Dr. Thomas W. Gijswijt

Associate Professor

Thomas Gijswijt joined the American Studies department in 2012. He received his PhD in American History at the University of Heidelberg and previously taught at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He is the author of Informal Alliance. The Bilderberg Group and Transatlantic Relations during the Cold War, 1952-1968 (Routledge, 2018) and is an expert on American foreign policy, transatlantic relations during and after the Cold War and US politics and presidential elections. He also teaches courses on songwriting and the Beatles and America. He has appeared on ZDF Heute, Deutschlandfunk, SWR Info, MDR Aktuell, SWR 2, Radio 1 (Dutch national public radio), and a number of local tv and radio broadcasters.

Zoom office hours by email appointment.

Academic Career

2017

Teaching Exchange, University of Maryland at College Park, US

2012-present

Associate Professor of American Studies, Tübingen University

2008-2012

Assistant Professor of American Studies, Nijmegen University, Netherlands

2007-2008

Postdoctoral Researcher, Heidelberg Center for American Studies

2004-2005

PhD-Scholar at Institute for European History, Mainz

2002-2007

PhD in Modern History, Heidelberg University

2001-2002

Visiting Fulbright/NAF-Scholar in US History, Columbia University, US

1995-1996

ERASMUS Exchange Student at the History Department of York University, UK

1993-1999

B.A. and M.A. in Modern History, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Current Teaching

Winter Term 2024/25

Summer Term 2024

Selected Publications

Emotions and positive anti-communism during the early Cold War: the case of the Bilderberg Group. J Transatl Stud (2024). doi.org/10.1057
Review: Klingst, M. und Goldman, G.: "Transatlantic Bridge Builder. Translated by Brian Hanrahan. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2021." Central European History, 56.3 (09/2023), 505-506. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008938923000626
Informal Alliance. The Bilderberg Group and Transatlantic Relations during the Cold War, 1952-1968. London and New York: Routledge, 2018.
"The Kennedy Administration, Alliance Politics and Informal Diplomacy during the Transatlantic Crisis of 1962/63," in: Johannes Großmann and Helene Miard-Delacroix (eds.), Deutschland, Frankreich und die USA in den 'langen' 1960er Jahren. Ein transatlantisches Dreiecksverhältnis, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2018, 147-163.
Review: Die Schutzmacht. Die Amerikaner in Berlin 1945-1994. By Stefanie Eisenhuth, in: Central European History, 53, 2020.
Chapter 'Parteien und Wahlen' in: Länderbericht USA, Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, 2021.

Selected Media Appearances

Kennedy - Schicksalsjahre eines Präsidenten. SWR-Documentary, 10.11.2023.
Interviews on President John F. Kennedy. HR-Info und HR-1, 22.11.2023.
2020 Presidential Elections: Im Gespräch mit Thomas Gijswijt. Klarner Medien, 18.11.2020.