American Studies Leipzig

Last updated
American Studies Leipzig
Field of research
American Studies
LocationLeipzig, Germany
Affiliations University of Leipzig

American Studies Leipzig is the research and teaching institution for American Studies at University of Leipzig. A transdisciplinary institute focussing on literature and cultural studies, it is the largest institute for American Studies in Eastern Germany.

Contents

Established 1997 and supported by donations, Frank Freidel Memorial Library features about 15,000 books and periodicals with a topical focus on the New Deal.

American Studies Leipzig is the fastest-growing institute for American Studies in Germany that is not located in Berlin.

History

In 2003, the Fulbright Commission endowed a newly created Distinguished Chair guest professorship, after the CHE research and education thinktank, part of Bertelsmann Foundation, had attested to the institute's quality. [1]

In September 2005, the DAAD created the DAAD Distinguished Chair for American and International Studies guest professorship. [2] This was intended to facilitate the institute's openness to innovation and its dedication to transatlantic studies.

In 2006, the institute succeeded in winning its third guest professorship in only four years. The Picador Chair for Literature is the outcome of a series of events sponsored by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group in cooperation with DAAD. Its purpose is to invite young English-speaking authors to live, write and teach in Leipzig. Thus, American Studies Leipzig is the only German institute for American studies supplementing its program of literary studies with the perspective of creative artists. [3]

The institute features the largest research corpus on the New Deal in a German university.

Impact

Beyond its meaning for the University, the institute became part of Leipzig's cultural milieu. It features regular public readings by American authors, public events like the HipHop Awareness Week and continuing education of Gymnasium teachers.

For issues of American culture and politics, the institute is an important counterpart for regional and national media. Institute members are often consulted for commentary concerning current events in the US.

Research

The Institute focuses on cultural and literary studies of the United States.

Research at the institute focusses on Ethnic groups , Gender , Immigration to the United States and Popular culture studies .

Related Research Articles

The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Via the program, competitively-selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leipzig University</span> University in Leipzig, Germany

Leipzig University, in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption.

American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Bamberg</span> University

The University of Bamberg in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science.

Jack David Zipes is a professor emeritus of German, comparative literature, and cultural studies, who has published and lectured on German literature, critical theory, German Jewish culture, children's literature, and folklore. In the latter part of his career he translated two major editions of the tales of the Brothers Grimm and focused on fairy tales, their evolution, and their social and political role in civilizing processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Potsdam</span> University in the German city of Potsdam

The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known for its UNESCO World Heritage status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon J. Bronner</span> American historian

Simon J. Bronner is an American folklorist, ethnologist, historian, sociologist, educator, college dean, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olen Steinhauer</span> American novelist

Olen Steinhauer is an American writer of spy fiction novels, including The Tourist, part of the Milo Weaver series, and the Yalta Boulevard Sequence. Steinhauer also created the TV series Berlin Station, focused on a fictional Central Intelligence Agency branch operating in Berlin, which began airing in 2016.

Hugh J. Silverman was an American philosopher and cultural theorist whose writing, lecturing, teaching, editing, and international conferencing participated in the development of a postmodern network. He was executive director of the International Association for Philosophy and Literature and professor of philosophy and comparative literary and cultural studies at Stony Brook University, where he was also affiliated with the Department of Art and the Department of European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. He was program director for the Stony Brook Advanced Graduate Certificate in Art and Philosophy. He was also co-founder and co-director of the annual International Philosophical Seminar since 1991 in South Tyrol, Italy. From 1980 to 1986, he served as executive co-director of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. His work draws upon deconstruction, hermeneutics, semiotics, phenomenology, aesthetics, art theory, film theory, and the archeology of knowledge.

Hartmut Lutz is professor emeritus and former chair of American and Canadian studies: Anglophone literatures and cultures of North America at the University of Greifswald, Germany. He is the founder of the Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, a research centre for Canadian and American literature studies at Greifswald. Beginning in the 1980s, he pioneered the field of Indigenous literary studies by establishing intercultural bridges and trans-Atlantic connections with leading Indigenous authors, scholars, educators, activists and intellectuals from Canada and the United States. He initiated studies on "Indian" stereotyping and coined the term "Indianthusiasm" to describe the fascination Germans have with all things "Indian". Throughout his career, Lutz put in practice the "nothing about us without us" principle set forth by Indigenous people and devoted himself to asking for their thoughts and to collaborating on bringing their words to a wide public in North America and Europe.

Christian Hawkey, is an American poet, translator, editor, activist, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Seong-kon</span>

Kim Seong-Kon, also known as Seong-Kon Kim, is a South Korean academic, literary critic, film critic, columnist, editor and writer.

Françoise Lionnet serves as acting chair of the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Harvard University, where she is professor of Romance languages and literatures, comparative literature, and African and African American studies. She is distinguished research professor of comparative literature and French and Francophone studies at UCLA, and a research associate of the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She served as director of the African Studies Center and Program Co-Director of UCLA's Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities: Cultures in Transnational Perspective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joep Leerssen</span> Dutch comparatist and cultural historian (born 1955)

Joseph Theodoor "Joep" Leerssen is a Dutch comparatist and cultural historian. He is professor of European studies at the University of Amsterdam, where he also holds a Royal Netherlands Academy Research Professorship. He was awarded the Spinozapremie in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Udo Hebel</span> German Professor of American studies (born 1956)

Udo J. Hebel is a German professor of American studies. He has been president of the University of Regensburg since 1 April 2013. He was selected as one of the ten best university rectors in Germany by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers.

Catherine Elizabeth Rigby is a scholar in the interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities.

Klaus Boehnke is a German psychologist and social scientist. He has been teaching and researching at Jacobs University Bremen since 2002. In 2017, he was appointed deputy director of the Center for Sociocultural Research at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow. He suspended this collaboration on February 24, 2022.

Robert Deam Tobin was the Henry J Leir Chair in Literature, Language and Culture at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts from 2008 to 2022. He was a leading scholar of German and European literature, culture, and sexuality studies. Tobin died of cancer in August 2022.

Liliane Weissberg is an American literary scholar and cultural historian specializing in German-Jewish studies and German and American literature. She is currently the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor in Arts and Sciences and Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She received, among others, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Humboldt Research Award for her research on German-Jewish literature and culture and the Berlin Prize of the American Academy in Berlin, and holds an honorary degree from the University of Graz.

The DAAD Alumni Association USA is a private, nonprofit organization whose members are German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) alumni and friends of international education. The association supports and promotes international educational and cultural exchange and the ideal most associated with mutual understanding among the peoples of the world. The DAAD Alumni Association USA also conducts receptions in local communities in the U.S., and helps to host the annual Sound Understanding Concert at Carnegie Hall.

References

  1. "Fulbright stiftete Gastprofessur in American Studies" (in German). Archived from the original on Apr 4, 2016.
  2. "Guest Scholars | American Studies Leipzig".
  3. "First Picador Professor Arrives in Leipzig | American Studies Leipzig".