Symposium at Ohio State University

All talks held in River Den, Drake Performance Center, the Ohio State University
Organizers: Barry Shank (OSU), Nikolai Blaumer (Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles), and
Heike Paul (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg/Fellow at the Thomas Mann House)

Program for March 30 & 31 st              Participant Biographies

This symposium held on the campus of the Ohio State University brings together speakers from the U.S. and Germany to address aspects of democratic culture and its discontent in the present moment. The latter reveals itself in particular expressions of emotion and negative affect, such as anger, resentment, indignation, and rage, that often thrive on populist simplification and ‘othering’ of specific groups and/or individuals. This has prompted interventions by scholars, journalists, and activists to think about modes of dialogue and reconciliation across various kinds of divides and in different cultural registers. This event seeks to add to the ongoing debate by historicizing the role of affect and feeling in the history of Western democracies and to develop new perspectives on questions of inclusion and exclusion in social, political, and cultural imaginaries with a view to different media (music, television series, etc.) and forms of political communication. In times of strained ‘official’ transatlantic relations and right-wing populist successes on both sides of the Atlantic, this symposium seeks to identify common ground and shared concerns in working through the current moment of crisis. Participants include Nikolai Blaumer, Elisabeth Bronfen, Katharina Gerund, Nadine Hubbs, Noëlle McAfee, Benjamin McKean, Heike Paul, Marie Rotkopf, Barry Shank, and Michelle Sizemore.