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International Initiative

Report on the ASA International Initiative in Atlanta (2004)

Shelley Fisher Fishkin

Close to 150 leaders in American Studies from some 30 countries came to the ASA’s Annual Meeting last November in Atlanta. The presence of this unprecedented number of international scholars, their integration into every aspect of the program, and their participation in a series of special meetings designed to foster informal interactions, helped make the 2004 Annual Meeting a turning point in the ASA’s efforts to internationalize the field.

There were program directors, center directors, journal editors, association presidents and vice presidents, and other scholars from Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Republic of Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Some were supported by the generous grant that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave the ASA for this purpose; some received help, as well, from the Asia Foundation or the US-China Education Trust. Others found support for their trips from a range of sources in their own countries. This critical mass of Americanists from around the world helped spark a panoply of productive conversations in Atlanta.

Nearly a hundred program directors and center directors, two thirds of whom came from outside the U.S., participated in a networking breakfast and workshop followed by a roundtable on interdisciplinarity. More than 80 scholars attended an international partnership lunch (sponsored by the Fisher Foundation) designed to lay the groundwork for a range of collaborative ventures. Presidents and vice presidents of international American Studies Associations met with members of the ASA Council, and international and U.S. American Studies journal editors met for a dinner (hosted by American Quarterly), and participated in a working business meeting and a roundtable. Numerous international scholars presented papers on the program, and some 200 people attended the International Committee reception.

Three groups of scholars had post-conference (and, in some cases pre-conference) trips incorporated into their visits as well, as part of the International Initiative. Four scholars from the People’s Republic of China, whose trips to the U.S. were sponsored by the ASA in cooperation with the US-China Education Trust, had pre-conference activities in Washington, DC (including visits to the Museum of American History and the Library of Congress, and a meeting at Georgetown University for an overview of the Crossroads Project), as well as a two-day post-conference visit to Stanford University. Four scholars from the People’s Republic of Vietnam, whose trips to the U.S. were sponsored by the ASA in cooperation with the Asia Foundation, had post-conference visits to five institutions: George Washington University; the University of Maryland; the State University of New York at Buffalo; Michigan State University; and the University of Texas at Austin. Two scholars from the Middle East—one from Egypt and one from Lebanon—whose trips to the U.S. were sponsored by the ASA in cooperation with George Washington University (and City University of New York (CUNY), the American University Beirut, and the US Embassy in Cairo) had post-conference visits to two universities, George Washington and CUNY, as well as to the Middle East Studies Association conference in San Francisco.

The conference mapped a number of new directions for the ASA as an organization and for U.S. and international institutions and scholars, some of which are already having concrete results.

Recognizing the value of sharing each other’s work at annual meetings, many international scholars are submitting proposals for 2005’s Annual Meeting, and they are also circulating to ASA members calls for papers for conferences and seminars in other countries.

At the networking workshop, program directors exchanged sample syllabi and ideas that will allow them to improve their curricula, and explored the feasibility of future joint research projects, study abroad programs, and student and faculty exchanges. One European program reports having laid the groundwork for cooperative ventures and student-faculty exchanges with universities in Kansas, Georgia (USA), Pennsylvania, Canada, the Republic of Georgia, China, and Vietnam. A Russian scholar made progress towards developing formal faculty exchanges between universities in Moscow and Austin, Texas, and a Dutch scholar explored the possibility of intra-European American Studies exchanges for masters students in the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal. Scholars from resource-poor institutions around the world developed possibilities for acquiring books, videos and films that will help their teaching. There were also discussions about developing a regional American Studies association in Asia, where none currently exists. The ASA’s Committee on American Studies Programs has recommended that an international program representative be appointed for at least one of the two seats that will open up on the committee, and the committee also plans to build on the success of this year’s workshop and program by figuring out ways to continue to engage with international programs at future annual meetings.

International journal editors and American Quarterly are arranging networks of journal exchange, and ways of spreading an awareness of the range of American Studies journals around the world. Articles on this topic are in the works at American Quarterly, and links to many of these journals are now on the ASA’s homepage under the International Initiative Directory listing (along with contact information for many international American Studies programs and associations).

Before the ASA meeting, the Crossroads Advisory Board had redesigned the web site with a separate portal for international activities; but after listening to the international visitors, they broadened their thinking and made plans to infuse every portal with an international dimension. Crossroads chair Judy Babbitts echoed the views of many at the conference when she said, “I think it’s crucial that we continue to bring international program directors, journal editors, faculty, and students to ASA meetings. Now, more than ever in this post 9/11 world, American Studies needs to deepen and broaden its global perspective, and that happens best when we all talk to each other about our work.“

Accounts of the International Initiative have been published or are in press in the Russian Academy of Science’s journal USA: Politics, Economy, Culture, and in the newsletter of the German Association of American Studies. Presentations about it have been made at the Hungarian American Studies Association meeting and at Sichuan University in Chengdu.

We were distressed that a scholar from Cuba was prevented from presenting her paper on the program because she was denied a visa (along with 65 other scholars from Cuba who were prevented from attending a Latin American Studies conference), and were dismayed that a scholar from the West Bank received his visa two weeks after our conference ended. The Council is exploring ways of protesting government policies that interfere with the free movement of people and ideas.

Isabel Duran, vice president of the Spanish Association of American Studies considers the Atlanta convention to be “a landmark in the transnationalisation of American Studies in America and, of course, also in Europe and elsewhere.“ Chris Bigsby, Director of the Arthur Miller Center for American Studies in the United Kingdom believes that the international initiative “was a crucial intervention for many reasons.“ And Michael Frisch, chair of the ASA’s International Committee, views the networking breakfast and workshop for international and U.S. program directors a “somewhat stunning, transformative experience for all participants. There has never been anything like this level of internationally inclusive, deeply substantive and engaged dialogue at an ASA meeting.“

We owe a great debt of gratitude to the 2004 ASA Program Committee co-chairs, George Sanchez, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, and Rafia Zafar, and to the entire Program Committee for their vision and their energy. I’d like to extend special thanks to John Stephens for his sage guidance, and to the ASA staff for their patience and assistance—especially Shona Johnston, Chyann Oliver, and Larry McReynolds. Thanks are also due to International Committee Chair Michael Frisch, ASA Programs Committee Chair Simon Bronner, American Quarterly editor Marita Sturken, and other ASA members who worked hard to make these events happen—particularly Kate Delaney, Melani McAlister, and Moustafa Bayoumi. We are indebted to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the US-China Education Trust, and the Fisher Foundation for their support.

The events at the Annual Meeting are a key part of the ASA’s International Initiative, but not the only part. For example, American Studies Scholars from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal and Turkey currently serve on ASA Prize Committees, Standing Committees and the Council. And International Partnership grants have been awarded linking universities in the U.S. with universities in Austria, China, Czech Republic, Republic of Georgia, Israel, Russia, Spain, and the West Bank in ongoing relationships (See article in this issue. The next deadline for grant applications is March 31st.) At its May meeting the Council decided to make the International Committee the hub of future ASA International Initiative activities, and asked me to serve on it ex officio as director of the International Initiative. I agreed to do so with pleasure.

As scholars increasingly recognize the ways in which cultures outside the U.S. shape American culture, and the ways in which the U.S. shapes other cultures around the world, international exchange—of ideas and of people—becomes more and more crucial. At a time when the U.S. government seems more concerned with projecting power than seeking mutual understanding, or even grasping the insights to be gleaned from its own history, helping American Studies scholars around the world come together to ask probing, border-crossing questions and seek probing, border-crossing answers—about power, people, and culture—is vitally important. I hope the ASA’s International Initiative will continue to foster these worthwhile goals.

Books for Vietnam

The three universities in Vietnam that were represented at the Atlanta meeting—Vietnam National University in Hanoi; Can Tho University, and Danang University—have a pressing need for a broad range of books in American Studies. The Asia Foundation, which helped bring these Vietnamese scholars to Atlanta, has a program that makes it easy and inexpensive for U.S.-based Americanists to send books to the libraries at these universities.

Books may be sent U.S. book-rate to the following warehouse address, designated for these universities. The Asia Foundation will then transport the books to Vietnam:

The Asia Foundation

Books for Asia Warehouse

85 Charter Oak

San Francisco, CA 94124

The donating university should let the Books for Asia office know about the shipment. Contact information:

Email: booksforasia@asiafound.org

Phone: (510) 667-6476

Fax: (510) 351-2602