The university of Graz invites you to the international and multidisciplinary conference “The Mediterranean between Fantasy and Reality – Contrasting Worlds?”. It will take place in Graz from November 6 to 8, 2025 and is organised by the core research area “Trans-Medi-terranean Entanglements – Mobilities and Relations in the Mediterranean and beyond.”

The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers in the field of Mediterranean Studies and to present and discuss topics in various disciplines, such as archaeology, art history, cultural studies, history, linguistics, literature, languages, and other fields, and across epochal boundaries as well.
The papers should explore the space between imagination and reality in the Mediterranean in all disciplines and aspects, beyond media and materiality, from antiquity to the present.

The conference spans three days and is divided into sections with different topics; possible subject areas are:

• Contemporary and retrospective, fantastic and utopian, historical and mythical approaches to the Mediterranean
• Existing and imagined Mediterranean connections and relations across geographical borders
• Entangled temporalities in reality and fantasy: crossing temporal boundaries, travelling in time back and forth
• Imagined and existing cities and landscapes in and with reference to the Mediterranean from antiquity to the present day
• Dream and reality in Mediterranean travel literature: desire and disappointment
• Material facts and literary fiction in the Mediterranean region – tensions and convergences
• Coherent or conflicting attitudes in the Mediterranean discourse

Two keynote speakers will frame the lecture programme and provide generalising introductory remarks.
On November 7 an informal accompanying program will take place, details will be announced at a later date.

Venue: Graz University, Universitätsplatz 3, 8010 Graz, Austria
Date: 6–8 November 2025

Papers: Abstract of ca. 300 words in English incl. your name, institution or private address, and email.
Each communication is allotted a scheduled time of 20 minutes, followed by a short discussion. In the abstract, the desired subject area should be indicated.

Deadline for submission of abstract: 20 April 2025
The acceptance of an abstract will be announced by 31 May at the latest.

If you need some more information, feel free to contact us under the email: transmediterranean@uni-graz.at

Organising Committee:
Mediterranean Topographies Cluster of the research focus Trans-Mediterranean Entanglements
Contact persons: Gabriele Koiner, gabriele.erath@uni-graz.at
Elisabeth Trinkl, elisabeth.trinkl@uni-graz.at