The United States and World War I - Perspectives and Legacies
The year 2017 marks the centennial of U.S. entry into World War I. The Great War had a profound impact on the United States and on its global role.
The 39th annual conference of historians in the German Association for American Studies provides an opportunity to reassess the war's significance in U.S. history by focusing on the international and domestic contexts of America's participation in World War I.
Please register with Ida Bahmann (ibahmann@hca.uni-heidelberg.de).
Conference Venue: Heidelberg Center for American Studies, Hauptstraße 120, 69117 Heidelberg
-----------------------------
Programme:
Friday, February 10
14.30 Registration
15.00 Welcome - Manfred Berg (Heidelberg University) | Axel Jansen (German Historical Institute, Washington, DC)
15.15 Panel 1 - Preparing for War
Chair: Axel Jansen (German Historical Institute, Washington, DC)
Dirk Bönker (Duke University): A World Power Second to None? The U.S. Navy, Geopolitics, and the Challenge of World War I
Manuel Franz (Heidelberg University): Defense Societies in the Campaign for American Preparedness, 1914-1920
16.45 Coffee Break
17.00 Keynote Lecture
Chair: Manfred Berg (Heidelberg University)
Ross A. Kennedy (Illinois State University): Strategic Calculations in Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality Policy, 1914-1917
18.45 Reception (at the HCA)
Saturday, February 11
09.00 Young Scholars Forum (Program and locations will be announced separately)
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Panel 2 - Mobilization and Propaganda
Chair: Mischa Honeck (German Historical Institute, Washington, DC)
Elisabeth Piller (Trondheim University): American War Relief, Cultural Mobilization and the Myth of Impartial Humanitarianism, 1914-1917
Katja Wüstenbecker (University of Jena/University of Hamburg): How to Mobilize an Unwilling Country for War. The Committee on Public Information
12.30 Lunch Break
14.00 Keynote Lecture
Chair: Axel Jansen (German Historical Institute, Washington, DC)
Jennifer Keene (Chapman University): Deeds Not Words. American Social Justice Movements and World War I
15.30 Coffee Break
16.00 Panel 3 - The German American Experience
Chair: Simon Wendt (University of Frankfurt/M.)
Jörg Nagler (University of Jena): The Conflict of Divided Loyalties - German Americans, Their Responses to World War I and the American Home Front
Andreas Hübner (University of Kassel): "We are here as Pro-Americans, as Pro-Louisianians, as Pro-Orleanians" - Reassessing the German American Community of New Orleans during World War I
17.30 Break
17.45 GAAS Historians' Business Meeting
19.00 Dinner
Sunday, February 12
09.00 Panel 4 - New Perspectives on the Social Impact of the War
Chair: Wilfried Mausbach (Heidelberg University)
Mischa Honeck (German Historical Institute, Washington, DC): Playing on Uncle Sam's Team - American Childhoods During World War I
Matthias Voigt (University of Frankfurt/M.): Native American Doughboys in the Great War
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Panel 5 - Legacies
Chair: Anja Schüler (Heidelberg University)
Charlotte Lerg (University of Münster): World War I and the Birth of Academic Freedom in America
Helke Rausch (University of Freiburg): The Birth of US Philanthropy from the Spirit of War - Rockefeller Philanthropists in World War I
12.30 Lunch | Departure
-----------------------------
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Manfred Berg
Curt-Engelhorn-Stiftungsprofessor für Amerikanische Geschichte am
Historischen Seminar der Universität Heidelberg
manfred.berg@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de