The HCA Spring Academy provides 20 international Ph.D. students with the opportunity to present and thoroughly discuss their Ph.D. projects. Additionally, it offers workshops held by visiting scholars.

We encourage applications that range broadly across the arts, humanities, and social sciences and pursue an interdisciplinary approach. Participants can present papers on any subject relating to the study of the United States of America. Possible topics include American identity, issues of ethnicity, gender, transatlantic relations, U.S. domestic and foreign policy, economics, and various aspects of American history, literature, religion, geography, law, musicology, and culture. The accepted projects will be arranged into ten panel groups.

Participants are requested to prepare a 20-minute presentation of their research project, which will be followed by a 40-minute discussion.

The Spring Academy aims to create a congenial atmosphere for scholarly exchange in order to inspire future collaborations and foster networking opportunities for participants.

The Heidelberg Center for American Studies is prepared to provide accommodation during the conference week.

Thanks to a small travel fund, the Spring Academy can subsidize travel expenses for participants registered and residing in developing and soft-currency countries. Applicants for the travel fund must document the necessity for financial aid and explain how they plan to cover any potentially remaining expenses. Additionally, a letter of recommendation from their doctoral advisor is required.

Due to the ongoing pandemic the HCA reserves the right to adapt the conference structure and host the event online or in a hybrid format if necessary.