Coordinated PhD program of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Georgia State University, Atlanta, and Peking University
19.07.2009 - 01.08.2009
In recognition of the nationally and internationally renowned profile of Johannes Gutenberg University in the field of American Studies and the strengths of Georgia State University, Atlanta, and Peking University in the field of Southern Studies, the German Academic Exchange Service is co-sponsoring theinternational and interdisciplinary PhD program "American Studies in a Global World." The program's first summer school will take place at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from July 19 to August 1, 2009. Its topic: "The South in Global Perspectives."
The summer school seeks to reflect upon current disciplinary developments that have been strongly influenced by the "transnational turn" within the field of American Studies. PhD candidates will be working together with highly reputable guest professors in an international and interdisciplinary context. The chosen guest professors from the United States, Europe, and China are either working at centers of transcultural research, such as the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi (Katie McGee and Charles Wilson), or they are internationally renowned experts in the field (John Wideman and Günter Lenz).
In the coming year, 20 PhD candidates and prominent experts from Germany, the United States, and China will meet in summer schools in the respective countries to analyze research in the field of transnational American Studies. The subjects of the summer schools will include processes of transculturation, the plural and global possibilities of American Studies, and current theoretical conceptualizations of internationalism, cosmopolitanism, and globalization. The participants will analyze cultural, literary, geographical, historical and political interdependencies and interactions. In studying the phenomenon of the "Global South", participants will gain new insights into the political and cultural power of the United States, and, with respect to globalization, they will build stimulating interdisciplinary connections helpful for the further development of American Studies.
The planned summer schools are co-sponsored by the "binational PhD-Network" of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Research Center Social and Cultural Sciences Mainz (SOCUM) of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the University's Center for Intercultural Studies.