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Interdisciplinary Research Centre Metamorphic Changes in the Arts (2004-2009)

The IRCM was founded in 2004 as one of the first research centres at Salzburg University. In 2010 the centre was transformed into the Department  Arts & Aesthetics at the transdisciplinary Schwerpunkt Wissenschaft und Kunst, jointly run by the University of Salzburg and the University Mozarteum.

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The IRCM is an interdisciplinary research centre that forms the core of the University Schwerpunkt “Wissenschaft und Kunst”. Situated in the city of Salzburg, whose cultural and commercial life is largely dominated by the practice, performance, and promotion of the arts, its aim is to explore the multiple levels of interaction between the theory and practice of art.

The IRCM examines phenomena of cultural, social and aesthetic transformation from antiquity to the present. To this end it looks upon Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a reference text in Western culture that is predicated on the principle of permanent change.

The IRCM concentrates on the concept of metamorphosis from the perspectives of production, reception, and perception.

At present, research at the IRCM is conducted by members from the departments of ■ Classical Philology ■ Educational Science and Cultural Sociology ■ Linguistics ■ German Studies ■ Romance Studies ■ English ■ Fine Arts, Musicology, and Dance ■ Philosophy ■ Psychology ■ Music in Education. 

Aims
• the creation of a centre of excellence
• the promotion of first-rate research
• the development of new theoretical approaches in the humanities and cultural studies
• the setting-up and extension of international links
• the internationalisation of the planned research
• concerted efforts to encourage young researchers
• the institution of postgraduate/PhD networks

Activities
• coordinated interdisciplinary research
• interconnected case studies
• publications
• the edition of the series Wissenschaft und Kunst (Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg)
• the holding of regular workshops
• international conferences
• the organisation of public events 

Research Programme 
The research programme of the IRCM comprises six interrelated research axes: 
Theory of Metamorphosis
Body Transformations
Reception as Metamorphosis
Production as Metamorphosis
The Concept of a Work of Art
Identity and Mental Transformations