Promoting a Field in Flux: American Studies Abroad and the US Bicentennial
In 1975 and 1976, a series of five international conferences marking the US Bicentennial was held in Austria, Japan, Iran, the United States, and the Ivory Coast. The conferences were meant to both assess the global impact of the Bicentennial and to strengthen the activity of American studies scholars around the world. The events were organized by the Bicentennial Committee for International Conferences of Americanists, which was chaired by Robin Winks (Yale) and supported by the (US) American Studies Association, the US Information Agency, and the US Department of State. This paper explores the planning and execution of these conferences in order to offer insights into a key moment of the dissemination of American studies abroad, as well into the changes that the field was undergoing in response to the civil rights and women’s movements and the Vietnam War.
Deborah Cohn is a professor at Indiana University Bloomington. Cohn’s research interests span a wide breadth of fields, including Latin American studies, American studies, and Cold War studies.
