International Graduate Conference 2017
The Revolution Will Not Be Peer-Reviewed
American Disconnects and the Production of Knowledge
Graduate Conference at the Graduate School of North American Studies
John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universität Berlin – May 5 and 6, 2017
The conference will be held at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Lansstr. 7- 9, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem (close to U3 station Dahlem-Dorf). All events will take place in Room 340 (top floor). Coffee will be provided during breaks.
Friday, May 5
| 8.30 am | Welcome and registration |
| 9.00 am | Opening remarks by Frank Kelleter (John F. Kennedy Institute) |
| 9.30 am – 11.00 am | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
The Politics of Academic Knowledge Chair: Simon Strick, Freie Universität Berlin (Cultural Studies) |
|
| Heleen Blommers (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) |
“Lyndon B. Johnson and the experts: How Academia shaped the War on Poverty” |
| Gonçalo Piolti Cholant (Universidade de Coimbra) |
“From Intersectionality to an Ecology of Knowledges” |
| Rahab Njeri (Universität Trier) |
“Reclaiming Black Spaces in German Academia” |
| 11.00 am | Break |
| 11.30 am – 1.00 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
Poetics of Dis/Reconnection Chair: Birte Wege, Freie Universität Berlin (Literature) |
|
| Johannes Kohrs (Freie Universität Berlin) |
The Black Radical in the Ivory Tower: Satire Satirized in Percival Everett’s Erasure” |
| Riley Nisbet (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) |
“Radical Code Switching and Immigrant Identity in Junot Diaz's 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'” |
| Najoua Stambouli (Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, Sousse) |
“Postmodern Poetics in Adrienne Rich’s 'Heroines': A Step toward Social Change” |
| 1.00 pm | Lunch break (meal not provided but several options nearby) |
| 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
Trump and the Circumstances: The Making of a New Populism Chair: Ilaria Scaglia, Freie Universität Berlin (History) |
|
| Katharina Thalmann (Universität Tübingen) |
“Conspiracy Theory in the Age of Trump(ism)” |
| Simon Schleusener (Universität Würzburg): |
“Political Disconnects: Donald Trump, the Cultural Left, and the Crisis of Neoliberalism” |
| 3.00 pm | Break |
| 3.30 pm – 5.00 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
Disconnected: Questioning the Academic Production of Knowledge Chair: Sebastian Jobs, Freie Universität Berlin (History) |
|
| Thorn Kray (JLU Gießen) |
“Unpractical, Inaccessible, Contentious, and Always Ready for Critique: Four Reasons Why the Humanities Are Disconnected From Civil Society” |
| Madita Oeming (Universität Paderborn) |
“Out of the Box – Lessons Learnt from Being a Porn Scholar” |
| Fabius Mayland (Freie Universität Berlin) |
“Attached You Find My Proposal” |
| 5.00 pm | Break |
| 5.30 pm |
Keynote: Larycia Hawkins (University of Virginia) Chair: Teresa de Lauretis (UC Santa Cruz/Freie Universität Berlin) |
| After | Dinner (free buffet provided by GSNAS, set up outside Room 340) |
Saturday, May 6
| 10.30 am | Welcome and registration |
| 11.00 am – 12.30 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
Performing Politics: Activism in Popular Culture Chair: Martin Lüthe, Freie Universität Berlin (Cultural Studies) |
|
| Ewa Adamkiewicz (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz) |
“Traditions of Black Dissent: Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar” |
| Teresa Teklic (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) |
“The Stories We Tell: Cultural Activism in Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher’s Art Project Learning To Love You More” |
| Lee Flamand (Freie Universität Berlin) |
“Entertainment is the New Activism: The Impassioned Politics of Orange is the New Black” |
| 12.30 pm | Lunch break (meal not provided but several options nearby) |
| 1.30 pm – 3.00 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
America in Global Perspectives Chair: Nadja Klopprogge, Freie Universität Berlin (History) |
|
| Karin Louise Hermes (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
“'We are not Americans!' – Indigenous Sovereignty in Hawai‘i in the Age of Trump” |
| Olga Korytowska (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw) |
“American Studies and Gender Trouble: ‘Gender’ as a Foreign Ideology in Right-Wing Polish Discourse” |
|
Muhammad Naseem Khan Achakzai |
“'Foreign' Perspectives on American Foreign Policy” [video contribution] |
| 3.00 pm | Break |
| 15.30 pm – 4.30 pm | Room 340 |
|---|---|
|
Reconnecting: Movements in the University and Beyond Chair: Markus Kienscherf, Freie Universität Berlin (Sociology) |
|
| Amanda Priebe (Abolition Journal) |
“Against and Beyond Academia: the Abolition Journal Project“ |
| Michael C. Gilbert (independent researcher): |
“The Third Sector Becomes Movement: Academia-in-Civil-Society at the Existential Abyss” |
| 4.30 pm | Break |
| 5.00 pm | “Media, New Authoritarianism, and the Trials of the Next Left” A Roundtable Discussion with Chris Spannos (New Internationalist) and Jerome Roos (University of Cambridge/ROAR Magazine) |
