American Economies, The 57th Annual DGfA Convention
From Thursday, May 27th to Sunday, May 30th, the 57th annual convention of the German Association of American Studies (DGfA Deutsche Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien) will be held at Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. This convention has a different focus each year: in 2010 it will be “American Economies”-and this is meant in a very broad sense: the economy, in literal terms, but also economies of exchange, of literature, of symbols, of culture, etc.
Every year the conference hosts four distinguished American keynote-speakers. This year’s speakers will be the economists James K. Galbraith and Julie A. Nelson, the law professor Patricia Williams, and the sociologist Mary Pattillo. Topics will be The Great Crisis and the American Response (Galbraith), Gender and the Economy (Nelson), The Economies of Misfortune: Explosion, Implosion and the Meltdown of American Exceptionalism (Williams), and Race, Class, and Crime in the Redevelopment of American Cities (Pattillo).
In addition to these topics, the writer Richard Price, reading from his novel “The Lush Life” in the context of the American Embassy Literature Series (The Embassy is the major sponsor of the conference), will take part in a panel discussion on the HBO series ‘The Wire’ (which we will be screening) as a response to America’s economic situation.
There are also roundtables, workshops and receptions, which will offer participants the opportunity to share ideas, network, and engage in discussions. The full program is available here:
For more information, please follow this link to the DGfA’s listing of the event.
