EVENTS

Fourth international Summer Academy 2012

Democratic Cultures, Past and Present: Perspectives from Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C., only for accepted doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars

Ever since the publication of Alexis de Tocqueville's De la Democratie en Amerique (1835/40) scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have addressed American democracy as both a specific manifestation of US-American historical and political developments and as a model for others. In this context, the program of our summer academy addresses both historical and current debates about American democracy and democratic cultures in various discourses across the academic disciplines. The plural used in the title of our event refers not only to semantic changes in a diachronic perspective, but also to the synchronic pluralism of perspectives on democracy in national, subnational, and transnational contexts. Fields of interest include the role of the media and various forms of 'representation' and ideological critique. Finally, we will discuss the contemporary rhetoric of crisis of democracy in the U.S. against the background of domestic and foreign political and social developments. Along those lines our summer academy seeks to address related issues in American history, politics, (popular) culture, and literature. 

For more information click here.

Organizers: Bavarian America-Academy in cooperation with the Friedrich Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Prof. Dr. Heike Paul), Augsburg University (Prof. Dr. Philipp Gassert), the German Historical Institute (Dr. Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson), Washington D.C., and the American University (Prof. Katharina Vester), Washington D.C.

Lecture

Bridging Worlds - Dan Namingha, Indian Artist

Passau, University of Passau, American Studies, Innstr. 25

Dan Namingha is one of the most important Native American Artists alive. The Hopi-Tewa arist's works are in many major American museums and collections, including National Museum of American Indian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Dan Namingha paints and sculpts the imagery of his homeland and his people, always with the integrity instilled in him by the depth of belief and love of spirit. As such, his work serves as a medium by which his audience will gain an insightful look into the balancing of contemporary Native American culture between tradition and modernity.  

Organizers: University of Passau, American Studies, Bayerische Amerika-Akademie

Lecture

Torquing Back: Jitterbug Memory and National Nostalgia, Interviews with Dancers at the Hollywood Canteen (1942-1945)

Munich, Amerika-Institut of LMU, Schellingstr. 3/VG, room 201

Organizers: Amerika-Institut of LMU Munich, Bayerische Amerika-Akademie

Lecture

Jazz & Gender at the Hollywood Canteen

Erlangen, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, American Studies, Bismarckstr. 1

Sherrie Tucker, Associate Professor in American Studies at the University of Kansas, will present her recent book project in this lecture.

Organizers: American Studies, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Bayerische Amerika-Akademie

Lecture

Tea Party & Occupy Wall Street: Origins and Meaning for Election 2012

Munich, Amerika-Institut of LMU, Schellingstr. 3/VG, room 202

Organizers: Amerika-Institut of LMU Munich, Bayerische Amerika-Akademie