Toward a New Transatlantic Space? Changing Perceptions of Identity, Belonging, and Space in the Atlantic World

Veranstalter

Institute for American Studies at the University of Leipzig (Crister Garrett and Harmut Keil) and German Historical Institute Washington (Corinna Unger), with the generous support of the Thyssen Foundation.

Veranstaltungsort

Ort

Leipzig

Land

Deutschland

Vom - Bis

21.06.2007 - 23.06.2007

Website

http://www.ghi-dc.org/conferences/space/space.html

Von

Corinna Unger, Department of History and Civilization, European University Institute

The historical construct of a transatlantic space that has been in place for many decades is currently undergoing change. With the end of the global dichotomy imposed by the Cold War, European perceptions of the Atlantic as the formerly dominant frame of reference have lost their immediate necessity. Simultaneously, the United States as the defining Atlantic power have shifted their geopolitical attention to other areas of the world, which appear to hold greater potential for cooperation than an increasingly self-confident European Union critical of the United States’ role as superpower. The traditional transatlantic alliance is revived on instances like 9/11, but its structural, ideological, and intellectual basis seems to have weakened. While European post-Cold War fears of a new era of American isolationism have proved false, Europeans have had to realize that they are no longer exclusively at the center of US attention. Some regard this as an opportunity to revive ideas about European singularity, or, at least, difference, based on a confirmative understanding of the term ‘Old Europe’ in contrast to the ‘New World.’

What do these phenomena imply with regard to the transatlantic space? In which ways, and to what degree, is the perception of ‘the transatlantic Other’ changing? Is a new transatlantic space emerging? Which relevance does the European Union’s ‘Eastern turn’ possess for Europeans’ understanding of Europe, and for the United States’ perception of Europe? How does the United States’ geographical reorientation influence European identity, and vice versa? How strong do common transatlantic values prove in this transitional phase? Which relevance can the Atlantic as symbol claim in a world that is no longer focused on Paris, London, and Berlin, but on Baghdad, Beijing, and Bangalore? In this age of heightened globalization, can concepts of multiple identity and civil society replace former certainties?

Programm

Thursday, June 21

Conference Opening. 19:00. Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig.

“From the Atlantic Community to a Transatlantic Space?”
Lecture by current Polish Ambassador to the United States, and former Polish Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Janusz Reiter.
To be followed by a reception.

Cooperation Partners:
Polnisches Institut
Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig

Friday, June 22

Opening Session: Considerations of a Transatlantic Space. 9:30. Villa Tillmanns.

Introductory Remarks. Hartmut Keil, University of Leipzig.

Frank Trommler, “Self and Other in a Transatlantic Context”. University of Pennsylvania.

Tibor Frank, “The Transatlantic Space from a Hungarian Perspective”. Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest.

Milos Calda, “Considering the Transatlantic Space: Czech, European, and American Interactions since the Fall of the Wall”. Charles University, Prague.

Chair: Anne Koenen, University of Leipzig.

Commentator: Beverly Crawford, University of California, Berkeley.

Coffee Break: 11:00-11:30.

Opening Panel (Continued). 11:30-12:30.

Lunch: 12:30-14:30.

Afternoon Session. Elements of a Transatlantic Space. 14:30.

Karin Johnston, “Notions of a Transatlantic Media Culture in a German-American Context”. American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Washington D.C.

Helke Rausch, “The ‘Scientific’ Dimension of a Changing Transatlantic Space: The Big American Foundations and Western European Social Sciences after 1945”. University of Leipzig.

Thomas Cieslik, “The Latin Link in the New Transatlantic Space: The Mexican Perspective on Perceptions of Identity, Belonging, and Space in the Atlantic World”. University Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México.

Commentator: Dorota Praszalowicz. Jagiellonian University, Krakow.

Chair: Crister Garrett, University of Leipzig.

Coffee Break. 16:00-16:30.

Afternoon Panel (Continued). 16:30-17:30.

Saturday, June 23

Morning Session. 9:30. Contesting the Transatlantic Space.

Beverly Crawford. “Contesting Religious Space in a Transatlantic Context: God, the Marketplace, and German-American Relations”. University of California, Berkeley.

Adam Walaszek, “Contesting Choices: Polish Migration to the United States and its Transatlantic Context, 1870-1914”. Jagiellonian University, Krakow.

Chair: Corinna Unger, German Historical Institute, Washington D.C.

Commentator: Hartmut Keil, University of Leipzig.

Coffee Break. 11:00-11:30.

Morning Session (Continued). 11:30-12:30.

Lunch. 12:30-14:30.

Afternoon Session. Constructing a Transatlantic Space. 14:30.

Dorota Praszalowicz, “Toward a New Transatlantic Space? Changing Perceptions of Identity, Belonging, and Space in the Atlantic World”. Jagiellonian University, Krakow.

Bretislav Dancak, “Toward a Transatlantic Security Space: The Case of NATO, the EU, and Czech-American Relations”. Masaryk University, Brno.

Crister Garrett, “Engaging the Transatlantic Space: National Interests, Transnational Agendas, and American Policy Toward the European Union”. University of Leipzig.

Chair: Tibor Frank. Eötvös University, Budapest.

Commentator: Karin Johnston, American Institute of Contemporary German Studies, Washington, D.C.

Coffee Break. 16:00-16:30.

Afternoon Session (Continued). 16:30-17:30.

Short Refreshment Break. 17:30-17:45.

Concluding Roundtable: Toward a New Transatlantic Space? 17:45-18:30.

Moderators: Corinna Unger, Hartmut Keil.

Conclusion of Conference.

Kontakt

Corinna Unger

German Historical Institute
1607 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20009

unger@ghi-dc.org

http://www.ghi-dc.org/conferences/space/space.html

Zitation

Toward a New Transatlantic Space? Changing Perceptions of Identity, Belonging, and Space in the Atlantic World., In: H-Soz-Kult, 20.06.2007, <www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-57924>.

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