Ethnic diversity, “race,” and racism have been subject to discussion in American studies departments at German universities for many years. It appears that especially in the past few decades, ethnic m
Research in the field of neurotechnology raises ethical and societal questions and thus represents a particular challenge for public engagement efforts. How should formats of public outreach be shaped
What is the logic of the design process? Departing from this question and focusing on processes of invention and discovery, Tiago da Costa e Silva investigates the characteristic feature of every proj
In the early years of the Cold War, Western nations increasingly adopted strategies of public diplomacy involving popular music. While the diplomatic use of popular music was initially limited to such
Since Mentor, Telemachus’s advisor in Homer’s Odyssey, gave name to the figure of the “wise teacher,” fictional representations of mentoring have permeated different classic and contemporary cultural
How can videogames portray love and loss? Games and Bereavement answers this question by analyzing five videogames and conducting a participatory design study with grievers. Sabine Harrer offers both
Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among aged Mexican migrants in Chicago, Franziska Bedorf investigates the phenomenon of return migration by tracing how people’s intentions to go back change
The Marxist conception of the division between mental and manual labor is a critical yet unrecognized aspect of contemporary political struggles. Departing from this novel argument, Michael Bray trace
While the concept of the documentary film is well established, interactive documentary is a newly emerging form of nonlinear, nonfiction narrative that animates viewers to control their own path throu
Emerging forms of alternative economy are changing the structure of society, redefining the relationship between center and periphery in the urban fabric. In this context, the arts can play a crucial
Gender impact assessment has been both celebrated as a beacon of hope for the cause of gender equality and criticized as being ineffectual. More than twenty years of gender mainstreaming have demonstr
Collective Actions is one of the most significant artistic practices to emerge from Moscow Conceptualism. The group’s enigmatic idea of ‘empty action’ is the focal point for Marina Gerber’s exploratio
Artistic research has become an established mode of inquiry and knowledge production in many fields. Johanna Schindler examines the collaborative practices of two artistic research projects in the fie
Wherever we turn, we find creative practices and creative spaces, creative organizations and creative subjects. At work or in public places, in media representations and in advertisements, on social p
The relationship between economy, finance, and society has become opaque. Quantum leaps in complexity and scale have turned this deeply interdependent web of relations into an area of incomprehensible
Doing Cultural History collects papers on a variety of topics. The issues addressed span from the twelfth to the twenty-first century and include the communication of peace in written and pictorial so
Critical analysis of the dramatization of homosexuality in British fiction about the Second World War is noticeable only by its relative absence from the field. Whereas feminist literary criticism has
Why did the novel become so popular in the past three centuries, and how did the American novel contribute to this trend? As a key provider of the narrative frames and formulas needed by modern indivi
At a time of major transformations in the conditions and self-conceptions of cultural history and ethnological museums worldwide, it has become increasingly important for these museums to engage in co
What do literary texts tell us about growing old? The essays in this volume introduce and explore representations of aging and old age in canonical works of English and postcolonial literature. The c
Is it possible to create a community where everyone lives according to their own rhythm, and yet respects the individual rhythms of others? This volume contains new essays which investigate and actual
While social change regarding trans(sexuality) has evolved within an expanding nexus of concepts, practices, regulations, and institutions, this process has barely been analyzed systematically. Agains
Is the pícaro, the roguish hero of early modern Spanish adventure fiction, a "real man"? What position does he hold in the gender hierarchy of his fictional social context? Why is the pícara so nonfem
In modern societies, the functional differentiation of medicine and religion is the predominant paradigm. Contemporary therapeutic practices and concepts in healing systems, such as transpersonal psyc
The creation and justification of knowledge in antiquity and the Middle Ages gives rise to several questions: How is “foreign” knowledge given authority? What are the mechanisms of legitimation? Are t
This first comprehensive study of Norwegian humanities education employs systems theory to analyze its transformation from a form of teacher training to its modern status as research-oriented generali
Francesco Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (San Carlino) is a curious artifact that continues to inspire hypotheses and geometric analyses attempting to explain its form, meaning, and symbol
Do liminal embodied experiences such as illness, death, and dying affect literary form? In recent years, the concept of embodiment has been theorized from various perspectives. The gender studies have
What exactly is rape? And how is it embedded in society? Hilkje Charlotte Hänel offers a philosophical exploration of the often misrepresented concept of rape in everyday life, systematically mapping
Although practices of editing and mentoring are part of an author’s daily activities, they have previously been largely neglected by literary studies. The bilingual volume therefore assembles players
The Chinese scholar-official Lin Zexu played a crucial role in the First Opium War in the nineteenth century. Since 1978, the myth surrounding the historical figure has been used to legitimize current
While psychiatry and the neurosciences have dismissed the concept of neurosis as too vague for medical purposes, literary studies have in recent years adopted the term by virtue of its abstractness. T
Riding, hunting, fishing, bullfighting: Human-animal relations are diverse. This anthology presents various case studies of situations in which humans and animals come into contact and asks for the an
andererseits is a collaborative project undertaken by students and faculties of universities in the U.S. (Duke and the University of Notre Dame), in Luxembourg (University of Luxembourg), and in Germa
The proliferation of digital technology has changed our visual perception and the way we interpret terms such as “representation,” “immersion,” and “virtuality.” Kresimir Purgar examines some of the t
How does historical reality interrelate with fiction? And how much are readers themselves involved in fictional literature? With innovative interpretations of various well-known texts, Nourit Melcer-P
How is it possible to adequately capture histories of design in Africa, a continent with fifty-four countries? How can one avoid producing just another essentializing master narrative of “African desi
Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of Games and Rules take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games
Aesthetic practices employ a double-hinged movement in the way they refer to connectivity. On the one hand, it seems as if connectivity in its purely functional orientation toward communicating throug
How have digital technologies affected the truth claims of photography? What has been the artistic response to the technological and societal transformations the digital revolution has brought about?
