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International Committee
Report from the International Committee 1998
The International Committee reported on its activities for the annual convention and in regards to cooperative ventures with international American Studies organizations.
The President of ASA, Jan Radway, on behalf of the Executive Committee, invited chairs of the three standing committees and taskforces to attend its meeting and to report on projects, concerns and future initiatives. The Council particularly sought feedback from the International Committee on the Crossroads Project and the Chair of the Committee, Maureen Montgomery, conveyed the members’ positive endorsement of the Project. She suggested that Crossroads might like to consider putting on workshops for international participants at the time of the ASA meeting. She also wants to develop a handbook for international American Studies practitioners. Further discussion of this in Seattle will be necessary and it will be linked to consideration of how the Crossroads Project might assist with this.
The International Committee noted approvingly that the appointment of three new committee members for terms beginning in July 1998 shows the resolve of the Council to make the International Committee more constituency-based. They also agreed that the ex-officio appointment of Hiroko Sato, President of the Japanese Association for American Studies, would facilitate International Committee’s support of the ASA-JAAS project activities. The International Committee now has nine members, four of whom are based in the U.S. while the other five represent Asia (1), Australasia (1), Europe (2), North America excluding the U.S. (1).
The International Committee strongly agreed that the ASA should continue to host an International Reception at the annual convention. The Committee reported that around 75 people have pre-registered for the Seattle event, with a further 25 or so registrations expected on the door. The Committee hopes that a publication will come from its 1998 panel, “The Imagined Community of International American Studies,“ as the issues to be raised will be pertinent to the ongoing discussion about the internationalization of American Studies. Regarding the pre-convention day for ASA Chairs and Directors, the Committee suggested that this should involve international participants.
Maureen Montgomery raised the possibility of having an international congress of American Studies associations. The International Committee felt that the benefits of an international congress would be intellectual, collegial and practical. It would assist the development and growth of American Studies in areas of the world not currently well represented amongst the international participants at the annual ASA meetings, and that the Congress would allow for a much more inclusive worldwide association of Americanists with scholars from all participating countries represented in the organization of the Congress.
With respect to a proposal from the International Committee, the Council indicated that it was opposed to the establishment of a professional development fund and professional fund-raiser for the Association, but would, instead, entertain specific proposals for external funding for projects such as a pre-convention workshop for international scholars or an international congress.
Maureen Montgomery reported to the Council on the pre-convention workshop for international scholars held at Washington State University (W.S.U.). Organized by Professor T.V. Reed and the American Studies Program at Washington State University, this was an attempt by the International Committee continue the initiative of Barney Mergen at the 1997 ASA in Washington, DC, when he organized a post-convention seminar for international scholars who had been sponsored by the USIA to attend the ASA. Eric Sandeen, outgoing chair of the International Committee, negotiated with William Bate of the USIA for the agency to sponsor five participants (roundtrip airfares and a per diem).
The aims of the 1998 event were to enable international scholars to come to a venue in the Washington region where they could have an orientation in this part of the USA prior to the convention and talk to local scholars and students who would be attending the ASA in Seattle. It had been felt that by organizing a pre-convention event, international scholars would be able to get a great deal more out of attending the ASA and establish longer-lasting contacts with scholars both within the US and elsewhere.
Maureen Montgomery, who attended the Pullman workshop, reported that the program of events had contributed significantly to giving the grantees a sense of how American Studies, as taught at W.S.U., related both to the specific locale and environment and to current debates within the field, and how students were able to make use of the new electronic technology. Four colloquia were offered by W.S.U. faculty and graduate students on (i) The Multicultural American West; (ii) The Internationalization of American Studies; (iii) Electronic Media and Virtual American Studies Communities; and “Cultures and Environments”. Within each colloquia there was ample time for dialogue. The sessions provided an excellent orientation to the Pacific Northwest and to current issues in American Studies scholarship. The workshop on electronic media introduced some of the participants for the first time to the usage being made of the Web for accessing resources and for teaching purposes.
The program concluded with a 300-mile drive across Washington State to Seattle, passing through six different climate zones and giving the visitors an opportunity to view the environmental features of the region that had been discussed at Pullman.
The Council voted unanimously to thank Professor Reed and his colleagues at Washington State University for generously giving their time and energy to organizing such a successful and informative program. They urged other American Studies programs to emulate the W.S.U. American Studies program’s efforts.
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