Talk-shop: American Studies and the U.S. State

International Committee of the American Studies Association; Meeting October 8-11, 2015 in Toronto, Canada

American Studies internationalized shortly after it was institutionalized within the United States. Both the institutionalization of the discipline of American Studies in the United States and the internationalization of the discipline abroad have been made possible through financial support and guidance from the U.S. State. Private foundations working with the interests of the U.S. State during the Cold War institutionalized American studies program in the U.S.. Similarly, the U.S. State Department funded American studies programs abroad as an aspect of Cold War cultural diplomacy.

Yet, American studies has always been an unruly discipline and practitioners both within the United States and internationally never fulfilled the U.S. State’s interest in exceptionalist American studies. Moreover, as the geopolitical relationship of the United States to the world has changed following the Cold War, American studies is internationalizing in new geographies, like the Middle East, where American power is no longer as influential as it was during the Cold War.

This talk-shop concerns the relationship of the discipline of American studies both in the U.S. and internationally to the U.S. State. What is the state of the field’s relationship to the U.S. State in different geographical locations? How might the end of the Cold War transform the meaning of American studies outside of the United States and within? What does the declining influence of American geopolitical power mean for the institutionalization of the discipline internationally?

Please send short proposal and CV to Bryce Traister (traister@uwo.ca) or Alex Lubin  (alubin@unm.edu) before Jan. 31, 2015.