The upcoming November presidential election is already casting big shadows.  Even in Leipzig there will be a debate between Democrats Abroad Germany and Republicans Abroad Germany. 

The event will take place on Monday, September 1st 2008 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, in the Kuppelsaal of the Leipziger Volkszeitung on the top floor of the Verlagshaus. Petersteinweg 19, 04107 . It will be hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce.

Politics goes Second Life? Well, my first reaction was pure and pragmatic skepticism. After all, I was wondering who has the time to have a second life? But my research interest in online campaigning triggered my curiousity.  So I checked it out:

In his article “The Politics of Second Life,” the Harvard Crimson editorial editor Clay A. Dumas described Second Life as:

The op-ed article ”Running While Black” by Bob Herbert of the New York Times comments the role of race in election campaigns.

The next secretariat office hours will be:

Friday, Aug. 1, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 5, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Patriotism is American. It is a central factor in the presidential election campaign. McCain and the Republicans hammer on Obama for not being patriotic enough. They seek to paint him  as an unpatriotic popstar-like politician, who does not care about the troops, but only about being elected. Obama tries to counter that image by wearing flag pins  and standing in front of several American flags when he speaks (e.g. Race speech in Philadelphia).

Prof. Dr. Anne Koenen
Wednesday, August 6, 12.15 pm – 1.15 pm
Tuesday, August 26, 11 am – 12 noon

Prof. Crister Garrett
By Appointment. Please write to crister.garrett@uni-leipzig.de

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Keil has his next office hours on Monday, July 28, starting at 3 p.m.

On July 17, Chuck Klosterman read from Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story at the Galerie Pierogi, Leipzig, Germany. The reading was the last public event by Chuck Klosterman, after he had stayed in Leipzig as Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the American Studies Department.

After much preparation and debate, the day had finally come. In advance, German politicians as well as the German media have focused much of their attention on the visit of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, debating the potential location, the nature, and the impact of the visit and the speech. Prof. Rundquist’s “Presidential Elections” seminar group, of which I am a member, also prepared for the Obama visit, planning a class trip to Berlin to attend the much anticipated speech.

MDR and its current affairs radio show, Figaro, interviewed American Studies Leipzig today about the visit of presidential candidate Barack Obama to Berlin. MDR (Mitteldeutschland Rundfunk/Central Germany Public Radio) is the leading news provider for central Germany.