American Studies Leipzig welcomes Andrea Siebeck as the institute’s new secretary for the time that Ms. Keyselt is on leave. Ms Siebeck, who has studied American Studies in Halle and has worked as a freelance English teacher before, has started her new job on 19. August with enthusiasm; The secretariat now offers new, regular, and expanded office hours for students. Please see the Staff page for more information.

On my flight from Washington DC to Atlanta today, I had a very interesting conversation with the guy, who was sitting next to me. My one-hour conversation with Garry, a computer engineer and registered Republican from Tallahassee/Florida, focused on politics. He was eager to talk politics, asking me about Obama’s positions in different policy areas after I told him that I study American Politics.

American Studies Leipzig student Caterina Rost left Sunday on a flight to the US to visit the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this fall. The trip is part of the research project she does investigating the current elections and especially the “youth vote.” See her blog at americanstudies.uni-leipzig.de/blog/4 for more details.

In a couple of hours, I will be leaving the DC area to fly to Denver. The adventure of the day will be, if I manage to get my connecting flight in Atlanta, where I have only 40 minutes to do so. In Denver, I have organized private housing… staying with a friend of my friend Leo. Tomorrow, the national convention of the College Democrats will start in Denver.

Die Abschlussklausuren der Vorlesung “The Canon and Popular Culture” wurden von Frau Prof. Koenen korrigiert und können ab Dienstag, den 26.08., im Sekretariat eingesehen werden.

Yesterday and today I have been trying to get ready for Denver, getting a phone, a camcorder, and a new battery for my MacBook, all essential for components to make Denver and St. Paul a success. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out smoothly at all. I do have a phone that works now, after my visit to an AT&T dealer and spending about $55.

@ 5 pm in New York — 11 pm in Berlin

Today, I will be starting my election08 adventure. From August 18 to November 7, I will travel to the US to investigate my MA thesis case study: this year’s election. I started writing my MA thesis in May. The topic is “American Youth, Political Parties, & the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.” Up until now, I have done the theoretical work focusing on the concepts of political participation as well as democratic and generational theory. From now on, I will be on the road… So check back for reports.

As the taz reports, approximately 60% of German university students come from what they call “Akademikerfamilien,” i.e. families in which at least one parent has an academic degree. They compare that number to 2004’s 57% and 1993’s 49%.

Since the gas price has risen above $4 a gallon in the US earlier this year, oil specifically and energy more generally has been on top of the campaign agenda. The actual substance or rather non-substance of the energy policy debate can make you wonder though. Republican Representative Michael Burgess, for example, even referred to the Paris Hilton Energy Plan on the floor of the House of Representatives saying: “Let’s have the vote. Even Paris Hilton has a plan.