(Anthropology/ Religious Studies, McGill University)
“Materialism and Consumption: Circulating Christian Love with American Things”
March 21, 2023, 3.00-4.30pm, 02.102 (Philo II, Jakob-Welder-Weg 20)
Please join us for a short presentation and discussion with Prof. Hillary Kaell (Anthropology/Religious Studies, McGill University) of the chapter “Materialism and Consumption: Circulating Christian Love with American Things” from her book Christian Globalism at Home: Child Sponsorship in the United States (Princeton University Press, 2020).
Materialism and Consumption: Circulating Christian Love with American Things
For two hundred years, Christians have run charitable projects to “sponsor” children abroad. Through these plans, individuals in the Global North—notably in the United States–send money to support an individual child in need. The popularity of these plans rested, in part, on how they offered donors what amounted to consumer choice: one could choose what type of child to support. However, by the 1970s Christian donors began to worry about their own “materialism” and its effects on child sponsorship. Based on my recent book Christian Globalism at Home (Princeton University Press, 2020), this presentation will explore the tight link between sponsorship and early forms of capitalism, along with the “anti-materialist” tactics that sponsors use to soften the ambivalence inherent in this form of global charitable giving.
February 14, 2023: Screening of Yehuda Sharim’s film Letters2Maybe (2021)
February 15, 2023: Workshop with Yehuda Sharim (“A Map of Light: Creativity & Inspiration during Dark Times”)
On behalf of The Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies, Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee cordially invites everyone to two events with filmmaker Professor Yehuda Sharim (UC Merced, California):
Yehuda Sharim is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and poet. As the son of Persian immigrants to Israel, his work focuses on the relationship between the quotidian and poetic. Sharim’s films have appeared in film festivals, artistic venues, and universities across the world. Oscillating between fiction and documentary filmmaking, his work offers an intimate portrayal of those who refuse to surrender amidst daily devastation and culminating strife, offering a vision for equality and a renewed solidarity in a divisive world. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Program of Global Art Studies, University of California, Merced.
Letters2Maybe is an intimate portrayal of those who refuse to surrender amidst daily devastation and culminating strife, offering a vision for equality and a renewed sense of solidarity in a divisive country. Letters2Maybe offers a fluid and eclectic tapestry of physical and emotional movement of different immigrant communities as they encounter impossible challenges in a country of compounded catastrophes. By embracing a kaleidoscopic style of storytelling to highlight the poetics and precarity that follow the craving for freedom, Letters2Maybe is an unfinished letter, articulating the ever-growing yet unflinching demand for justice and tenderness in our world today. (2021; 92 min.)
A Map of Light: Creativity & Inspiration during Dark Times (workshop) – The camera is obsessed with light. Darkness is never considered aesthetically pleasing. We are told that we need to see: we need to see as a way to learn, and make sense. And light is the most critical ingredient in shaping that illusion of “seeing” as “being.” We are like our cameras, chasing lights, forgetting that darkness and the uncertainty that accompanies darkness are inseparable from any source of light. In this talk, we will interrogate what it means to follow a creative vision (start a film, book, and more), exploring this desire to create, shape, and enter a space of experimentation. We will examine different aspects of community-cinema and take into consideration the various personal/collective challenges and doubts that keep us away from the work that we know we are meant to do. This talk is about that thirst to film and create new visions during calamitous times.
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.
