., the gorgeous Seefeld).

 

At the University of Innsbruck I ...

... gave several talks on my research field, i.e., comics studies, and I had a few informal conversations around schnitzel and Grüner-wine dinner tables and coffee-strudels on Canadian Studies, French Studies and German and Austrian cultures, about our common research topics and various potential collaborative research projects (such the graphic narratives produced by the local and cosmopolitan scholar and artist Bettina Egger).

 

From Innsbruck, I take home ...

... good memories of a lovely place and very kind and smart colleagues who welcomed me here so warmly (Thank you Doris, Ulla, Dorothee, and Ursula) and open-minded, curious students; and I am looking forward to meeting them in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, when they visit in the next future.