Welcome to the Obama Institute
for Transnational American Studies!
The Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz offers a dynamic and wide-ranging program in both research and teaching for all students interested in topics related to the Americas in a global context.
With a special focus on interculturality, transnationalism, and interdisciplinarity, our expertise lies in the fields of Early American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Life Writing/Life Sciences, Political & Intellectual History, Film & Media Studies, Religion and American Culture, and Materiality.
Contact
Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies
University of Mainz
Jakob-Welder-Weg 20
55128 Mainz
Germany
+49 6131 39-22357
+49 6131 39-29097
Email
Oct 4 – Trans-Atlantic Bodies: American Nationalism and the Politics of Corporeality 🗓
Maurizio Valsania (University of Turin) Oct 4, 2018, 5-6 p.m., P 110 (Philosophicum) In the 1760s, British colonies in North America agreed on boycotting the importation of goods. On occasion, upper-class Americans could reenact the so-called “age of homespun” much...
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4th of July Celebration 2018 at the Obama Institute
The second annual 4th of July celebration at the Obama Institute picked up on Frederick Douglass's famous oration, ”What to the American Slave Is the 4th of July?" Obama Institute Speaker and board member Prof. Alfred Hornung made this connection in his introductory...
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4th of July Lecture – Suffering, Struggle, Survival: The Activism, Artistry, and Authorship of Frederick Douglass and Family (1818–2018) 🗓
Prof. Celeste-Marie Bernier (University of Edinburgh) July 4, 2018, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. (c.t.), Philosophicum I, P 5 While there have been many Frederick Douglasses – Douglass the abolitionist, Douglass the statesman, Douglass the autobiographer, Douglass the orator,...
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June 26 – Some ‘Age-Friendly’ Advice?: Ableism, Austerity, and New Stories of ‘Active Aging’ 🗓
Sally Chivers (Trent University) June 26, 2018, 4-6 p.m., 00 025 SR 03 (BKM) This talk comes from a larger research project that asks how gender and culture matter in creating age-friendly environments. Understanding that austerity thought warps age advice, making...
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June 21 – “What Does the Transnational Perspective Change About U.S. History?” 🗓
Prof. Alan Lessoff (Illinois State University) June 21, 2018, 4–6 p.m. (c.t.), SB II, 01-531 (Colonel-Kleinmann-Weg 2) Urban history has long had a strong transnational character, on account of the functions that cities historically have served as nexuses in...
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June 28 – “Power to the Powerless”: Black Artists, Art Movements, and Art-Making Traditions 🗓
Prof. Celeste-Marie Bernier (University of Edinburgh) June 28, 2018, 4–6 p.m. (c.t.), SB II, 01-531 (Colonel-Kleinmann-Weg 2) This talk will introduce audiences to the drawings, paintings, prints, sculpture, mixed-media installations and performance art created by...
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