January 26, 2023
Thu, 14:00-17:00
Landesmuseum Mainz (Forum)
Große Bleiche 49-51, 55116 Mainz
Exhibition
“Intersecting Lives: Life Writing and the U.S. Military in Germany and Beyond”
Die in Deutschland stationierten U.S.-amerikanischen Truppen sind fester Bestandteil der deutschen Nachkriegszeit. Aber wie übersetzt sich politische Realität in das Leben und die Biographie von einzelnen?
Unter dem Stichwort „Intersecting Lives“ betrachtet diese Ausstellung, wie sich deutsche und amerikanische Leben kreuzen. Wie nahm und nimmt die deutsche Bevölkerung das amerikanische Militär wahr? Und wie dachten und denken Angehörige des U.S.-Militärs über ihr Leben in Deutschland?
Die Veranstaltung ist kostenfrei und öffentlich. Everyone welcome!
14:00 Eröffnung | Grußworte | Einführung Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee (Kursleiterin und Organisatorin der Ausstellung) Prof. Dr. Alfred Hornung (Sprecher des Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies) Dr. Jörg Zorbach (Ministerium des Innern und für Sport) Jonathan Jones (Veteran & Former Firefighter)
anschließend Ausstellung Projektarbeiten | Sektempfang
Reasons Beyond Patriotism: Why Young People Join the Military
Mental Health in the U.S. Military: An Active Duty Major’s Perspective
Belonging: Growing up in Military Culture
An Intercultural Experience: Life on Different Military Bases Abroad
PTSD and the U.S. Military
Die hier ausgestellten studentischen Beiträge beruhen auf einem Projektseminar mit dem Titel „Intersecting Lives: Life Writing and the U.S. Military in Germany and Beyond“, das im WiSe 2022/23 an der Universität Mainz in der Amerikanistik unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee (mita.banerjee@uni-mainz.de) stattfand.
You can download the poster for the exhibition here.
Für Bachelor-Vollzeitstudierende mit Migrationshintergrund aller Studiengänge an deutschen Universitäten und Fachhochschulen
Fulbright Sommerstudienprogramm in den USA: „Diversity Initiative” an der Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas vom 17. August bis 16. September 2023
Zusammen mit amerikanischen Studierenden besuchen die Teilnehmenden Seminare und Workshops zu Geschichte, Politik, Gesellschaft und Bildungssystem der USA. Im Dialog mit US-Kommiliton:innen gewinnen sie wichtige Einblicke in das amerikanische Studium und Campusleben. Ausflüge und Begegnungen im multikulturellen San Antonio und Umgebung komplementieren das akademische Programm.
Ausführliche Informationen zum Stipendienprogramm finden Sie auf unserer Webseite.
Für die Ausschreibung auf LinkedIn, Facebook und Instagram verwenden wir das Hashtag #FulbrightGermany
Students and faculty are invited to a student lecture series on cinematic representations of slavery in recent American feature films, Fridays, 10:15-11:45 in lecture hall P1 (Philosophicum).
Historical films on slavery such as 12 Years a Slave provide fictionalized accounts of historical events and introduce audiences to the experiences of enslaved individuals in the past. In this series of student lectures, presenters will investigate significant and/or contentious aspects of a film’s reconstruction of slavery and its history.
This series is part of Dr. Frank Obenland’s course Cultural Studies VI “Screening the Past – American Slavery in Film”. If you have further questions about the event, please contact Dr. Frank Obenland.
Fri, Jan 13
10:15-11:45, Lecture Hall P1 (Philosophicum) Georgia Conti and Tobias Waßmund Amistad (1997) – Spielberg’s Representation of Slave Rebellion and the Middle Passage
Only very few major Hollywood films on the history of slavery have directed their focus beyond the United States. One such film is Stephen Spielberg’s retelling of the Amistad Rebellion, a cinematic representation of the often forgotten horrors of the middle passage. In this lecture, we will examine how Amistad (1997) tells a historical story of resistance and generational trauma.
Fri, Jan 20
10:15-11:45, Lecture Hall P1 (Philosophicum) Frederica Hrdina and Jonas Salz 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Cinematic (Neo-)Slave Narrative
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave retells the story of a free Black man who was kidnapped from the North and sold into slavery. An adaptation of Solomon Northup’s autobiographical slave narrative, McQueen’s movie depicts the horrors of the daily life of an African American slave. While many films on slavery fail to provide a realistic portrayal of slavery, 12 Years a Slave introduces the first-hand experience of Solomon Northup’s original narrative to a contemporary audience.
Fri, Jan 27
10:15-11:45, Lecture Hall P1 (Philosophicum) Amé Beert and Milosz Zbikowski History as Biopic: The Underground Railroad and Fugitive Slaves in Harriet (2019)
Harriet (2019) is the first mainstream production about the life of former slave and female abolitionist Harriet Tubman. For historical films – and in this case a biopic – it is always hard to decide between staying true to history or prioritizing historical education or offering captivating entertainment. That is why in this lecture we will examine the changes to the historical events in Harriet and how they help to shed light on the historical reality of the Underground Railroad and fugitive slaves.
Fri, Feb 3
10:15-11:45, Lecture Hall P1 (Philosophicum) Elias Apel and Milena Traumann Memory and Trauma – The Psychological Effects of Slavery in Beloved (1998)
The cinematic adaptation of Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved does not so much bring a realistic depiction of the living conditions and dehumanization of the enslaved to the screen. It rather explores the traumatic character of remembering slavery and bondage. This lecture will discuss Beloved as an exceptional example for the cinematic portrayal of slavery by discussing the story of Sethe and her family, and the ways their past continues to affect them individually and in their relationships.
What does it mean to say that an artist has “sold out”? Where did this expression come from, and why has it gained such widespread currency? This talk explores the history of “selling out,” which emerges as a cultural anxiety during the Gilded Age, when Americans began to worry that personal success and financial gain might come at a moral cost. We will see how “selling out” spread from the realm of “high” art in the late nineteenth century, to popular art forms like punk rock and hip-hop today.
Ian Afflerbach is Associate Professor of American Literature at the University of North Georgia, where his research and teaching focus on the history of ideas, modernist studies, African American literature, and popular periodicals. He recently completed his first book, Making Liberalism New (Johns Hopkins 2021) and has begun work on a second project—a cultural history of “selling out” in modern America.
The Civil Rights Movement, Southern Literature, and Southern Food & Music
Experience a unique and intensive research and learning opportunity focusing on the American South. The Obama Institute offers this three-week American Studies Summer School traveling through Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee from the end of July to mid-August. This educational trip provides students with courses in language, literature, and cultural studies. Starting in Little Rock, Arkansas and ending in Washington DC, participants will study the Civil Rights Movement, the history of food and music in the US South, and Southern Literature. They benefit from lectures, readings, and films, as well as on-site learning. Summer School participants can receive course credits in Independent Studies, Cultural Studies, or Written English.
You can find further information in the Download section on the Summer School page.
INFO SESSION Tuesday, December 6, 2022, 18:00 P3 (Philosophicum)
If you cannot attend the info session but are interested in joining, please contact Julia Velten (juvelten@uni-mainz.de).
Prof. Dr. Brigitte Johanna Glaser (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
November 22, 2022, 9:40am, N.106 (Stufenhörsaal)
“Margaret Atwood’s Venture into Graphic Novels: The Angel Catbird Trilogy and the War Bears Series”
Professor Glaser’s research focus is in Canadian Studies, Globalization and Transcultural Literature, Postcolonial Studies as well as 18th-Century Literature and Culture. Her publications include the co- edited volumes Shifting Grounds: Cultural Tectonics along the Pacific Rim (2020) and Transgressions / Transformations: Literature and Beyond (2018). Since February 2021, she has been the president of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries.
