Student Conferences
With student conferences and student workshops, the Institute for American Studies is offering new teaching formats. Besides highlighting the students dedication to and engagement with their scholarly interests, these new formats seek to teach key professional skills in a thematic context. Student conferences underscore how area expertise, international skills, and global reach (in terms of acquired knowledge and abilities) can be integrated into a dynamic and unique program of study to encourage personal and professional advancement.
Below we will be including examples of student conferences and workshops. These will become a regular part of the American Studies programs as the BA and MA become fully integrated into the teaching of the Institute. There are two Professional Skills Modules (Schlüsselqualifikationsmodule), one for the BA and one for the MA, that specifically have Student Conferences as a central part of the learning experience.
MA-Level Graduate Student Conference 2012
"Global Games, Global Goals: Locating America in the Cultural, Social, and Political Realms of Sport"
American Studies Leipzig, Germany
Annual MA-Level Graduate Student Conference
Leipzig, 30-31 March 2012
The MA-level graduate conference “Global Games, Global Goals: Locating America in the Cultural, Social, and Political Realms of Sports” will explore different notions of sports in a forum integrating students and professionals. Since sports touches upon many aspects of life such as politics, media, popular culture, history, and health, it offers a myriad of possible research foci. In fact, American sports and sport lifestyle(s) influence cultures around the world while simultaneously being subject to influences from other cultures as well. The study of sports within an American context is thus not limited to the national level: Sports organizations, sports gear enterprises, and athletes of all possible types operate internationally, making the topic of sports highly relevant on a global scale. With the third annual American Studies Leipzig MA-level graduate conference, “Global Games, Global Goals,” we seek to investigate the cultural, social, and political realms of sports in an interdisciplinary framework. (Please click here to read more.)
MA-Level Graduate Student Conference 2011
"American Pornographies: Consumerism, Sensationalism, and Voyeurism in a Global Context"
American Studies Leipzig, Germany
Annual MA-Level Graduate Student Conference
Leipzig, 1-2 April 2011
The MA-level graduate conference “American Pornographies: Consumerism, Sensationalism, and Voyeurism in a Global Context” will investigate different notions of ‘pornography’ on literal and broader levels. Although conventionally associated with sexuality alone, ‘pornography’ is most productively understood more broadly as the often sensationalist commodification of individual acts and features. Thus, the previously understudied subject of pornography brings new impulses to the study of consumerism, particularly in light of the rising influence of globalization and the Internet.(Please click here to read more.)
Undergraduate Symposium 2011
"America’s Grey Zones and Rays of Light"
February 4, 2011 at 2pm. Deutsches Literaturinstitut.
For the second year in a row the 3rd-year BA students are proud to present their work done in the Project Module during this year’s Undergraduate Symposium. The event will present three different projects centering around the topics of Illegal Immigration, U.S. Enemy Images, and Creative Economy. The students are going to give oral presentations on their work, each followed by a discussion where the audience is asked to pose remaining questions.(Please click here to read more.)
MA-Level Graduate Student Conference 2010
"Between Global Village and Global Dump: Placing America in a Transnational World"
American Studies Leipzig, Germany
First Annual MA-Level Graduate Student Conference
Leipzig, 22-23 March 2010
The MA-level graduate student conference "Between Global Village and Global Dump: Placing America in a Transnational World" will explore the role of the two American continents in a global setting. Together we will investigate the dynamics between common labels such as 'global village' and 'global dump' and where to locate the Americas in this continuum. We seek to examine different perspectives of a globalized world and discuss the chances it offers as well as the challenges it poses. (Please click here to read more.)
Undergraduate Symposium 2010
"American Pie"
February 11, 2010 at 2 pm. Villa Tillmanns.
For the first time the 3rd year BA students majoring in American Studies host the Undergraduate Symposium – a one-day event showcasing a eight research projects accomplished by the students. In the context of a project module the students investigated America-based issues of their interest. Now they share their results in form of oral presentations at the Symposium, each taking about 15 minutes. By dicussing diverse aspects of the US-culture, the lectures provide a deep insight into the American cultural phenomenon called the "American Pie." The thematical priorities are: Popular culture – Myth and Reality – Media. (Please click here to read more.)
First Student Workshop
"The Historical Imagination"
July 15-17, 2005. Hütten, Thuringia
A small group of advanced students researched, presented, and discussed in a peer environment projects in American history and literature. The two-day workshop concluded a seminar on American historical fiction taught both in Leipzig and at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Participants presented projects on the representation of colonial history and of slavery in 19th and 20th century American novels, such as James F. Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, Ishmael Reed's Flight to Canada, and Octovia Butler's Kindred.