Recent academic trends point to the increasing importance of interdisciplinary approaches and multi-faceted perspectives. The focus on intersectionality in gender studies, the shift in cultural studies towards transnational approaches and decolonizing methodologies, or the transmedial expansion of narratology, to name just a few, all engender an expansive critical perspective that transgresses the boundaries of individual disciplines and theoretical discourses. These trends exemplify a desire to bridge the gaps between academic fields and promote a self-reflexive engagement with their respective limitations.

This workshop seeks to explore the dynamic interrelations connecting the variety of theoretical discourses that currently dominate the field of American Studies. As last year’s AYA conference illustrated, the diversified and multi-disciplinary “Future(s) of American Studies” include cultural studies and (trans)national perspectives to body and gender politics as well as innovative approaches to film/comic/literary studies. This year’s AYA workshop provides the opportunity for in-depth investigations of current trends in contemporary American studies by placing a focus on shifting dynamics in the field. It encourages participants to engage with critical interdisciplinary perspectives that re-negotiate established cultural categories while directing attention to transgressions and fluid boundaries. This enables broader and more inclusive perspectives on topical research issues. Against the backdrop of their own research focus, we invite participants to discuss the gaps that separate disciplines, media, and cultures and approach them as subversive spaces to negotiate meaning.

While this workshop is primarily designed to provide a forum for PhD students, advanced MA students as well as interested Post-Doc scholars in American Studies are welcome to discuss their research and receive input from their peers as well as established scholars in the field.