By the end of this course you will

• have acquired insight into the processes that have shaped Europe's image of the United States and vice versa.
• be able to describe, analyze and contextualize images of "America" as produced by Europeans and Americans including travelers, writers, intellectuals, diplomats, musicians, painters, photographers, and film makers.
• have developed skills to analyze processes of cultural transmission and comprehend patterns in reception processes of American (popular) culture in Europe.
• be able to critically analyze aesthetic, cultural, and political dimensions of sites of memory, and describe transcultural confrontations by implementing concepts of cultural mobility studies.

In this course, we
will explore moments of intercultural confrontations and analyze processes of
democratization, cultural appropriation, cultural transfer, and cultural
mobility (in the sense of Stephen Greenblatt) from Modernism to the digital age
of globalization. We will investigate Euro-American patterns of Americanization
of modern culture by addressing the ambiguous, multivalent functions of popular
media. You will engage in theoretical reflections on cultural reception,
transmission, and mobility. You will be able to theoretically ground innovative
approaches to transnational American studies, trace the shift from the Marshall
Plan to digital diplomacy, and understand the complex ways in which Europe has
responded to American popular culture (comics, advertising, music, film, and
recent television series). Special sessions are dedicated to the transnational dimension of wars and sites of memory in a cultural triangular approach considering perspectives from the US, Germany, and the Netherlands.