The themes being discussed include immigration, patriotism, culture wars, and militarism in the U.S.A. There will be participants from Europe, the U.S.A., Egypt, Australia, China, Iran, and Taiwan representing various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Guest speakers will include the political scientist, Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), and the professors of literature, Hortense Spillers (Vanderbilt University) and Walter Benn Michaels (University of Illinois).

This conference is the third event of the Graduate School of North American Studies that is open to the public. The first two were lectures held by Germany's former foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, and the U.S.-American economist and columnist, Paul Krugman. The graduate school is located at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Freie Universität Berlin. It was approved for funding in the German federal and state Excellence Initiative.

Time and Place:

• June 27/28, 2008, John F. Kennedy Institute, Lansstr. 5-9, 14195 Berlin