News & Events 2023
Winter, 2023Interview mit Prof. Dr. Florian Freitag in *Attractions Magazine*
"Theme parks must be taken seriously as spaces of cultural significance" - Prof. Dr. Florian Freitag, Prof. Salvador Anton Clavé und Prof. Dr. Filippo Carlà-Uhink zu Ihrem neuen Buch *Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies*.
October 8, 2023Interview mit Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau im Deutschlandfunk
Kompromisse gelten als Schwäche – Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau zur Lage der US-Politik.
Interview mit Mascha Drost, Information und Musik, October 8, 2023.
October 4, 2023Poetry Performance & Writing Workshop with Alan Pelaez Lopez
n preparation for their literary studies seminar examining the works of AfroIndigenous, Queer, migrant activist poet and scholar Alan Pelaez Lopez (they/them), students, accompanied by lecturer Ana Elisa Gomez Laris, had the opportunity to meet and familiarize themselves with the author in a fairly relaxed yet formal in-person classroom session.
During the session, students learned about Pelaez Lopez's past as a multilingual/multicultural child, their (illegal) border crossing/migration to the US as a five-year-old child and about their adult years working as an immigration and Trans-rights activist. The poet then performed several of their poems and emotions transcending the page were witnessed. Afterwards students could ask questions to Pelaez Lopez and learned about some of the meanings and inspirations behind their works.
The session on October 4, 2023 closed with a writing workshop moderated by Pelaez Lopez for the students centered around a group reading of poems by other migrant authors, a short discussion, and a timed poetry-writing activity.
September 7–9, 2023Third transnational Suburbanization & Urbanism in the EU Countries & Abroad (SUBEUA) meeting
Experiencing American Studies first-hand, students Jule Windeler and Sophie Karkowski had the opportunity to join Prof. Dr. Florian Freitag and Dr. Elena Furlanetto for the third transnational Suburbanization and Urbanism in the EU Countries and Abroad (SUBEUA) meeting. The three-day conference (Sept. 7th–9th 2023) brought scholars from France, Czechia, and the United States to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Pasadena and focused on exploring suburban areas in Southern California from various interdisciplinary angles, ranging from theme park studies to literature and geoinformatics.
Deadline: July 1st, 2023Your chance to study in the USA
How?
The Verband Deutsch-Amerikanischer Clubs (VDAC) is the biggest private US-German exchange program and is looking for candidates. You’ll get the financial support needed, as well as the opportunity to be part of a tight-knit, transatlantic networks of friends and scholars.
Your grades are not the deciding point!
We are looking for leaders, social role models, and German ambassadors. We care about the person and your story.
Interested?
You can contact our local chairperson: Dr. Katharina von Elbwart
Take your chance and study abroad in an Undergrad/Bachelor or Graduate/Master program at US Universities.
Deadline for application
July 1st, 2023
Find more information
following the link below or feel free to contact the VDAC with any questions.
July 4, 2023Faith in America
HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN AMERICA!
Let’s celebrate July 4 with food and amusing, thoughtful, and moving stories about faith in America — literally! The special event „Faith in America“ featuring members of North American Studies @ UDE will be held at 6:30 p.m., following the ESG’s regular „Schicht im Schacht“ prayer meeting at 6:00 p.m. Our presenters will take us on a whirlwind journey through America’s fascinating yet entangled relationship with faith.
Joining us for the occasion will be:
Florian Freitag: „Catholicism’s Worst Advocate Ever: Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan“
Elena Furlanetto & Melih Kökcü: „The Unique Tree: The Sufi Roots of American Romanticism“
Zohra Hassan-Pieper: „Ms. Marvel: Soaring High or Flying Low? An Examination of America’s First Muslim Female Superhero“
Ana Elisa Gomez Laris: „‚Mourning, how are you?‘: Celebrating the Dead in Absentia“
June 21, 2023Black Chameleon: A Reading and Discussion with Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton
The American Studies program of the Department of Anglophone Studies welcomes writer, performer, and activist to Essen for a reading from her brand-new memoir Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023). The event is free and open to the public (no registration needed).
Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is an internationally-known writer, director, performer, critic and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. Her recent memoir, Black Chameleon with Henry Holt & Co. (2023), examines womanhood through mythology. Currently, she is a Resident Artist with the American Lyric Theater, Rice University, and the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
Hosted by Dr. Alexander Starre, North American Studies
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | 18:00 h | Room R11 T04 C60 | Campus Essen
June 5, 2023 - RUB"Dark Aesthetics: The Decolonial Possibilities of Multifocal Narratives"
American Studies Talk by Paula M.L. Moya on Multifocal Narratives, hosted by Laura Bieger RUB and Barbara Buchenau UDE
Paula M. L. Moya is the Faculty Director of Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Professor of English, and by courtesy, of Iberian and Latin American Cultures as well as Burton J. and Deedee McMurtry University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University
June 5, 2023, at 6 pm
University of Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44801 Bochum, English Department, Room GB6/137
Summer, 2023Narrative energies are hard to harness in industrial legacy settings. Can scripts of postindustrial cities be flipped by storytelling?
City Scripts, edited by Buchenau, Gurr and Sulimma, analyzes how forward-looking social and political action is empowered by a new kind of cross-fertilization between narrativity, scriptivity, and urban change management. It studies uncommon alliances between writers, artists, activists, media professionals, administrators, and businesspeople, showing how these alliances produce pragmatic storytelling and artwork that imagines innovative solutions for hard-wired conflicts and wicked problems. The authors assembled here use their expertise in American studies and urban research in the German Ruhr region and in US American postindustrial cities to delineate a transdisciplinary narratology that is particularly adapt to the critical analysis of postindustrial scriptings for futurity.
April 18, 2023Prof. Freitag in "KulturWelt" on Bayern 2
Interview mit Andrea Mühlberger für die Sendung "kulturWelt" (Bayern 2)
Prof. Florian Freitag: Minute 09:24 bis 17:07
Recently published Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies
Understanding Tourism and Leisure Spaces
This book offers a comprehensive, multidisciplinary introduction to theme parks and the field of theme park studies. It identifies and discusses relevant economic, social, and cultural as well as medial, historical, and geographical aspects of theme parks worldwide, from the big international theme park chains to smaller, regional, family-operated parks. The book also describes the theories and methods that have been used to study theme parks in various academic disciplines and reviews the major contexts in which theme parks have been studied. By providing the necessary backgrounds, theories, and methods to analyze and understand theme parks both as a business field and as a socio-cultural phenomenon, this book will be a great resource to students, academics from all disciplines interested in theme parks, and professionals and policy-makers in the leisure and entertainment as well as the urban planning sector.