Burger King and Transnational American Studies: Lessons from the 2013 Nordic Association for American Studies Conference

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-123
Author(s):  
Abby Goode ◽  
AnaMaria Seglie
Keyword(s):  
American Studies ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Transnational American Studies ◽  
Scholarly Practice ◽  
The U.S

This article explores the incongruities between transnational American studies as theorized and practiced. Inspired by our experience at the 2013 Nordic Association of American Studies (NAAS) conference, we discuss the challenges of practicing “transnational” American studies within specific nation- and regionbased communities. U.S. scholars tend to conceptualize “transnational” American Studies as an attempt to destabilize U.S. nation—a broadening of the geopolitical frames of reference to promote a variety of heuristics such as hemispheric, Atlantic, circum-Caribbean, borderlands, and transpacific. Scholars at the NAAS conference foregrounded emergent trends and lines of exchange that are sometimes elided in a transnational American studies conceived largely from the vantage point of the U.S. While many themes emerged at the NAAS conference, we examine how the focus on Scandinavian-American relations, Asia, and transnational families help us rethink the transnational turn in American Studies and the borders that bind its practice. In this context, we discuss the paradox of transnational American Studies – that, despite its aim to expand toward an all-encompassing “transnational” paradigm, it remains defined by our geopolitical positions. This paradox presents opportunities for theorizing the divide between American studies and its varying scholarly terrains, especially through international scholarly practice.

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: AN INTRODUCTION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Kocić Stanković
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American Literature ◽  
American Studies ◽  
African American Literature ◽  
African American Studies ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
African American Culture ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
The U.S

My purpose in compiling this book was to produce a “student-friendly” course book in African American Studies, the elective course I designed and introduced into the English Department curriculum at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš. The book is meant to provide a brief introduction into the history and culture of African Americans in the U.S., but could also be of interest to the general public, and, hopefully, may add to the practice of teaching African American literature and history already established at Serbian universities. The main purpose of the book is to get the readers/students acquainted with the key events in African American history, the most important political and cultural figures and the most prominent themes in African American culture. One of the goals would also be to spark further interest in this topic area and open possibilities for similar postgraduate academic courses. As most available books in African American studies deal either with history or literature, I have made an attempt to consider the subject from the perspective of cultural studies, integrating historical data with sociological, political and cultural commentary. I have deemed that such an integrative approach would provide the best insight into the study area and give the fullest picture of the African American contribution to the U.S. and world history and culture. The book is divided into eight chapters covering the period from the origins of the Atlantic slave trade to the contemporary period. The concept of individual chapters is as follows: an outline of the most important events, developments and historical figures of a particular period is followed by two or three brief excerpts from some of the most important works by major African American writers which illustrate the most important theme(s) covered in the chapter, accompanied by a brief commentary with topics and questions for further study.

Family and Family-Like Relations for Transnational Migrants: Ideals of Care Informed by Kin, Non-Family, and Religion

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-362
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bingham Thomas ◽  
Carolyn Smith-Morris
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Transnational Migrants ◽  
Care Relationships ◽  
The U.S

Studies of transnational family formation and care relationships suggest that, while family forms and care values are idealized, they are also negotiated, enacted, and fluid constructs. Strategies of resilience and mechanisms of flexible care achieved by transnational families are fine-tuned under multiple influences. Among these influences are well-known sources such as social networks, as well as less well-understood sources such as religious teachings. We report findings of a 4-month, ethnographic study among Latinx immigrants to the U.S. whose ( n = 14) narratives of family “care” reflect their ideals and simultaneously work to linguistically produce role continuity. Thematic results address three key strategies for achieving this continuity: (1) valuations of flexibility; (2) family-like care by non-family and church members; and (3) commitments to and reliance on new networks, particularly through church relations. We conclude by suggesting how family-like care, such as that from church relations, informs the flexible relational obligations, resources, resiliencies, and values of transnational migrants.

The Work That Maps Do

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-481
Author(s):  
Charles W. J. Withers
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Life ◽  
American Studies ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Historical Imagination ◽  
The Social ◽  
Material Studies ◽  
The U.S

Martin Brückner’s The Social Life of Maps will appeal to scholars from many disciplines—material studies and English literature (his home fields), geography, American studies, and, not least, the U.S. historical community. Maps have never been the preserve of geographers, certainly not in their making nor, as Brückner convincingly shows, in the various practices of public and popular “mappery.” One of the strengths of this book is that it re-affirms and deepens the connections of geography as an educational and imaginative practice with the power of the historical imagination in shaping America’s national identity, territorial reach, and, if only nascent in the period that Brückner considers, empire.

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