V (Cult) American Cultural Historiography: Constituting Subjects and Groups in the U.S.

This survey lecture course provides a general overview of US cultural history from the early European colonial settlement of North America to recent moments in a transnationally situated United States. It will heighten an understanding of the writing of American cultural history by way of focusing on the ways in which the (textual and visual) material through which history can be understand also constitutes notions of “American subjects” and demographic groups. The lecture provides insights into how crucial dates, periods, sites, and issues of American culture shape concepts of American selves and groups and this way also points to general dynamics of cultural differentiation and the de/stabilization of social inequalities. The lecture will address how central texts of American cultural history constitute various American counter/publics before and during the process of nation building. It will also provide reflections on the medial and discursive effects of these texts on constituting subject and group positions during their times and beyond.

All PPT slides and additional material will be made available on OPAL. 

The content of the survey lecture course will be relevant for the oral exam in the “Überblicksmodul.” For students who need to do an “Prüfungsleistungen,” this course offers a “Klausur” (90 minutes) and a “Kurzüberprüfung” (45 minutes). Both exam formats will be given during the last session of the semester. Details on the mode of these exams will be provided in advance. Students who wish to have their attendance of the lecture course certified do not need to take any test.

The lecture course begins in the first week of the semester.