On June 28 and 29, the Regensburg European American Forum celebrated its tenth anniversary with a conference touching on the core issues and interests that have been shaping REAF since its inception in 2008.
After an introduction by Dr. Birgit Bauridl (REAF Managing Director) and official greetings by Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel (President UR, REAF Founding Director) and Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat (Dean of the Faculty, REAF Co-Director), the keynote speaker and Vielberth Fellow Prof. Dr. David Savran (CUNY, REAF Fellow) took the stage to speak on the topic of haunted houses on the American theater stages from a performance studies angle, which was followed by a lively discussion moderated by Florian Weinzierl (REAF Coordinator).
The second day was kicked off by Fulbright Visiting Prof. Dr. Ben Chappell (University of Kansas, REAF Fellow) and a talk on the encroachment of neoliberalism on (digital) landscapes of knowledge production, which was chaired by Regensburg graduate student Luis Groitl. The following presentations by Dr. Jennifer Reimer (University of Graz, Lise-Meitner Fellow), chaired by Carolina Giavedoni (REAF Assistant), by Dr. Leopold Lippert (University of Vienna), chaired by Kate Sherman (REAF Assistant), and Prof. Dr. Heike Paul (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg), chaired by Tamara Heger (UR), engaged the historical and cultural dynamics of Transnational American Studies: Dr. Reimer shed light on the continuous disappearances of Mexican (indigenous) women in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands as well as the political and cultural-activist reactions to them, such as the Ni Una Más-movement; Dr. Lippert investigated the (queer) ‘transatlantic politics of freedom’ between Portugal and the North American colonies in the little-known and even less researched 1775 publication Adventures of Alonso; Prof. Dr. Paul discussed historical stepping stones of the “fictions of a ‘White Atlantic’” in a genealogical effort to trace the Nazi ideology of the Volkskörper transnationally to the United States.
The last event of the conference was a roundtable on “Area Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” moderated by Prof. Hebel, during which the interdisciplinary participants, Prof. Dr. Ulf Brunnbauer (CITAS), Prof. Depkat, Dr. Gerlinde Groitl (CITAS), and Prof. Dr. Jochen Mecke (CITAS, Speaker) discussed the ‘productive frictions’ between different disciplinary definitions of the concept of ‘the area.’
REAF wishes to thank all the speakers, chairs, behind-the-scenes staff, and of course the many conference participants and guests that have made this anniversary conference an academically productive and lively occasion.
A special thanks also goes to the students of the class “Local or Global? Performance in America” (co-taught by Dr. Bauridl at UR and Dr. Pia Wiegmink at U Mainz), who exhibited their performance studies projects in the form of creative and interactive posters as well as elaborate and crafty installations to the interest and delight of all conference participants.
For the full conference program, please click here.
