Earlier this summer, the Centre for American Studies at the University of Kent hosted a one-day postgraduate symposium, Methods and Practices in American Studies. The event – aimed primarily at PhD students – provided an opportunity for students to showcase their own research, as well as being a forum to discuss various methodological and other challenges involved in writing a postgraduate thesis. The event first launched in 2017, and has now become established as an annual fixture in the American Studies community’s calendar, offering even more early-career researchers a chance to present in a friendly, informal environment.
The Symposium opened with a keynote from Professor Richard King (Nottingham), expert on American intellectual history and the acclaimed author of Arendt and America (2015) and Race, Culture and the Intellectuals: 1940-1970. In an absolutely fascinating speech bringing together the dialogue between “high” and “popular” culture, figures as diverse as Hegel and Hannah Arendt, and pressing issues such as race or the Marxist theory, Professor King set the tone for the entire day, making us ask, “What is American Studies and how can one define this field?”
The first panel of the day, themed “Presentation by Communication” was composed of Juno Sun (UCL), discussing the representation of the Chinese culture in mid-century American cinema as affected by the Second World War; Laura Alvarez Trigo (Instituto Franklin-UAH), speaking on how the texts by Don DeLillo can be analysed through the prism of media studies; and Megan King (Kent), revisiting the uneasy situation in secondary schools in Philadelphia in the run-up as well as the aftermath of 2016 presidential elections.
The second panel was dedicated to the more practical matters of archival study and various issues connected with it. Ellie Armon Azoulay (Kent) discussed archival work as an interdisciplinary phenomenon, whilst Dr Kostantinos Karatzas (Zaragoza) recalled his own experiences of archival work when researching the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots in Oklahoma, USA.
The third and final panel was dedicated to the evolving and changing ways in which we interpret American history. Daniel Avery (Kent) offered an exciting interdisciplinary interpretation of the political history of a particular location in colonial America, which combined historical and geographical aspects. This was followed by Hugh Roberts (Kent) speaking on dealing with historiography, which often proves to be elusive and complex; and finally, Chris Hurley (Kent) provided a fascinating insight into the Kennedy era whilst speaking about the position adopted by John F Kennedy in regards to the USA’s role on the world stage and the shaping of the American foreign policy at the time.
The Symposium was brought to a close by an inspiring endnote from Sara Arami (Strasbourg), speaking on the varied representations of Indiana in works of Mohja Kahf, and how America is seen through the eyes of a Muslim heroine.
The University of Kent’s Americanist Symposium will return in June 2019, and any postgraduate or early-career researchers wishing to present, or those who did not get a chance to attend this year, will be most welcome to submit a paper for this forthcoming event.
For further information, about the Symposium or postgraduate study at the Centre for American Studies at Kent, please email: centres@kent.ac.uk
– Conference report by Olga Ackroyd, PhD candidate, The Centre for American Studies