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International Committee
Report from the International Committee 2001
Submitted by Kendall S. Natvig, Chair: August 2001
Please find the following reprint of past chair Hiroko Sato’s March 2001 report with additions and revisions at the end.
Report of the International Committee
Submitted by Hiroko Sato, Chair, March 27, 2001
After our Detroit meeting, we have little to add to our minutes at this stage, except one very important addition, the cancellation of the Christchurch International Congress of American Studies, scheduled from January 2-6,2001 at the University of Canterbury. At out Detroit meeting, Maureen Montgomery, who organized the conference, reported that preparation for the conference was underway and she was sure of the funding from the Fulbright Commission in New Zealand. Soon after the Detroit meeting, "Call for Papers," Registration Form," and information about the accommodation were distributed through Internet. She also told us that the main speaker will be Donald Pease of Dartmouth College. Some of us were thinking of participating and encouraged younger members of our local organizations to join. However, just before Christmas, Maureen notified us the conference was cancelled. The reasons Maureen gave were that the Fulbright Commission had withdrawn its financial support and the number of people registered was too small. Since we had been supporting the project, we were sorry that the conference did not materialize.
The following is the minutes of our Detroit meeting.
Minutes of the International Committee (October 13, 2000)
Present: Brenda Dixon-Gottsschild, Robert Lee, Guenter Lenz, Kendall Natvig, Hiroko Sato (Chair). Also in attendance by invitation: Mike Frisch and Maureen Montgomery
1).Apologies: Bruce Tucker, Rosemary Crockett, Kousar Azam, Ekaterini Georgoudaki, Paul Giles
2).Washington D.C.2001
a. International Reception
It was agreed that we should continue to have reception. As the reception was not listed with the original program this year, the chair must make sure that this kind of thing would never happen again. Also, as the room assigned to our reception (0ctober 12) was too large, it was difficult to create an intimate and friendly atmosphere among the attendees. It would be better if there would be some kind of program such as speeches, introductions and so forth. Hiroko had been thinking of making the announcement of the Christchurch International Congress at the reception and had asked Maureen to do so, but since Maureen was unable to arrive on time, it was impossible to improvise something at the last moment. Hiroko will get in touch with John Stephens and ask him to reserve a room for the reception next year.
b. International Committee Sponsored Panel
Guenter kindly organized the IC sponsored panel that was held October 12. There was a fair number in attendance (about 30) and about half of them were U.S. members. There was a lively discussion after the panel and it was a great success. As for 2001 Robert Lee kindly agreed to organize a panel.
3). International American Studies Association
Report on the roundtable between ASA and IASA on October 12 was given by Mike. Both Mike Frisch and Hiroko Sato were speakers. As Djelal Kadir had had no contact whatsoever with American Studies and he didn’t have much knowledge of what the ASA had been doing, what he described as the internationalization of the American Studies was not new to us. Consequently, there was some confusion among the audience, especially among Asian scholars, about differentiating the two organizations. We will watch carefully the future development of the IASA activities.
4). Christchurch International Congress of American Studies(January 2-6,2001) Maureen presented "Call to Papers" and the registration information. She has received a certain amount of money from the Fulbright Commission to cover the honorarium for the guest speaker and other expenses and she encouraged us to participate. At the moment, Werner Sollors had declined to be the main speaker and Maureen is looking for someone to replace him.
5). The ASA and the JAAS Workshop
There are five applicants for the ASA-JASA workshops which will be held in Nagoya in June 2001. The selection will be made by the Selection Committee headed by Steve Sumida in the afternoon of October 13. As the third three -year round will terminate in 2001, we have to think new topics for the proposal to Japan-United States Friendship Commission (2002-2004). Any suggestion was welcome.
6). IC Chair 2001-2002
Kendall Natvig kindly agreed to take the role.
7). Nominations for New Members of IC
As Brenda, Guenter and Hiroko were stepping down, members of the committee were asked to consider nominations for new members. The potential members had to be able to meet the obligation to attend the IC meeting at the ASA national meeting and to be a member of the ASA. Those submitting nominations should send a full resume and an indication of the nominee’s experiences in international matter to John Stephens and the Executive Committee by 15 April, 2001.
8.) AOB
In the IC meeting 1999, it was suggested that a non US scholar be on the Advisory Board of the American Quarterly. Mike Frisch said that he would inquire into the matter at the Board Meeting and also talk with Lucy Maddox.
As Brenda and Guenter were leaving office, Hiroko as the chair thanked both of them for their wonderful cooperation. As she herself was leaving office she also thanked the remaining members for their cooperation and wished them good luck.
Addendum
New items to be dealt with or commented on include the following as relayed to Chair Natvig from John Stephens:
In regard to John Stephens charge #1--at present the International Committee serves the ASA in bringing the world to the organization through its international scholars panel and various proposed conferences.
In regard to John Stephens charge #2--a way needs to be found to get more financial support for the international scholars; the philosophy and interest seems to be in place; finances are not.
In regard to John Stephens charge #3--we need to see to what extent corporate grants and foundation grants can be pursued and used while not compromising the politics and philosophy of the ASA.
New members have been chosen for the International Committee. Following is a list of the 2001-2002 membership:
Another item to consider is the status of the proposed IASA. Since Detroit 2000 there have been no new announcements from any members of the group proposing it. Therefore, concerns related to it will be addressed at the International Committee meeting at the Washington D.C. conference.
There apparently is still not a non-US scholar on the AQ Editorial Board. This is an issue that goes back to 1999 and needs to be re-addressed.
The New Zealand 2001 Conference was cancelled.
Hopefully, we will have an update on the JAAS-ASA Project at the Washington D.C. committee meeting, and then we help select a new delegate.
In regard to the International Woman’s Task Force recommendations it is apparent that a sub committee must be discussed and selected; efforts must be made to continue to promote their website; and ex-International Committee Chair, Hiroko Sato can hopefully serve as a link to us so the two committees can proceed successfully.
Committee members are encouraged to think about these various items and bring their ideas and suggestions for actions to the International Committee Meeting at the Washington D.C. conference. Committee members should also contact me for placing an item on the agenda for that meeting.
Proposal for ASA-Indian Association for American Studies Collaborative Project
The following proposal was received from International Committee member Kousar J. Azam, Professor of Political Science, Osmania University, & Director Southern Regional Center, Indian Council of Social Science Research Council):
I am pleased to submit this proposal for the annual meeting of the ASA scheduled for Nov. 2001. In the first part I briefly survey the state of American Studies in India as reflected in the activities of the Indian Association of American Studies, and in the second I shall try to specifically respond to the guidelines sent by you for - I believe that there should be complementarity between the two so as to make it relevant in the context of country –specific pursuit of American Studies.
It is ironic that I send this report on the day the Indo-American Center for International Studies, formerly American Studies Research Center at Hyderabad has decided to serve the mandatory six month’s notice for the termination of services to its staff that shall--unless the situation alters miraculously for the better-- become effective in March 2002, resulting in the closure of the Center as we have known it till now.
This implies that the ASRC/IACIS, as of now has not been able to persuade either the US government to continue its support or the Indian government to step in as a substitute. That leaves this institution at the mercy of the sundry organizations who have offered a ‘take over’ for the sole purpose of using the premises and the facilities, occasionally the library, for running their own stipulated programs.
This development de-links the activities and pursuit of American Studies discipline from the institution –a process that began two years ago with the name change.
However the Indian Association of American Studies that was formed almost at the same time that the ASRC was established, has been active and has continued its specific activities regularly. The Indian Association of American Studies has now a website where the basic information about the activities, programs and other schedules could be located including an access to the office bearer-the web site is www.indianamericanstudies.com
Apart from the activities of this national association, American Studies have been actively pursued in different regions like the Western India branch and more recently the South India American Studies Network that has been quite active. The annual meeting of this organization was scheduled at Punditry from Sept.7-9, 2001.This organization is yet have its own Website and I give below the name and contact of the Secretary Dr. G. Gopa Kumar Email: -
Now to respond to the specific points raised in your letter to the International Committee
1) The members of the India Association of American Studies generally have yet to develop organizational linkages with the ASA –though as individual academics they have had substantial success in establishing individual and institutional linkages with Centers pursuing American Studies within the USA and outside it. The American Studies Associations in the different countries of South Asia, like those in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka generally do have leading participants from India. More recently I participated at the annual conference of the Russian Association of American Studies at Moscow State University at Moscow in Feb. 2001 and in the “Reciprocal American Studies” program of IFUSS-International Forum for US Studies at the University of Iowa, at different universities in South Africa last month.
2) The support systems that have been mentioned here generally do not apply to the Indian participants. This, I believe, is largely due to the fact that AS scholars in India tend to look for support for their academic interests in the Fulbright and other foundations that generally fulfill their academic aspirations.
3) I would like to make the following specific suggestions in this regard.
a- American Studies, like any other discipline, cannot and has not remained isolated from the sweeping changes that confront nations, societies and academia.
b- Therefore the scholars would select that aspect of AS that they individually and nationally find more relevant to their career and country.
c- The trend appears to be more towards a macro analysis, providing a broad sweep of understanding than micro studies providing incisive in-depth studies.
d- American Studies, especially for social scientists in India, apart from the earlier topics like constitutionalism , foreign policy studies etc., now would include the several issues that confront not just the US but the world at large and how the US scholars are trying to address these issues.
e- Addressing the issues like terrorism, ethnicity, fundamentalism, as threats to the values of civility, civil religion, multiculturalism, and participatory democracy, can bring Indian and American scholars together in joint projects.
The query, what distinguishes Ethnic cleansing from religious fanaticism, (images so disturbingly captured by Sara Shaw in ‘Beneath the Veil’ the documentary televised by the CNN this evening would haunt us for the rest of our lives) could lead to the Indian and American response mutually beneficial for a proper understanding of theses problems.
f- More recently, outside the domain of power politics, the fears and hopes of India have become the fears and hopes of America. This has added a new dimension to American Studies, and as academics we should gear ourselves to live with this new reality.
g- As the funding for these kinds of projects is also available outside the arena of American Studies, it is time that American Studies organizations in India and America prioritize these.
The ICSSR and the UGC in India and the SSRC and several other funding agencies in the US can collaborate in providing funding for these joint projects.
International Committee Membership
Chair: KENDALL S. NATVIG, Iowa Central Community College(June 2002)
OLUTAYO CHARLES ADESINA, University of Ibaden, Nigeria (June 2004)
KOUSAR J. AZAM, Osmania University, India (June 2003)
GULRIZ BUKEN, Bilkent University, Turkey (June 2004)
ROSEMARY F. CROCKETT, United States Information Agency (June 2002)
EKATERINI GEORGOUDAKE, Aristotle University, Greece (June 2003)
PAUL GILES, Cambridge University, United Kingdom (June 2003)
ROBERT G. LEE, Brown University (June 2002)
JOANNE M. MANCINI, National University of Ireland, Cork (June 2004)
NAOKI ONISHI, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan (June 2004)
Executive Director: JOHN STEPHENS, ex-officio , American Studies Association
Respectfully submitted,
Kendall S. Natvig
International Committee Chair
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