Englisches Seminar

Semester Courses

The Department of American Studies offers a wide range of courses. Also, a number of courses offered by other departments are open to American Studies students. For comprehensive information on all study courses, please see the course catalogue on alma.

Summer Semester 2026

Basic Module Courses

S: Introduction to Literary StudiesProf. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: Introduction to Literary StudiesDr. Isabell Klaiber
S: Introduction to Cultural Studies (nur IAS)Prof. Dr. Michael Butter

These courses are accompanied by a tutorial. 

Advanced Module Courses

S: 19th Century Poetry (Pre-Civil War)PD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: Dystopian Fiction (Post-Civil War)Julia Klumbach
S: Guns in America: Culture, Politics, Violence (Pre- and Post-Civil War)Dr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: Performing America: Race, Gender, and Politics in Recent U.S. Plays (Post-Civil War)Dr. Isabell Klaiber
S: Queer Heroes: Reimagining Justice and Heroism in YA Fantasy and Superhero Fiction (Post-Civil War)Elisa Pesce
S: Tech Utopia and American Politics (Post-Civil War)Dr. Johanna Roering
S: The American Dream in Film and Fiction (Post-Civil War)Verena Nestele
S: The Literatures of Abolitionism (Pre- and Post-Civil War)Dr. Johanna Roering
S: Writing Selves, Writing Bodies: Texts on Illness, Trauma, and Transformation (Post-Civil War)Elisa Pesce

Focus Module Courses

S: Excess and Exclusion: The US Maximalist Novel and its Politics of BelongingElisa Pesce

Focus and Master Module Courses

S: African American Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to the Dark Room CollectivePD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: American Social DanceDr. Johanna Roering
S: Analyzing Music VideosPD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: "Black Autobiography"Prof. Dr. Tonn-Meller
S: Genealogies of Popular Music: Media Technologies and Pop-Cultural Figures from the 1970s to the Digital AgeDr. Risto Lenz
S: Reel Alternatives? New Hollywood CinemaPD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: Star Wars: Films, Franchise, FandomProf. Dr. Michael Butter
S: The Past of AfrofuturismProf. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: War PhotographyDr. Johanna Roering

Lectures

L: Conspiracy Theories in American Culture (and Beyond)Prof. Dr. Michael Butter
L: Issues in American Literary & Cultural History III: From the Civil War to the Second World WarProf. Dr. Astrid Franke

Colloquia

KO: MA-KolloquiumProf. Dr. Astrid Franke

Elective Curriculum

S: 09/11Dr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: The U.S. Political SystemDr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: U.S. Foreign Policy IDr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: U.S. Foreign Policy III: The United States and Russia since the End of the Cold WarDr. Thomas Gijswijt

 

Winter Semester 2025/2026

Basic Module Courses

S: Introduction to Literary StudiesDr. Isabell Klaiber
S: Introduction to Literary StudiesPD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: Introduction to Cultural Studies (nur IAS)Marina Pingler

These courses are accompanied by a tutorial.

Advanced Module Courses

S: Modernist American Poetry and Culture (Post-Civil War)Prof. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: The Beatles and America (Post-Civil War)Dr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: Guns in America: Culture, Politics, Violence (Pre- and Post-Civil War)Dr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: "Of Monsters and Men?": The Female Gothic from the 19th to the 21st Century (Pre- and Post-Civil War)Dr. Davina Höll
S: Machine or Woman? AI, Gender and Reimagining Femininity on Screen (Post-Civil War) Denise Meier
S: Beyond the Plantations: 19th Century African American Literature (Pre-Civil War)Dr. Anthony Obute
S: The Green Transition and Environmental Justice (Post-Civil War)Dr. Anthony Obute
S: The Ecogothic: Haunted Landscapes in Fiction and Film (Pre- and Post-Civil War) Marina Pingler
S: Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Investigating an American Motif (Pre- and Post-Civil War) Dr. Johanna Roering
S: Representations of War in Early America (Pre-Civil War)Dr. Johanna Roering
S: 20th C American Short Story (Post-Civil War)Dr. Carsten Schinko

Focus and Master Module Courses

S: PocahontasProf. Dr. Michael Butter
S: Neither Black nor White yet Both: Interracial LiteratureProf. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: Literature and Mental HealthProf. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: Concepts, Methods, Theories (MA AMS) Prof. Dr. Astrid Franke
S: Dark Academia: The Politics and Poetics of Haunted Halls, Forbidden Knowledge and Evil Powers Dr. Davina Höll
S: Reclaiming the Narrative: Contemporary Indigenous Storytelling in North AmericaDr. Isabell Klaiber
S: "What I’m saying might be profane, but it’s also profound": American Stand-Up Comedy as a Site of Public NegotiationDr. Risto Lenz
S: American Minstrelsy and its LegaciesDr. Johanna Roering
S: Technolibertarianism in Contemporary American Politics Dr. Johanna Roering
S: Hucksters, Fraudsters, and Impostors: The Confidence Artist in American Culture PD Dr. Carsten Schinko
S: "Ivory Towers to Let" - Art and Politics in the 1930s Prof. Dr. Horst Tonn

Lectures

L: Issues in American Literary and Cultural History II: From the Revolution to the Civil WarProf. Dr. Michael Butter
L: Introduction to Cultural StudiesProf. Dr. Michael Butter
L: Sonic Fictions: Literature & (Popular) MusicDr. Carsten Schinko

Colloquia

KO: Dealing with Conspiracy Theories in the ClassroomProf. Dr. Michael Butter

Elective Curriculum

S: International Cultural Policy and PoliticsDr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: SongwritingDr. Thomas Gijswijt
S: U.S. Foreign Policy II: Key Texts and TheoriesDr. Thomas Gijswijt

External Offer for Interdisciplinary/Elective Curriculum

If registration doesn't work through Alma, please contact the instructor directly to request admission. Please provide your student ID number.

S: Native American TraditionsProf. Dr. Isabel Laack 
S: How cultures evolveDr. Claudio Tennie 
S: Masculinity Studies: A Cross-Cultural PerspectivePh.D. Rahat Shah
S: Theory and method in the study of religion and cultureDr. Katharina Wilkens
S: Digital ReligionJun.-Prof. Dr. Carola Lorea
L: Analyzing Armed Conflicts Prof. Dr. Andreas Hasenclever
S: Art - Power - WarPD Dr. Gabriele Schlag
S: Authoritarianism and AutocratizationRonja Herrschner
S: Migration and HealthPh.D. Gomathy Kamala Naganathan
S: Borders, Bodies and Power: A Comparative Analysis of Biopolitics and Infrastructural Power in EU-US Migration ManagementChiara Mattioli
S: Conspiracy theories, social inequalities and identitiesDr. Volker Lang
S: Environmental Justice from the perspective of Social WorkElisa Thevenot
S: Ethics in International RelationsDr. Christopher Gohl
S: Her Own Voice: Gender and Religion in Women’s AutobiographiesSifa Demir
S: The Bill of Rights Lucas Ogden
L: The Constitution and the Government of the United StatesLucas Ogden
S: The Politics of Forced MigrationN.N.
The Politics of MigrationDr. Marco Krüger
S: US Foreign Policy since 1945Ph.D. Kina Kunz
S: Visual Global PoliticsPD Dr. phil. Gabriele Schlag

Dates & Deadlines

Alma Guides