Lecture Series "American Visions"
The public lecture series "American Visions" is an integral part of Bamberg’s American Studies program. Internationally renowned scholars, journalists, writers, and filmmakers committed to critical and original thinking present their work on American literature, culture, history, politics, and the arts, engaging their audience in an open and dynamic debate.
For details and pictures, please click on the titles below.
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2024
"Poe and Psychoanalysis: A Psychoanalytical Interpretation of Recurrent Motifs in the Literature of Edgar Allan Poe", Justyna Rusak, PhD, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, Thursday, June 20, 2024, 2:15-3:45 p.m., U5/00.24 (An der Universität 5)
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2023/2024
"Can America Be Trusted Again?", David Frum, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October, 25, 2023, 6:15-17:45 p.m., MG1/00.04 (Markusgebäude 1)
Vielfalt in Bilderbüchern: Lesung zum Black History Month 2024, Dayan Kodua, Thursday, February 01, 2024, 08:00-09:30 p.m., U2/00.25 (An der Universität 2) (This event takes place in German.)
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2023
"'Gone with the Wind'/'Via vol vento'/'Vom Winde Verweht': the Italian (and German) Publication History of an American Bestseller", Prof. Cinzia Scarpino, Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy), Monday, May 22, 2023, 10:15-11:45 a.m., OK8/02.04
"'Accept a loving Caw": Dickinson’s Letters and Letter-Poems", Prof. Cristanne Miller, University of Buffalo, SUNY (New York), Wednesday, June 07, 2023, 04:15-05:45, Online lecture (via Zoom)
"Makeshift Images: Writing the American South", Prof. Jon Pineda, College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia), Monday, June 12, 2023, 2:15-3:45 p.m., KR12/02.18
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2022/2023
"Whitman Left to His Own Devices", Prof. Ed Folsom, University of Iowa, Thursday, October 27, 2022, 4:15-5:45 p.m., via Zoom
"'There's still a world': Salvaging Hope in Garbagetown", Markus Schwarz, M.A., Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 4:15-5:45 p.m., U5/00.24
"Ghosts of the Past", Lesung und Gespräch zwischen Prof. Tiffany N. Florvil (University of New Mexico, USA) und Autorin Patricia Eckermann zum Black History Month 2023, Freitag, 03.02.2023, 18:00-19:30, U5/01.17
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2022
"The Native Amerindian Concept of Life-Environment (teko) According to Sacred Poetry Mbya-Guarani", Prof. Adalberto Müller, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Rio De Janeiro), Tuesday, 14.06.2022, 04:15-05:45 p.m., U5/00.24
"Home Alone", Prof. Mary Anne Case, University of Chicago Law School, Friday, 17.06.2022, 9:30-11:00 a.m., U7/01.05 (Keynote, International Conference "Family Ecologies: Family as/at Home")
"Health and safety of children at home under Covid (in Italy)", Prof. Chiara Saraceno, Università di Torino and Collegio Carlo Alberto, Torino, Saturday, 18.06.2022, 09:00-10:30 a.m., Online lecutre (Keynote, International Conference "Family Ecologies: Family as/at Home")
"Knowledge and Discomfort: Reading Toni Morrison's 'Recitatif' as a White Person", Prof. Dr. Eva Boesenberg, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Monday, June 20, 2022, 06:15-07:45 p.m., Online lecture (via Zoom)
"Not a Monolith: Queerness, Race, & Asian Americanness", Prof. Jeremy Chow, Bucknell University, Thursday, July 21, 2022, 06:00-07:30 Uhr, Online lecture (via Zoom)
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2021/2022
"Anne Spencer's Garden Politics", Prof. Melissa F. Zeiger, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, Monday, January 10, 2022, 6:15-7:45 p.m., online lecture (via Zoom)
"Think Small: Minor Forms & the Making of Modernity", Prof. Dr. MaryAnn Snyder-Körber, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Thursday, January 20, 2022, 10:15-11:45 a.m., online lecture (via Zoom)
Poetry Reading, Dr. Laura Passin, Saturday, January 22, 2022, 6-7 p.m., online reading (via Zoom; registration: american-studies[at]uni-koeln.de, organized in cooperation with JProf. Dr. Judith Rauscher (University of Cologne)
"Negating the Human, Narrating a World Without Us", Mahlu Mertens, Ghent University, Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 12:15-1:45 p.m., online lecture (via Zoom)
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2021
"Ending Fossil Capitalism", Prof. Ashley Dawson, City University of New York/College of Staten Island, Monday, April 26, 2021, 4:15-5:45 p.m., online lecture (via Cisco WebEx) – This lecture is organized in cooperation with the Università di Torino (Italy).
"How to Reconcile Disability with Transcendentalist Optimism?: Louisa May Alcott’s Lessons from her Father", Prof. Monika Elbert, Montclair State University, Thursday, May 27, 2021, 2:15-3:45 p.m., Online Lecture (via Zoom)
"Can Historians Change Their Minds about What They Have Already Written?", Prof. Michelle Nickerson (Loyola University, USA/Heidelberg Center for American Studies), Monday, June 21, 2021, 12:15-1:45 p.m., Online Lecture (via Zoom)
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2020/2021
American Election Night 2020: "Transatlantic Perspectives on the US Election"
Keynote by Prof. Michelle Nickerson (eng.) and lecture by Dr. Georgiana Banita (ger.), panel discussion with former guest professors mit Prof. Myron Beasley, Prof. Lynn Rose und Prof. Jon Smith (eng.) as well as Prof. Thomas Saalfeld (Comparative Politics), Dr. Viola Huang (American Studies) and Nora Gomringer (Villa Concordia) (ger.). Poetry reading with Dr. Laura Passin and Election Night Quiz with Dr. Nicole Konopka.
Dienstag, 3. November, 6:00-10:15 p.m., online event (via Zoom)
"With Modernity against Modernity: American Romanticism", PD Dr. Sascha Pöhlmann, University of Konstanz, Thursday, December 3, 2020, 2:14-3:45 p.m., online event (via Zoom)
"If She Can See It, She Can Be It: Women, Science, and Screens", Dr. Amy C. Chambers, Manchester Metropolitan University, Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 2:15-3:45 p.m., online event (via Zoom)
"Fiction after Postmodernism – New Realism, Contagion, and the Dystopian Imagination in Margaret Atwood’s Work", PD Dr. Karin Höpker, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Monday, Februar y 8, 2021, 10:15–11:45 a.m., online event (via Zoom)
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2019
"The (Im-)Possible Families of Henry Bibb: Black Families between Slavery and Freedom", Dr. Nele Sawallisch, Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies/Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Friday, May 3, 2019, 4:15-5:45 p.m., U5/01.17
"Agency and Gendered Spaces in Uranium City, Canada: A Visual Journey into Environmental Trauma", Prof. Robert Boschman, Mount Royal University Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Wednesday, May 8, 2019, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U9/01.11
"From Reconstruction to Charlottesville 2017: Legacies of the Civil War in the US South", Dr. Lucie Genay, Université de Limoges, France, Wednesday, June 5, 2019, 8:15-9:45 a.m., SP17/00.13
"Ubiquitous Radioactivity: Environmental Justice and the Nuclear Weapons Industry in the US Southwest", Dr. Lucie Genay, Université de Limoges, France, Thursday, June 6, 2019, 4:15-5:45 p.m., U5/01.18
"Rethinking How We Teach Literary Theory", Prof. Barry Laga, Colorado Mesa University, Wednesday, July 3, 2019, 6:15-7:45 p.m., KR14/00.06
"'When you're small, you gotta fix what you can': Overconsumption and Ecojustice in Beasts of the Southern Wild", Prof. Dr. Miriam Strube, Universität Paderborn, Tuesday, July 9, 2019, 6:15-7:45 p.m., U9/01.11
"Whiteness in Videogames", Prof. Dr. Randi Gunzenhäuser, Technische Universität Dortmund, Wednesday, July 17, 2019, 4:15-5:45 p.m., LU19/00.11
"Anocriticism as Resistance: Narratives of Age/ing Against the Grain", Prof. Dr. Roberta Maierhofer, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Thursday, July 25, 2019, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2018/2019
"Heroines of the Flood: What Afrofuturist science can teach us about environmental injustice, disability politics, and sustainable leadership", Prof. Elizabeth A. Wheeler, University of Oregon/Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Thursday, November 29, 2018, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
"Southern Modernisms", Prof. Dr. Jon Smith, Simon Frazer University, Canada, Friday, December 07, 2018, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/00.24
"America's Sweetheart Charms European Royals: Annie Oakley, Gun Culture, and Western Myths", PD Dr. Stefanie Schäfer, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Tuesday, January 08, 2019, 6-8 p.m., SP17/00.13
"'Essenz entsteht durch Quetschen': Emily Dickinsons Lyrik – Vortrag und Lesung", Gunhild Kübler (Zurich), Tuesday, January 22, 2019, 6:15-7:45 p.m., U5/00.24
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2018
"Is #MeToo sexy? Or: What Does it Mean for Women to Act Politically?", Dr. Claire Scott, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tuesday, June 05, 2018, 6-8 p.m., MG2/00.10
"A Sense of Social Justice? Photography and the Cold War Struggle against Poverty", Dr. Katharina Fackler, University of Graz, Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U5/02.18
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2017/2018
"Edgework: German and American Feminism, Gender, and Race", Prof. Dr. Jeanne Cortiel, Bayreuth University, Tuesday, November 21, 2017, 6 p.m.-7 p.m., U2/02.04
"Engel in Amerika - Shop Talk mit dem Dramaturgen", Remsi Al Khalisi, ETA Hofmann Theater, Bamberg, Friday, November 24, 2017, 12:15 - 1:45 p.m., U5/01.17 (Discussion in German!)
"From Devilish Dancing and Wicked Waltzing to American Modern Dance", Dr. Johanna Heil, University Marburg, Thursday, January 11, 2018, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2017
"Writing the Southwest", Prof. Dr. David King Dunaway, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, Thursday, May 04, 2017, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
"The 'iness' of 'not numerable whom': The Poetry & Paintings of E. E. Cummings", Dr. Vakrilen Kilyovski, University of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria, Thursday, May 18, 2017, 6:15-7:45 p.m., U2/02.04
"Negro Universities Press and the Archives of Abolitionism", Prof. Dr. Martha Schoolman, Florida International University, Miami, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 4:15-5.45 p.m., U7/01.05
"Emily Dickinson's Civil War", Prof. Dr. Colleen Glenney Boggs, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, Thursday, June 01, 2017, 2:15-3:45 p.m., U5/00.24
"The Allure of Diasporic Homecoming: Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father and Ika Hügel-Marshall's Daheim Unterwegs", Cedric Essi, M.A., University Bremen, Monday, July 10, 2017, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U5/01.18
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2016/2017
"American Election Night 2016: Wahlparty mit Podiumsdiskussion, Präsentation, Election Quiz und Live Coverage", Panel Discussion with Paul Henri-Campbell (German-American author and columnist), Prof. Dr. Thomas Saalfeld (Political Science, Univ. of Bamberg), Dr. Corina Schulze (Political Science, Univ. of South Alabama, USA), Prof. Dr. Christine Gerhardt (American Studies, Univ. of Bamberg), Tuesday, November 08, 2016, 8 pm, U7/01.05.
"Ghosts and Their Hosts: Spectrality in American Romantic Literature", Dr. Sladja Blažan, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 4:15-5:45 p.m., U2/00.25
"The Art of Plantation Management: Race, Risk, and Swamp Ecologies in Charles Sealsfield's Immigrant Nature Writing", Dr. Kellen Bolt, Northwestern University Evanston/Illinois, Thursday, December 08, 2016, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
"Nasty Women. Feminist Poetry in the Era of Trump: Poetry Reading & Discussion", Dr. Laura Passin, Portland/USA, Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/01.18
"The Cinema of Insanity: Madness and Normality in the Culture of the 1960s", Dr. Simon Schleusener, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U5/01.18
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2016
"Contested Canons? Toni Morrison and the Nobel Prize in Germany", Dr. Katharina Gerund, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, Friday, June 10, 2016, 10:15-11:45 a.m., U5/02.22
"The Homoerotics and Monstrous Otherness of Teen Wolf", Dr. Michael Johnson Jr., Washington State University, Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U5/01.18
"Why America doesn't know what to do with its own government: Trump, Sanders, and frankly, everyone else", Prof. Dr. Marcia Pally, New York University/Humboldt University, Wednesday, July 06, 2016, 2:15-3:45 p.m., U2/01.33
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2015/2016
"The Poem as Meeting Place: Why You Shouldn't Be Scared of Poetry", Dr. Laura Passin, Northwestern University Evanston/Illinois, Thursday, November 05, 2015, 4:15-5:45 p.m., U5/01.22
Author Reading & Discussion: "Writing the Female Body: Poetry and More with Laura Passin", Dr. Laura Passin, Northwestern University Evanston/Illinois, Saturday, November 07, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m., U7/01.05
"This One Summer – An Evening with the Author of the graphic Novel", Mariko Tamaki, Toronto, Monday, November 23, 2015, 8:00-9:30 p.m., U7/01.05
"Dogs at the Perimeter – Author Reading and Discussion", Madeleine Thien, Montreal, Tuesday, November 24, 2015, 8:00-9:30 p.m., Hübscher Bookstore Bamberg (Grüner Markt 16)
"The Lion Seeker – Author Reading and Discussion", Kenneth Bonert, Toronto, Saturday, November 28, 2015, 8:00-9:30 p.m., Hübscher Bookstore Bamberg (Grüner Markt 16)
"Mãn – Author Reading and Discussion", Kim Thúy, Quebec, Tuesday, December 01, 2015, 7:00-8:30 p.m., U5/01.22
"Milblogs and the Tradition of Pop Culture in the US Military", Dr. Frank Usbeck, TU Dresden/Universität Leipzig, Thursday, December 03, 2015, 6:15-7:45 p.m., U11/00.16
"Queer Performance in Transnational Spaces: Lady Gaga's Monster Ball", Dr. Katrin Horn, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Thursday, January 28, 2016, 12:15-1:45 p.m., U2/01.36
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2015
"How Deep is Oil? Energy Regimes and American Culture", Prof. Dr. Hannes Bergthaller, National Chung Hsing University/Universität Würzburg, Thursday, 07.05.2015
"Germany's Amerika-Häuser: Architecture in the Battle for Hearts and Minds", Dr. Johanna Blokker, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Tuesday, 02.06.2015
"Melville's Descent into the Maelstrom", Dr. Tom Whalen, State Academy for Art and Design, Stuttgart, Tuesday, 23.06.2015
"The Politics of Well-being: Countering Discrimination in Contemporary Disability Memoirs", Tanja Reiffenrath, M.A., Universität Paderborn, Wednesday, 24.06.2015
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2014/2015
"The End of Night? Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light", Dr. Paul Bogard, James Madison University Harrisonburg, Virginia, 13.11.2014
"Modernism, Totalitarianism, and Ezra Pound", Prof. Dr. Andrew S. Gross, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 18.11.2014
"The Straw That Broke; Or, Science Fiction and Ontology in the Age of Post-Humanism", Dr. Tom Whalen, New Orleans/Stuttgart, 25.11.2014
"Hund-Werden, Mensch-Werden. Kanidenhybriden in der Gegenwartskunst", Dr. Jessica Ullrich, University Erlangen/Kunstpalais Erlangen, 16.12.2014
"The Myths That Made America", Prof. Dr. Heike Paul, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 08.01.2015
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2014
"'Red, White and Blue' oder 'Black, Brown and Beige'.Zum Verhältnis zwischen Jazz und Politik in den USA des 20sten Jahrhunderts", Dr. Wolfram Knauer, Jazzinstitut Darmstadt, 06.05.2014
"Picturing Black Hawk: 'Indian' Portraits and Cultural Exchange", Dr. Jane Simonsen, Augustana College, Illinois/University of Regensburg, 24.06.2014
"Useful or Useless: Ruminations on Labeling Something Postmodern", Prof. Dr. Barry Laga, Colorado Mesa University/University of Leipzig, 03.07.2014
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2013/2014
"'And So the Password Is --?': Vladimir Nabokov and the Ethics of Rereading", Dr. Tom Whalen, University of Bamberg, 29.10.2013
"Cold War, Warm Gun: Violence and Domesticity in High Noon (1952)", Dr. Steven D. Reschly and Dr. Lynn Rose, Truman State University, Missouri, 26.11.2013
"Iago's Motives: Psychosexuality in the Destruction of Othello", Prof. Jonathan Crewe, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 09.12.2013
"'Less Than Perfect': Negotiating Breast Cancer in the Contemporary Popular Romance", Prof. Melissa Zeiger, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 11.12.2013
"New Stories about Old Age: Queer Aging in North American Fiction", Linda Heß, M.A., Universität Münster, 30.01.2014
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2013
"The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish", Poetry Reading with Joshua Weiner, American Poet from Washington D.C., 03.06.2013
"Mark Twain: The Man in White and His Autobiographies", Prof. Dr. Roberta Maierhofer, Universität Graz, 06.06.2013
"Seasons of Blood: Humanity at the Crossroads. A Canadian Poet's Perspective", Poetry Reading with Henry Beissel, Ottawa and Concordia University, Montreal, 11.06.2013
"Deviant Behavior: Reading and Writing Critical Fiction", Dr. Tom Whalen, University Bamberg, 08.07.2013
"Postmodern Laughter", Prof. Dr. Randi Gunzenhäuser, TU Dortmund, 11.07.2013
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2012/13
"'The Land is Deep in Time': Stories, Places, Immigrants and Indigeneity in Canada", Prof. Dr. Hartmut Lutz, University of Greifswald, 21.01.2013
"American Election Night 2012: Wahlparty mit Podiumsdiskussion, Präsentation, Election Quiz und Live Coverage", Diskussion mit Mike Pilewski (Spotlight), Nora Gomringer (Villa Concordia), Prof. Dr. Thomas Saalfeld (Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft), Prof. Dr. Christine Gerhardt (Amerikanistik), 26.11.2012
"Americanism, anti-Americanism and the 2012 Presidential Election", Brendon O'Connor, University of Sidney, 29.10.2012
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2012
"The Freakshow. Representations of Extraordinary Bodies in the 19th Century", Dr. Andrea Zittlau, Universität Rostock, 03.05.2012
"Coming Face to Face with the Past - A Personal History of Civil War Reenacting in the United States", Claire Scott, Dartmouth College, 14.05.2012
"From Sojourner Truth to Michelle Obama: Black Women's Role in the African American Freedom Struggle", PD Dr. Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson, LMU/ GHI Washington D.C., 19.06.2012
"Ecocriticism, Risk, and Climate Change Fiction", Prof. Dr. Sylvia Mayer, Universität Bayreuth, 20.06.2012
"Gendering the Civil War: Reimagination des Krieges in Hollywood", Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen, Universität Zürich, 26.06.2012
"The Languages of Expansion in America: Imperial Policies and the Antebellum Novel", Dr. Gabriella Vöő, University of Pécs, Hungary, 27.06.2012
"The Role of Race and Religion in the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election", Prof. Dr. David Canon, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 05.07.2012
"Underground Environments and the Texas Oil Gothic", Dr. Georgiana Banita, Universität Bamberg, 11.07.2012
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2011/12
"'Leitkultur' oder 'Multikulturalismus'? Nationale Identität in den USA und Frankreich im Vergleich", Prof. Dr. Berndt Ostendorf, LMU München, 28.11.2011
"Edgar Allan Poe",Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck, Universität Freiburg, 15.12.2011
"America's Newest Voting Bloc: Who Are the 'New Evangelicals'? - and other remarks about the 2012 US presidential election", Prof. Dr. Marcia Pally, New York University, 10.01.2012
"Amerika, im Hinterhof erklärt - Der Comic-Strip Gasoline Alley von Frank King", Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17.01.2012
Guest Lectures Summer Term 2011
"Climate Refugees", Michael P. Nash, USA: Screening and Q&A with the director, 06.05.2011
"Meat in the Middle: Converging Borderlands in the U.S. Midwest, 1865-1900", Prof. Kristin Hoganson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 23.05.2011
"The Selling of Soul: African American Radio, Record Stores and Consumer Culture", Prof. Joshua C. Davis, University of North Carolina, 24.05.2011
"Staring at the Amish: An American Mirror", Prof. M. Lynn Rose & Prof. Steven D. Reschly, Truman State University, 20.06.2011
"The Pennsylvania Germans: Over 300 Years of Secular Integration and Religious Separation", Prof. Leo Gruber, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 04.07.2011
"American Culture and Trauma Since 9/11", Dr. Alexander Dunst University of Nottingham/Berlin, 21.07.2011
Guest Lectures Winter Term 2010/11
"Making America - Editing a New Literary History of America", Prof. Dr. Werner Sollors, Harvard University, 13.01.2011