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

July 14 – Guest Lecture: Racialization as Script: Narrative Permission and Differential Racial Time in INTERIOR CHINATOWN 🗓

Guest Lecture by Ren Haiyan (Hunan Normal University, China) Racialization as Script:Narrative Permission and Differential Racial Time in Interior Chinatown July 14, 2026, 5 pm, room P 7 (Philosophicum) In Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu uses the screenplay form, role...

July 8 – Die bipolare Nation: Fourth-of-July Event 2026 🗓

Fourth-of-July Event 2026 presented by the Obama Institute and the Leibniz Institute of European History July 8, 2025, 6 p.m.Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Alte Universitätsstraße 19, 55116 Mainz Die bipolare Nation. Was Amerika der Welt gegeben hat. Im...

Info Session: Planned Student Project Exhibition (USA at 250) 🗓

USA at 250 – Reflecting on Democracy and Current Debates Info Session for Planned Student Project Exhibition July 6, 12:00-13:0000.212 (Philo II, ground floor)Jakob-Welder-Weg 20 Work on what moves you! As part of our event series on the 250th anniversary of the...

July 4 – Guest Lecture: Indigenous Scholarship and Its Responses to ‘America250’ 🗓

Guest Lecture by Christianna Stavroudis (University of Wuppertal) Indigenous Scholarship and Its Responses to ‘America250’ July 4, 2026, 09:00 a.m., P 110, Philosophicum Events like the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial illustrate how Indigenous...

June 2 – Guest Lecture: DNA, Family Secrets, and the Stories We Inherit 🗓

Guest Lecture by Helga Lenart-Cheng (Saint Mary’s College of California, USA) DNA, Family Secrets, and the Stories We Inherit June 2, 2026, 16.15-17.45, 01-618 (kl. Bibl.), Philosophicum This talk examines how genetic genealogy platforms and public media reshape the...

May 26 & June 2 – Guest Lecture: AMERIKA, Translation, and Kafka’s Life Writing 🗓

Guest Lecture by Michael E. Huffmaster (University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez) Amerika, Translation, and Kafka’s Life Writing May 26, 2026, 4.15-5.45 pm, 00.212, Philo II (Jakob-Welder-Weg 20) June 2, 2026, 9.40-11.10 am, N.106, Stufenhörsaal (Campus Germersheim)...