Previous NAAS Conferences

2019: University of Bergen: "Monuments" (The 26th biennial conference, April 25-27, 2019)

2017: University of Southern Denmark: "American Colors: Across the Disciplinary Spectrum" (25th biennial conference, May 22-24, 2017)

2015: University of Oulu: "American Values: Public Virtues, Private Vices?" (24th biennial conference, May 11-13, 2015)

2013: Karlstad University: "Currents and Countercurrents" (23rd biennial conference, May 24-26, 2013)

2011: University of Oslo: "Trans-Atlantic Resonances" (22nd biennial conference, May 27-29)

2009: University of Copenhagen: "Cosmopolitan America?: The United States in Transition" (21st biennial conference, May 28-30)

2007: University of Tampere: "American Bodies, American Violence" (20th biennial conference, May 24-26)

2005: Växjö University/Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona/Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö (19th biennial conference, May 25-28)

2003: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim: "America in the World: Transnational Aspects of Life and Culture in the United States" (18th biennial conference, August 6-9)

2001: Copenhagen Business School: "Trading Cultures" (17th biennial conference, August 8-11)

1999: Turku University: "American Studies at the Millennium" (16th biennial conference, August 11-15)

1997: University of Gothenburg: "After Consensus: Critical Challenge and Social Change in America" (15th biennial conference, August 13-17)

1995: University of Oslo: "The United States and the World" (14th biennial conference, August 9-13)

1993: Odense University: "Cultural Balkanization? Multiculturalism and American Dreams" (13th conference, August 18-22)

1992: Reykvavik University (12th conference, August 6-9)

1989: University of Tampere (11th conference, May 11-14)

1987: Uppsala University (10th biennial conference, May 28-31)

1985: University of Bergen (9th biennial conference, May 11-15)

1982: University of Copenhagen (8th triennial conference, June 24-27)

1979: University of Helsinki/Hanasaari (7th triennial conference, June 14-17)

1976: Kungälv (6th triennial conference, June 16-20)

1973(?): Kungälv (5th conference)

1970: Kungälv (4th triennial conference)

1967: University of Helsinki (3rd triennial conference)

1964: University of Oslo (2nd triennial conference)

1961: Sigtuna (1st conference)

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Twenty-Sixth Biennial Conference of the Nordic Association for American Studies

MONUMENTS

Bergen, Norway, 25-27 April, 2019

Link to NAAS conference website

Call for Papers: Denmark and African American Culture, deadline July 15, 2016

CALL FOR PAPERS

Denmark and African American Culture

A symposium organized by the Center for Transnational American Studies, University of Copenhagen, with the support of the U.S. Embassy

Wednesday 21 September 2016 (NB: to be extended into Thursday 22 September 2016 if sufficient interest)

Keynote speakers:

· Professor Ethelene Whitmire (University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Fulbright Professor at the University of Copenhagen, fall 2016 semester), author of Regina Anderson Andrews, Harlem Renaissance Librarian (University of Illinois Press, 2014). Prof. Whitmire is currently working on her second book, The African American Presence in Denmark in the Twentieth Century

· Heidi Durrow, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (2010, winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction) and host of The Mixed Experience podcast

This CTAS symposium seeks to explore multiple perspectives on the historical and cultural impact of African Americans’ encounters with and experiences in Denmark. The symposium takes place ten years after the “Denmark and the Black Atlantic” conference at the University of Copenhagen, which explored Denmark’s relationship to the black diaspora through history (especially slavery and colonialism), politics, and culture; 2016 is also the hundred-year anniversary of Denmark signing over the Danish West Indies to the United States (on August 4, 1916, ahead of the formal transfer in 1917).

We invite proposals for papers relating to any aspect of the relationship between Denmark and African American culture, including (but not limited to) the following themes:

· Comparative histories of slavery and colonialism in Denmark and the United States

· Political and/or cultural relations between African Americans and U.S. Virgin Islanders after Denmark’s sale of the Danish West Indies/U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917

· African American immigration and/or travels to Denmark

· Danish responses to African American immigrants/visitors

· Denmark and African American politics (i.e., Booker T. Washington’s interest in Grundtvig’s højskoler; the impact of the civil rights movement and Black Power in Denmark)

· African American music and musicians in Denmark (i.e., Dexter Gordon, Valaida Snow, Ben Webster, Ed Thigpen)

· Danish (and Danish-language) adaptations of African American music (i.e., jazz, hip-hop)

· Danish textual and visual representations of African Americans (i.e., Jacob Riis, Jakob Holdt, Lars von Trier)

· African American literature in/and Denmark (i.e., Nella Larsen, Richard Wright, Cecil Brown, Candace Allen, Heidi Durrow)

· Danish translations of African American literature (i.e., the 2015 publication of two Danish language editions of Nella Larsen’s work)

· The role of race/racism and references to African Americans in contemporary Danish politics and culture (i.e., the recent debate about Barack Obama and the term “neger”)

· African Americans/Danish West Indians/U.S. Virgin Islanders and Denmark in wider Atlantic or Black Atlantic worlds

NB: we will also consider abstracts more generally concerned with Denmark and American culture; please note, however, that priority will be given to proposals focusing on Denmark and African American culture. If there is sufficient interest, we may also expand the symposium into a two-day event (Wednesday 21-Thursday 22 September).

We anticipate that this will be an open and free event, with no formal registration or fees. Please note, however, that the final format and scope of the symposium is contingent on funding and the response to this Call for Papers. We cannot offer accommodation, financial assistance, etc.

Please send proposals, including a title, your name and academic affiliation (if any), your email address, and an abstract (300-500 words) to organizers Dr. Martyn Bone (bone@hum.ku.dk) and Dr. Christa Holm Vogelius (dgz589@hum.ku.dk) by 15 July 2016

Visualizing War: The Power of Emotions in Politics

An international and interdisciplinary conference on the role of images of war in shaping political debates

University of Southern Denmark

20.11.–21.11.2014

Organizers: Kathrin Maurer (Associate Professor German Studies) and Anders Engberg-Pedersen (Associate Professor of Comparative Literature)

Keynotes:

W.J.T. Mitchell, Professor of English and Art History, University of Chicago

Jan Mieszkowski, Professor of German and Humanities, Reed College

Lene Hansen, Professor of Political Science, Copenhagen University

Sten Rynning, Professor of International Relations and Leader of the Center of War Studies, University of Southern Denmark

Christine Kanz, Professor of German, University of Ghent

Stephan Jaeger, Professor of German Studies, University of Manitoba