Transnational Humans / Transnationalism in the Humanities

Organizers: Max Paul Friedman & Núria Vilanova


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Though the concept of transnationalism emerges in the Humanities early in the 1900s, it is not until the 1990s that the notion of the transnational expands to include concepts of globalization and is used to rethink categories such as migration, ethnicity, identity, border, and nation. Nowadays transnationalism is approached from many angles to capture both the expansion of national borders, and the permeability of the nation within its boundaries.


 Spring 2016

  • Wednesday March 23, 2016,  1:00 to 3:00 pm,  Battelle-Tompkins 248

For our last meeting of the semester we will discuss excerpts from Paul Jay’ Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies  and we will also have a presentation by our colleague Naïma Hachad on her work on photography. Her talk is titled: “Transnational and Gendered Visions of Morocco in Lalla Essaydi and Carolle Bénitah’s Photography.”

  • Wednesday February 3, 2016,   1:00-3:00 pm, Battelle-Tompkins 228

Presentation on Transnational Cinema, by Jeff Middents, American University.

Fall 2015

  • Wednesday November 18, 2015,  10:00am  to 12:00pm, Battelle 228

Our second meeting will focus on how the concept of transnationalism is used in history, cinema studies, and the social process of identity formation.

Readings:

  • Heidi Tinsman, “Introduction.” In Buying Into The Regime: Grapes and Consumption in Cold War Chile and the United States. Duke University Press, 2014.

  • Daniel Mato,  “On the Making of Transnational Identities in the Age of Globalization: The U.S. Latina/o-‘Latin’ American Case. Cultural Studies 12.4 (1998): 598-620.

  • Will Higbee and Song Hwee Lim, “Concepts of Transnational Cinema: Towards a Critical Transnationalism in Film Studies.” Transnational Cinemas, 1.1 (2010): 7-21.

  • Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 11:00 to 1:00pm,  McKinley T12

For our introductory meeting, we will start with two recent approaches to transnationalism as a concept.

Readings:

  • Jorge Duany, “Rethinking Transnationalism: Conceptual, Theoretical, and Practical Problems.” In Blurred Borders: Transnational Migration between the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States. University of North Carolina Press, 2011.

  • Roger Waldinger, “Beyond Transnationalism.” In The Cross-Border Connection: Immigrants, Emigrants, and Their Homelands. Harvard University Press. 2015.


MEETING TIMES

Interested in Joining?

Email Max Paul Friedman friedman@american.edu or Núria Vilanova vilanova@american.edu