ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 SPECIAL FEATURE Welf Werner The Trump Phenomenon Economic Causes and Remedies ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 IMPRINT Editor Welf Werner Editorial Staff Wilfried Mausbach Julian Kramer Anja Schüler Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) Curt und Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais Hauptstraße 120 69117 Heidelberg Germany T + 49 6221/ 54 37 10 F + 49 6221/ 54 37 19 [email protected] www.hca.uni-heidelberg.de Coverdesign Bernhard Pompey Adapted Design and Layout Barbara Grobe Christian Kempf © Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) 2019. All rights reserved. The HCA Annual Report is published yearly and is available free of charge. ISSN 1862-1201 CONTENTS Rector's Welcome 5 Preface 6 THE HEidELBERG CENTER FOR AMEricaN STUdiES Mission Statement 10 Benefactors 10 Organization 12 Board of Trustees 13 Board of Directors 19 Foundation and Development 24 The Curt und Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais 28 People 2018-2019 29 Cooperation and Support 44 AN INSTITUTE FOR hiGHER EdUcaTION Bachelor of Arts in American Studies (BAS) 48 The BAS Class of 2022 49 BAS Excursion to Brussels 50 BAS Student Trip to Berlin 2019 51 Exchange Opportunities for BAS Students 53 Master of Arts in American Studies (MAS) 54 The MAS Class of 2019 55 The MAS Class of 2020 59 The MAS Class of 2021 61 HCA Commencement 2019 61 Valedictorian Speech 63 Students' Committee 66 HCA Social Activities 67 A CENTER FOR INTErdisciPLINarY RESEarch Ph.D. in American Studies 70 HCA Graduate Blog 71 Ph.D. Candidates 72 Rolf Kentner Dissertation Prize 92 Graduiertenkolleg Authority and Trust (GKAT) 94 GKAT Conferences 96 GKAT Lectures 99 GKAT Faculty 108 GKAT Researchers 111 HCA Research 124 HCA Spring Academy 2019 132 James W.C. Pennington Award 140 Selected Publications 142 Selected Talks 153 SPEciaL FEATURE Welf Werner The Trump Phenomenon Economic Causes and Remedies 170 A FORUM FOR PUBLic DEBATE The Baden-Württemberg Seminar 192 Fall Seminar 2018 193 Spring Seminar 2019 197 HCA Book Launches 204 Exhibition: "Woodstock and the Nation" 207 Panel Discussions 209 Economics Month at the HCA 215 Media Coverage 228 HCA ANNOUNCEMENTS 236 RECTOR'S WELCOME PROF. DR. DR. H.C. BERNHARD EITEL Rector of the University of heideLberg Dear Reader, At the Ruperto Carola, the past year revolved almost entirely around the Excellence Initiative. After finalizing a stellar application until the end of 2018, the pressure was on again in March 2019 for the on-site visit. Once again, the entire university came together as the Alte Aula was turned into a convention center for two days. Our efforts paid off in July when our univer- sity was pronounced one of eleven German excellence universities for the third time in a row. As an institute for regional studies, the HCA was an important part of our excellence strategy in the Field of Focus 3 “Cultural Dynamics in Globalised Worlds.” Under its new director Welf Werner, the HCA is turning increasingly away from traditional, somewhat euro-centric views on the United States to concepts of “Global American Studies,” thus following the path of historians in the estab- lishment of the field “Global History” in the past decades. The university offers an ideal environ- ment for this innovative endeavor. The HCA remains instrumental in the university’s international- ization strategy, which encompasses 27 partner universities, worldwide exchange programs with 450 universities, and our branch offices in New Delhi, Santiago de Chile, Kyoto, and New York. The work of the HCA furthermore epitomizes another central tenet of the university’s excel- lence strategy: The idea that academic findings need to be transferred to the real world more efficiently. From its inception, the HCA has considered itself a forum for the dialogue between academia and the general public. In the past fifteen years, it has always lived up to this goal; its highly visible talks, panel discussions, book launches, exhibitions, and international confer- ences have drawn hundreds of visitors to the beautiful Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais. The renewed excellence status of our university offers new opportunities for advanced research, and the HCA is part of it. Kind regards, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Bernhard Eitel Rector of Heidelberg University PREFACE PROF. DR. WELF WERNER Director of the HCA Dear Friends, Benefactors, Students, and Colleagues, Looking back on my first eighteen months as director of the HCA, I am happy to report that we have taken some crucial steps to strengthen the social sciences and economics in particular. The HCA has added a number of classes on social and economic topics to its programs of study. In May and June of this year, the “Economics Month” offered a number of well-received events, in- cluding a talk by Berkeley economist Barry Eichengreen. The HCA was honored when Heidelberg University’s Department of Economics gave us the opportunity to invite a luminary of the trans- atlantic partnership, former World Bank president Robert Zoellick, to give the fourteenth Alfred Weber Lecture at the university’s Old Lecture Hall. We have also reached out to new partners, among them the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany. Yet, our work does not neglect the more traditional disciplines of American Studies, and we are proud to host the 2020 Annual Meeting of the German Association for American Studies next June. The topic we suggested for this conference—“Participation in American Culture and Society”—puts a concept best known from the social sciences at the center of the American Studies discourse. Along with these innovations came a new communication strategy for the HCA, which makes new channels available for the interested public and generally strengthens our Forum activities. We have revamped our website and made information about our public events more accessible; we have commissioned a number of videos documenting HCA highlights and will continue to explore this medium; and we have supported the HCA Graduate Blog from its inception last year and are proud of this latest and lively addition to the dialogue the HCA has fostered since its founding. The Heidelberg Center for American Studies is thus creating a virtual space next to the Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais. We are grateful that the Angel Foundation generously extended the rent-free use of this magnificant building in the heart of Heidelberg's Old Town until 2031. During the past year, we have welcomed a number of new research associates to the HCA and witnessed some generational change. Valentina López Liendo and Nikolas Mariani have joined the team as program coordinators of our B.A. and M.A. programs, respectively; Natalie Rauscher is the HCA’s new research associate facilitating the cooperation between political science and economics. This new generation brings inspiring perspectives and fresh academic expertise to the HCA. We also welcome political scientist Gordon Friedrichs back to the HCA, succeeding the postdoc of the DFG research training group, Florian Böller, who has left for a position as junior professor at TU Kaiserslautern. The last eighteen months have brought quite some change to the HCA. In the light of profound political challenges inside and outside the liberal democracies of the North Atlantic community, we will continue to develop our vision of “Global American Studies“ on the way to the institute’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 2029. The Ruperto Carola, which reasserted its status as “University of Excellence” in 2019, offers a perfect home for this endeavor. Prof. Dr. Welf Werner Director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies THE HEIDELBERG CENTER FOR American studies MISSION STATEMENT The Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) is a central academic facility of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. As an intellectual center dedicated to the study of the United States, the HCA serves as an institute for higher education, as a center for interdisciplinary research, and as a forum for public debate. Building on long-standing ties between Heidelberg and the United States, the HCA also fosters interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange across the Atlantic. Officially inaugurated in 2004, the HCA has become one of the leading centers for American Studies in Europe. It provides excellent research and education opportunities for scholars and students from all over the world. In addition, the HCA strengthens the profile of Heidelberg University as one of Germany's finest academic institutions. Heidelberg University's 633-year-old tradition of excellence, its international reputa- tion, and its strong record in the study of the United States combine to create the ideal environment for the HCA. BENEFACTORS Although the HCA is legally and institutionally a central academic institution of Heidelberg Uni- versity, financially it is perhaps the only public-private partnership (PPP) in the humanities in Ger- many. Without the long-standing support and patronage of dedicated benefactors, the founding and continuous operation of the HCA would not have been possible. The HCA is sincerely grate- ful for the generosity of many individuals, corporations, and institutions. This report is testimony to the generous support of our benefactors, whose contributions are acknowledged on these pages. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all individuals, institutions, and corporations who have supported the HCA for many years, among them six honorary senators of Heidelberg University: Curt Engelhorn (†), Heidemarie Engelhorn, Soyehl Ghaemian, Rolf Kentner, Dr. h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger, and Dr. Hans-Peter Wild. In addition, the HCA gratefully appreciates, in alphabetical order, the donations of Dr. Kurt Bock and the BASF Group; Dr. Martin Bussmann and the Ladenburg Foundation; Elfie and Ray Carrell; Dr. An- dreas Dienerowitz; Claudia Engelhorn; Herbert A. Jung; and Dr. Oliver Neumann and Dr. Thomas Peuntner of the John Deere Company. Donations from these benefactors not only enabled the institutional development of the HCA in general but also provided several scholarships for its master's and Ph.D.