Highlights

Outreach Symposium: "Your (Hi)story Matters: Das Projekt 'ReMember' der KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg."

How do we frame the future of memory? How can we permanently fight racism, antisemitism, and ideologies of injustice? And: in which society do we really want to live? On December 8th, 2020, we dealt with these and more questions in a digital film screening and roundtable for the project "ReMember."

Collab.: Regensburg European American Forum / Regensburg Leibniz ScienceCampus / KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg. Virtual Screening & Panel Discussion, 8. Dec. 2020.

Org. Dennis Forster, Birgit Hebel-Bauridl. 

Speakers: Aziz Hosseini, Larisa-Maria Lucaci, Paulo Jorge Alexandre Epalanga, Bilind Ezden Shamo (Participants Project ReMember); Ahmad Mansour (MIND Prevention); Prof. Dr. Jörg Skriebeleit, Dennis Forster, Burak Yilmaz (Flossenbürg Memorial); Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel (President UR); Hermann Josef Eckl (Campus Asyl e.V.); Thalia Prokopiou, Vita Zelenska (Doctoral Candidate LSC); Prof. Dr. Meike Munser-Kiefer (UR Center for Education and Migration); Dr. Birgit Hebel-Bauridl, Prof. Dr. Anne Steigemann (UR) 

Cooperation with CITAS: Brownbag Session with Pia Wiegmink

On January 15th, Interim Chair of the American Studies Department at UR Pia Wiegmink shared with students and other scholars her work regarding "Transatlantic Affective Communities in the Abolitionist Gift Book The Liberty Bell (1839-1859)". This talk was a part of the Brownbag Session Series organized by our partner CITAS.

REAF Participation in University Podium Discussion on Antisemitism

On January 22nd, the University of Regensburg hosted a podium discussion on the topic of Antisemitism. Moderated by REAF Co-Director Stephan Bierling, Ludwig Spaenle (Bavarian Antisemitism Commissioner), Sandra Simovich (Israel's consulate-general) , as well as UR’s Ursula Regener and Henning Ernst Müller discussed the multilayered forms and consequences of antisemitism, the need for a vivid memory culture as well as the future of an open-minded global society.

Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel underlining the importance of political engagement and responsibility of academia - one of REAF's core interests and inspiration for this event series. Guests were grateful to Thomas Muggentaler for talking the time to discuss various aspects of the film with them after the screening.

Film Screening and Discussion: Todeszug in die Freiheit

On December 10th, in the second official event of REAF's Political Engagment and Responsiblity Event Series, we were delighted to be able to screen the documentary "Todeszug in die Freiheit" by Andrea Mocellin and Thomas Muggenthaler in cooperation with IOS. Co-creator Thomas Muggenthaler was available after the screening for questions and discussion, which was greatly appreciated by all in attendance.

For more information, please read the event's press release.

Prof. Dr. Frank Mehring during his CITAS Brownbag Session in cooperation with REAF. Here, Prof. Dr. Mehring was giving a talk titled "Transnational Life Writing: Re-Mapping the Life and Oeuvre of the German-American Painter, Designer and Teacher Winold Reiss."
 

Guest Scholar: Frank Mehring

REAF was delighted to have REAF Fellow Frank Mehring, who was sponsored by Erasmus, at UR this November. During his time here, he gave a CITAS Brownbag Session talk on Winold Reiss, hosted a Roundtable with graduate students, and gave a lecture titled ""Media, Memory, and Liberation: Marketing American Heroism in Transnational Contexts?", which focussed primarily on how American Heroism is marketed in areas of the Netherlands.

Prof. Dr. Joy Castro listening to Prof. Dr. Ursuala Regener reading from the German translation of her book.

Guest Scholar: Joy Castro


On Tuesday, 29 October visiting author Joy Castro read from a variety of her works to a captivated crowd. She was accompanied by Ursula Regener (UR), who read from a German translation of one of the works.
The next day, Prof. Dr. Joy Castro led a roundtable on the subject “Writing Memoir, Writing Crime: Creative Vision as Sociopolitical Intervention”. The well-attended events were greatly enjoyed by all those who participated.

Students were able to discuss their ongoing projects with Prof. Jones and receive valuable feedback during the Research Roundtable portion of the afternoon.

REAF Research Afternoon

On July 18th, REAF was delighted to have Alexander Vazansky and Jeannette E. Jones from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln be a part of its research afternoon. After hearing Prof. Vazansky's talk titled "I'll Bleed for Myself:' Black Power and Anti-Vietnam Activism in the U.S. Army in Germany", those in attendance were able to participate in a research roundtable lead by Prof. Jones.  

Partner Event: CITAS Dialog Series

On Thursday May 16, REAF Adminstrative Manager, Tamara Heger and CITAS Manager Paul Vickers had a lively discussion with their guest, journalist Madeleine Schwartz, as a part of the CITAS Dialog Series.

Read more here.

These were the candidates who Molly Selvin and David Rubenson canvassed for in the state of California.

Citizen Volunteers Share Their Experiences

On Tuesday May 14th,  inviting host and REAF Co-Director, Prof. Dr. Stephan Bierling, was delighted to welcome citizen volunteers Molly Selvin and David Rubenson to UR. With this international politics event, students were given the opportunitiy to hear about the couple's first hand experiences working in various regions of the US canvasing for Democratic party candidates in the 2018 US- Congressional elections.

Read more here.

Full Program here.

CITAS Conference

On May 2-4, CITAS hosted its first conference, which was entitled "Obsolete, Resilient, Resurgent: The Nation State in a Globalized World". We greatly enjoyed experiencing and participating in some of the latest research in the field of Area Studies at this conference.

Dr. Leonard Schmieding shared his experiences of working on two of his projects, one located in Münster and the other in Charlottesville, VA. 

New Series Launch

This past semester REAF launched its new series, the Lecture in Political Engagement and Responsibility.

To kick off this new series, Leonard Schmieding talked about "Populism and Public History: Current Challenges in a Transatlantic Perspective" on January 30.

Read more here.

Students greatly appreciated hearing from General ret. Ben Hodges and his thoughts on the current state of transatlantic relations.

International Politics Panel: Transatlantic Relations Today

On January 15 from 4-6 pm in H24 Lieutenant General ret. Ben Hodges, (former commander of the US-Army in Europe/USAEUR 2014-17) had a lively discussion with Prof. Dr. Stephan Bierling  (REAF Co-Director and inviting host), Dr. Gerlinde Groitl, and students about the state of "Transatlantic Relations Today" and the US (military) presence in Europe. 

Read more here.

International Politics Panel

On November 27, REAF Co-director Stephan Bierling and US-Consul General Meghan Gregonis had an open discussion concerning  "The US-Midterms and the Future of the transatlantic Relationship". Prof. Bierling and the US-Consul were then joined by Gerlinde Groitl, Volker Depkat, and Udo Hebel who also shared their perspectives of the current state of the transatlantic relationship from their various areas of study.

Read more here.

Ulrike Strauss pictured with REAF Managing

Director Dr. Birgit Bauridl at the beginning of the interesting discussion.

REAF Career with Ulrike Strauss

On November 26, REAF was fortunate enough to continue their REAF Career series by inviting Ulrike Strauss, Senior Management Outreach & Engagement for the Munich Security Conference to speak with graduate students. The REAF Career series allows students the opportunity to engage with UR American Studies alumni whose careers represent the breadth of potential industries and fields of work, post-graduation.

Read more here.

REAF Participation in CITAS Ringvorlesung

REAF Co-Directors Volker Depkat and Birgit Bauridl gave lectures within the fascinating series "Jenseits der Nation? Internationale und transnationale Ordnungen und Identitäten" on November 5,2018 and January 21, 2019 respectively.

Prof. Dr. David Savran gives keynote lecture at REAF @ 10 Conference. Here pictured with the other conference speakers: Prof. Dr. Heike Paul, Dr. Leopold Lippert, Dr. Jennifer Reimer, and Prof. Dr. Ben Chappell.

Vielberth Fellow David Savran

This semester, REAF was fortunate enough to be able to bring accomplished Performance Studies scholar David Savran (CUNY) to UR as a REAF Fellow with the generous support of the Vielberth Foundation. In addition to his keynote lecture for our anniversary conference, Prof. Savran gave two additional talks and hosted a research roundtable together with Regensburg American Studies students.

Read more here.

REAF Managing Dir. Dr. Birgit Bauridl; Conference Speakers Dr. Jennifer Reimer, Prof. Dr. Heike Paul, Prof. Dr. David Savran, Prof. Dr. Ben Chappell, Dr. Leopold Lippert; REAF Co-Directors Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat, Prof. Dr. Stephan Bierling, Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel

REAF@10 Conference

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.

Feel free to read about the details of the event here.

Dr. Jennifer Reimer shares her experiences of her time as an educator in Turkey. 

Roundtable with Dr. Jennifer Reimer

On Thursday, 28 June 2018, REAF hosted a roundtable with Dr. Jennifer Reimer (University of Graz, Lise-Meitner Fellow) titled “Academic Freedom? The Politics and Practice of Transnational American Studies in Turkey and around the Globe.”

In an engaging and critical manner, Dr. Reimer spoke from a biographical perspective about her experiences as an American Studies scholar in Turkey during the political upheavals specifically during and after the mid-2013 Gezi Park protests.

Read more here.

Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat receives responses to his work from the panel: Prof. Dr. Stephan Bierling (UR) and Prof. Dr. Ben Chappell (KU), moderated by Prof. Dr. Hebel (UR).

REAF Book Project Presentation

In the evening hours of 12 June 2018, Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat (REAF Board of Co-Directors) presented his forthcoming book project titled “American Exceptionalism” to an interested crowd at the University of Regensburg’s Kunsthalle.  After presenting his theses and chapters, Prof. Depkat received responses from an interdisciplinary panel. 

Read more here.

Conference Organized by REAF Co-Director

REAF members enjoyed attending a conference organized by one of our Co-Directors which took place on June 7 and 8, 2018: "Außenpolitik in einer instabilen Welt: Deutschland nach den Bundestagswahlen" . 

Organizers: Prof. Dr. Stephan Bierling (REAF Board, International Politics and Transatlantic Relations) and Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meier-Walser (Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung)

Full program available here.

UR students gather around Helen Albert and her daughter Sarah after their generation talk at Flossenbürg; also with Sonja Sczech, guide at the memorial, Julius Scharnetzky, from the memorial’s educational department (left), as well as REAF Board Member Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat and REAF Managing Director Dr. Birgit Bauridl (right).

REAF Excursion to Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial for Generation Talk

On Friday, 20 April 2018, a group of 22 UR American Studies, European American Studies, and Political Science students joined REAF for an excursion to the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial. After an informative guided tour of the former camp grounds led by Sonja Sczech, the group had the chance to explore the permanent and temporary exhibitions of the memorial before receiving the unique opportunity of a generation talk with the daughter and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Read more here.

REAF Fellow: Prof. Dr. Ben Chappell

We had the privilege of having Prof. Chappell as a REAF Fellow and Fulbright Visiting Professor for the summer term at UR.

Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Kansas, he is the author of Lowrider Space: Aesthetics and Politics of Mexican American Custom Cars as well as numerous articles and essays on ethnography and cultural politics.

We greatly enjoyed having this prolific and wonderful scholar with us for an entire semester! 

Read more here.

REAF Exec. Dir. Dr. Birgit Bauridl; former REAF Visiting Scholars Prof. Dr. Randal Jelks (U of Kansas), Prof. Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (U of Delaware), Prof. Dr. Barry Shank (Ohio State U), Dr. Leopold Lippert (U of Salzburg); REAF Founding Dir. Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel

ASA Panel in Chicago

From November 9th to 12th, 2017, the American Studies Association gathered for its Annual Meeting in Chicago, this year on the topic of “Pedagogies of Dissent.” REAF was happy to see so many former REAF Visiting Scholars in Illinois! REAF Executive Director and ASA International Committee Member Dr. Birgit Bauridl organized and chaired a workshop on “Whose Protest Is It Anyway? Transnational Performances, Practices, and Responsibilities of Dissent”.

Read more here. And view our picture gallery here.

Berkeley’s Vice Provost and Senior International Officer Prof. Dr. Tsu-Jae King Liu and UR President Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel (front) sign an agreement; Dr. Birgit Bauridl (REAF Exec. Dir.), Prof. Dr. Jeroen Dewulf (Dir. Institute of European Studies, Berkeley) and Prof. Dr. Ulf Brunnbauer (Dir. Regensburg Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies) (back) 

UR delegation at the University of California, Berkeley

In November 2017, a delegation of the University of Regensburg—Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel (President UR), Prof. Dr. Ulf Brunnbauer (Director of Regensburg’s Leibniz Institute for East and South East European Studies), and Dr. Birgit Bauridl (REAF Executive Director)—visited the University of California, Berkeley. President Hebel and Berkeley’s Vice Provost and Senior International Officer Prof. Dr. Tsu-Jae King Liu signed an agreement between the two institutions. REAF met with former REAF guest Prof. Dr. Jeroen Dewulf, Director of Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies. We look forward to our future collaboration.

Guest Lecture by Dr. Allison Stagg

On 7 December, Dr. Allison Stagg from the JFK Institute Berlin gave a lecture on "James Akin and 'A Philosophic Cock': Caricature Prints in America: 1800-1820". See our photo gallery here.

REAF UR@50 Anniversary Lecture with Dr. Jörg Skriebeleit, Director Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial

Anlässlich des 50-jährigen Jubiläums der Universität Regensburg lud das Regensburg European American Forum (REAF) herzlich ein zu einem Vortrag von Dr. Jörg Skriebeleit, Direktor der KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg, zum Thema „Taten und Orte—Tatorte: Flossenbürg, München, Fürstenfeldbruck.“

Die Veranstaltung wurde moderiert von Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel, Präsident der Universität Regensburg und REAF Founding Director
und fand am Dienstag, 5. Dezember 2017, um 18.00 (s.t.) im Großen Sitzungssaal des Philosophikums (PT 3.0.79) statt.

A picture gallery is available here.

YO/UR Future: American Studies Day with REAF

On 26 October 2017, the Regensburg European American Forum hosted an American Studies workshop for Dr. Susanne Auflitsch’s W-Seminar “The U.S. South: Perspectives on History, Culture, Literature” (Gymnasium Neutraubling) as part of REAF Outreach. The high school students were greeted by REAF Executive Director Dr. Birgit Bauridl, who introduced the students both to Regensburg American Studies and to REAF. This was followed by a meet and greet with Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat (Professor, American Studies), who shed light on how to become a professor and answered the seminarians’ questions about their current research projects.

Read more here.

Sabine Kirmayer at KU

From September 30th until October 9th 2017, the Department for American Study’s office manager, Sabine Kirmayer, received the opportunity to go abroad to our American Studies partner department at Kansas University in Lawrence, KS. This exchange was sponsored by the staff mobility program of the University of Regensburg’s initiative “Internationalisierung der Verwaltung,” designed to facilitate intercultural University exchanges at the staff level.

Graduate Student Semester Opening 2017

On 16 October 2017, the Regensburg European American Forum was happy to welcome the new cohort in the European-American Studies Master program. The first-year Master students from regional, national, as well as international backgrounds were warmly welcomed at the Haus der Begegnung in Regensburg’s historic center by Dr. Birgit Bauridl (REAF Executive Director), Prof. Dr. Timo Müller (Chair, American Studies), and Prof. Dr. Volker Depkat (Professor, American Studies).

Read more here.

On July 27, visiting Professor Dr. Jeannette Jones from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln held a guest lecture on "A Proud Yankee in Sultan's Court: White American Manhood, Race, and U.S. Power in the Indian Ocean." After the lecture, interested students and faculty participated in a lively discussion with our guest.

During her four weeks at the University of Regensburg, Prof. Dr. Jeannette Jones furthermore offered a Hauptseminar/Cultural Studies Advanced seminar on "Critical Black Studies: From the Rise of Hip-Hop to the Post-Obama Era." 

Professor Jones's stay was supported by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst.

For photos of the event, please visit our picture gallery.

On July 20, Prof. Dr. David Savran from the City University of New York (CUNY) held a guest lecture on "The Globalization of the Broadway Musical" followed by a lively discussion round with students and faculty.

The event was followed by a REAF Open House in honor of Prof. Savran and visiting Professor Dr. Jeannette Eileen Jones. Here again, interested students and faculty had the opportunity to casually talk to Prof. Savran and Prof. Jones.

For photos of the event, please visit our picture gallery.

On May 17, the Regensburg European American Forum launched REAF Career, a new format that will establish connecting points between academia and career opportunities outside of university. UR American Studies alumni whose careers have taken them to a variety of places will talk about their career choices after graduating and answer questions.

At the first REAF Career Conversation, UR American Studies alumna Dr. Susanne Ehrenreich-Blažeković (Linde AG) talked about her career since she left the University of Regensburg, gave advice and helpful tips to current students, and answerd questions from the audience.

For photos of the event, please visit our picture gallery.

On May 11, REAF opened its Summer 2017 program with a REAF UR@50 Anniversary Lecture and Commentary. Prof. Dr. John Carlos Rowe from the University of Southern California held a guest lecture with the title "'O Carib Isle!' or 'Scattered Moluccas'? Édouard Glissant's Pacific Relations," followed by a response by Prof. Dr. Alfred Hornung from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

The event was chaired by Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel, REAF Founding Director.

For photos of the event, please visit our picture gallery.

Prof. Dr. Ilka Saal of the University of Erfurt visited the University of Regensburg on 2 February 2017. On this day the Professor held a guest lecture titled "Collusions of Fact and Fiction: A Historiopoetic Approach to American Slavery in the Works of Suzan Lori Parks and Kara Walker."

Read more about Prof. Dr. Ilka Saal