Selected Events 2007

Students of the second Wittenberg Summer School at the American Studies Library of Leucorea

July 30 - August 3, 2007
Thirty students from 15 universities in Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, the U.S., and Taiwan, discussed “The American Press and the Challenges of Politics and Technology” at the second Wittenberg Summer School. The program was a collaboration of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the Center for U.S. Studies at the University of Halle/Wittenberg, and Magdeburg University, and supported by the German Association for American Studies. The intensive one-week program included challenging lectures on freedom of the press, the concentration of media ownership, the future of newspapers, and the influence of politics in media. Leading the discussions were historian Steven Whitfield of Brandeis University; Joe Misiewicz, a Professor of Telecommunications at Ball State; former reporter Jim Willis, now at Azusa Pacific University; and Berlin Reuters correspondent Erik Kirschbaum.
During the week, the students produced their own on-line journals with their newly-won understanding of American press and politics. They will be published as a special edition of the American Studies Journal on the ZUSAS webpage (there will be links from the U.S. Embassy site).