Abstract:

My presentation is going to outline the current state of my research, as originally intended for the “Research in Progress Colloquium” earlier this year. I will thus first introduce my topic in general terms. Then, I will describe the methodological approach by outlining how the concept of “honor” was understood during the time period in question. Next, I will explain how I am attempting to utilize this methodology by providing a brief case study to illustrate how “honor” informed US foreign policy at the time.

Speaker's Bio: Marius Kleinknecht is a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of North American Studies. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degree at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, also at the Freie Universität Berlin. The dissertation project analyzes US foreign policy with the so-called “Barbary States,” from 1776 to 1815. Specifically, the project seeks to investigate in how far the notion of (both personal as well as national) “honor” has informed the understanding of these cross-cultural encounters during times of peace, crisis, and war. Prior to his doctoral candidacy, Kleinknecht has also worked as assistant to the director at the Museum THE KENNEDYS in Berlin.