Contents:
About
The Cambridge Undergraduate Conference in German Studies will return on 27th-28th February 2026 with the theme Borders and Boundaries. The Schools Programme will take place in the afternoon of Friday 27th February. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
Registration
Registration for schools has closed early as a result of high demand for places. Registration for university students will open in early 2026.
Call for Papers
The Call for Papers can be viewed here.
Schools Programme
In addition to our general programming, the conference features a series of workshops and activities just for school students (and their teachers or guardians). The sessions do not overlap with lunch, but take place in parallel with undergraduate presentations. Undergraduate presentations are not tailored specifically for school students but welcome all attendees.
Confirmed schools-specific activities for CUCGS 2026:
- AI and Language Learning Workshop led by Dr Marcus Tomalin (Y11-13)
- College tours of Trinity Hall, St Catharine's College, and Emmanuel College (Y10-12)
- Interactive workshop on Literary Interpretation led by Dr Charlotte Lee (Y13)
- 'Oak Academy Resources' (CPD session for teachers) delivered by Dr Rachel Hawkes
Workshop sign-ups will be available in the New Year. There will also be a Careers Panel open to all attendees.
Schedule
We are delighted to announce that our Keynote Speaker is the journalist, author, and academic, Mithu Sanyal. Mithu writes about feminism, racism, pop culture, and postcolonialism and her first novel, Identitti, was translated into English in 2022. Her most recent novel, Antichristie, was published in 2024. All attendees are welcome to attend the Keynote, as well as any of the undergraduate panels.
The schedule will be uploaded here once it is available.
Partners
Funding for the Conference comes from the Schröder Fund and the DAAD.
Past Conferences
- 2025: Recognition (Keynote speaker: Aida Baghernejad)
- 2024: Fact and Fiction (Keynote speaker: Tonio Schachinger)
- 2022: Optimism (Keynote speaker: Kübra Gümüşay)
- 2021: Interruption (Keynote speaker: Sheri Hagen)
- 2020: Invention and Innovation (Keynote speaker: Bernhard Struck)
- 2019: Grenzenlose Möglichkeiten (Keynote speaker: Hamed AlHamed)
- 2018: Protest (Keynote speaker: Carola Dietze)
- 2017: Remembering and Forgetting in the German-Speaking World (Keynote speaker: Hubertus Knabe)
- 2016: Outside In: Perspectives on the German-Speaking World (Keynote speaker: Leila Mukhida)
- 2015: Germany in 2015 (Keynote speaker: Martin Schulz)
