Willkommen auf der Website der Jubiläumstagung der DGfA in Marburg.
Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien (DGfA) feiert in diesem Jahr ihr sechzigjähriges Bestehen. 1953 in Marburg gegründet, zählt die DGfA heute zu den größten akademischen Fachverbänden Deutschlands. Das Jubiläum ist ein guter Anlass, über die usable pasts, den aktuellen Stand und die Zukunft der deutschen Amerikastudien im transnationalen Kontext nachzudenken. Die Konferenz wird Mitglieder der DGfA aus verschiedenen akademischen Generationen und fachpolitischen Zusammenhängen zusammenbringen mit Vertreter/innen von Amerikazentren in Deutschland und von nationalen und internationalen Organisationen wie der Fulbright-Stiftung, dem Wissenschaftsrat und der DFG sowie der der Botschaft der Vereinigten Staaten. Nach einer einführenden Keynote zur Geschichte der DGfA werden in neun Podiumsdiskussionen zentrale aktuelle Fragen behandelt, die die Amerikastudien wissenschaftlich, institutionell und fachpolitisch betreffen.
Panel 1: Interdisciplinarity: Frameworks, Issues, Perspectives
Andreas Falke, Hans-Jürgen Grabbe, Frank Kelleter. Moderation: Astrid Böger
American Studies has always been interdisciplinary in two ways: it is an interdisciplinary academic discipline of its own and reaches out in a particularly open manner to theories, approaches, and methods of other disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. The membership of the GAAS reflects this double interdisciplinarity which at times has also been described as multidisciplinarity. In recent years, Americanists have moved on and forged links to, for instance, the natural sciences, technology, and the life sciences. Panelists will probe the history, current state, and prospects of communication and collaboration among these disciplines and discuss the implications for the self-understanding of American Studies.
Panel 2: Institutions, External Funding, and American Studies
Klaus Benesch, Christa Buschendorf, Winfried Fluck, Guido Lammers (DFG), Jan Stievermann, Thomas Wiemer (DFG). Moderation: Antje Kley
Scholars and students of American Studies in Germany are now working and studying in a variety of institutional contexts beyond traditional university departments. The development of a highly competitive system of external funding has changed the landscape of research and graduate and postgraduate training. Interdisciplinary centers, graduate schools, extra-university units of different kinds have become a vital part of American Studies activities which concur but do not necessarily overlap with GAAS structures and membership. Panelists will assess the opportunities and futures of research facilities such as universities, research centers, and graduate schools with their differences in funding, outreach, and (inter-)disciplinarity in regard to the agendas and purposes of American Studies.
Panel 3: Teaching American Studies
Peter Freese, Nancy Grimm, Michael Hochgeschwender, Martina Kohl, Sylvia Mayer, Peter Schneck. Moderation: Catrin Gersdorf
American Studies has always played an important part in the training of future teachers, and some of its fields of research have found their way into school curricula. Changes in university and school curricula in the wake of the Bologna process and ongoing restructurings of the schools have had and will continue to have a far-reaching impact on options and limitations for American Studies in German universities. Panelists will address these developments and discuss chances and risks for American Studies university and school curricula in the years ahead as well as the role the GAAS can and should play in this field.
Panel 4: Women’s Caucus
Birgit Bauridl, Carmen Birkle, Eva Boesenberg, Anne Koenen. Moderation: Miriam Strube
Since the 1970s, the GAAS and especially its Women’s Caucus have played a crucial role in promoting the role of women at German universities. With female doctoral students outnumbering male colleagues, with more than half of the GAAS advisory board being women, and with a woman president as early as 1999, three vice presidents, and one executive director from the ranks of its female members, issues of gender have been advanced successfully but continue to engage the association. Panelists will review the history and achievements of the GAAS Women’s Caucus and explore the role the forum will play in the future.
Panel 5: Young Scholars and Postgraduate Forum
Florian Bast, Cedric Essi, Johanna Heil, Susanne Leikam, Ulfried Reichardt, Anna Thiemann. Moderation: Sabine Sielke
The establishment of the Postgraduate Forum in the late 1980s, with its own annual conference and a number of special events at the annual conference of the GAAS, was crucial for the ever-increasing involvement of younger scholars of American Studies in GAAS activities. Panelists will assess the academic perspectives and contributions of the PGF to the community of German Americanists.
Panel 6: Diversity
Mita Banerjee, Sabine Bröck, Karsten Fitz, Gabi Pisarz-Ramirez. Moderation: Eva Boesenberg
German universities and research institutions are increasingly confronted with demands for diversity management and diversity enhancement. Though often contested, diversity issues also find more and more attention both in the politics of the GAAS association, e.g., in membership development, and in the research interests of its members in, for instance, postcolonial and ethnic studies. Panelists will engage questions of the current state and potential development of diversity in German American Studies.
Panel 7: Publications, Visibility, Research Transfer
Udo Hebel, Alfred Hornung, Holger Kersten, Oliver Scheiding. Moderation: Carmen Birkle
The visibility of an academic discipline within the scholarly community and beyond depends largely on its publications, the organization of research transfer, and options for outreach into the wider public. Throughout the years, German scholars of American Studies have developed various means and strategies to pursue these goals and purposes. Panelists will review GAAS activities in this area and explore options and visions for further productive scholarly exchange.
Panel 8: Internationalization and International Outreach
Rolf Hoffmann (Fulbright), Alfred Hornung, Thomas Miller (Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, Representative of the Embassy of the United States). Moderation: Udo Hebel
German American Studies has experienced a continuous development towards ever more internationalization. The international outreach of the GAAS is strengthened through GAAS officers’ and members’ active involvement in international academic associations such as EAAS and ASA and various scholarship programs. Panelists will discuss the history, current state, implications, and prospects of these activities as well as their influences on the self-conception and research of German American Studies.
Panel 9: Futures of German American Studies
Udo Hebel, Alfred Hornung, Elke Lütkemeier (WR), Heike Paul, Nicole Waller, Simon Wendt. Moderation: Philipp Gassert
The concluding panel will be dedicated to the future of American Studies in the context of the major issues discussed above and will also raise issues related to most recent debates about rankings such as CHE and the results of the rating conducted by the German Wissenschaftsrat.