Amerikanistik TU Dortmund

Last month, we were able to send a delegation to this year’s Playing the Field in Bucharest. The conference focused on the connection of video games and labour, a topic that goes back to the very beginnings of video gaming. Accordingly, Nicole Mellin and Kai Zurkuhl from our department contributed two entries on Stardew Valley, where they investigated how cozy games, such as Stardew Valley, fit into a capitalist system they claim to stand against and how this is represented in the game through simplifications of relationships and labour.

Image credits: Ioana Dumitrescu ( ), Sascha Pöhlmann, Nicole Mellin, Kai Zurkuhl, ConcernedApe (Stardew Valley, chicken sprites)

Again: As this is a casual potluck party, all participants are invited to bring any food they like to share with everyone else. Our team will provide coffee and tea. Anyone working on (or about to work on) a project in English and American studies is welcome, as is anyone willing to help others do so, or anyone interested in improving their academic writing skills in our discipline. The event will start at 5 p.m. and continue past midnight. You can join any time and do not need to register. Just bring your computer, bring some food if you can, and get that essay going (or get it done!).

From January 29 to 30 2026, the conference “Contemporary Reading Cultures” was organized in the IBZ by our doctoral candidates Katharina Röder and Nicole Mellin. We had two days of interesting presentations covering numerous aspects of contemporary reading cultures, from trends like Dark Academia to emotions and intimacy on BookTok. With both lecturers and students attending (and presenting), we were able to have a lively exchange!
Thank you all for coming!

Am 29. und 30. Januar 2026 fand die Konferenz „Contemporary Reading Cultures“, organisiert von Katharina Röder und Nicole Mellin aus der Amerikanistik, im IBZ statt. Es waren zwei Tage voll mit interessanten Präsentationen, die sich mit den verschiedensten Aspekten aktueller Lesekulturen beschäftigt haben, vom Dark Academia Trend bis zu Emotionen und Intimität auf BookTok. Sowohl Dozierende als auch Studierende der TU und von anderen Universitäten haben vorgetragen und/oder teilgenommen und die rege Beteiligung hat zu einem tollen Austausch geführt!
Danke fürs Kommen!

Feels familiar?

Join us on our first Potluck Party to Prevent Procrastinatjon and Postponing Papers and work together on some papers and grab (and maybe bring) some food! There will also be hourly workshops helping you write your paper.

When: 27 February 2026, 5pm
Where: American Studies foyer

We finalized the schedule for our upcoming conference on contenporary reading cultures.

Hope to see you there!

Safe the date! ☕️

Reading is cool. Influencers and readers alike are sharing recommendations, opinions, and general thoughts over all different forms of social media, with the „BookTok“ community on TikTok being one of the most well-known communities at the moment. Even outside of the digital space, many bookstores now prominently feature books that are popular online, some even going as far as putting „Popular on TikTok“ signs on book tables or „As seen on BookTok“ stickers on books. Simultaneously, online communities also appear to have significant impact on the publishing industry. Not only has the number of book sales increased with the rise of especially BookTok (Thomas), but there is also a notable influence on the way books are marketed and the kinds of books that get traditionally published, as „publishers use these social media reading cultures as predictive tools [to] harness already existing audience interest“ (Maddox and Gill 2).

Contemporary reading communities appear to resemble what Henry Jenkins coined as „media fandom“ in his book Textual Poachers (1992). He describes the members of „media fandom“ as „largely female, largely white, largely middle class, though it welcomes into its ranks many who would not fit this description. This subculture cuts across traditional geographic and generational boundaries and is defined through its particular styles of consumption and forms of cultural preference“ (1). While the media that are being used by fans to participate in fandom have changed drastically since the early 1990s, many of the descriptors offered by Jenkins still ring true in connection to contemporary book fandoms.

Using current developments in reading and book fandom as a starting point, the aim of this conference is to investigate reading cultures, fandom, and media practices at a time when social media is becoming more and more impactful. We are interested in the intersection of reading practices and reading discourses in the 21st century and their implications for future developments in reading.

Want to learn about your fellow students‘ research? Planning to write your BA or MA thesis soon and looking for advice and inspiration?

Then come and attend Thesis Day on January 14, 2026! Thesis Day serves as the larger context for the obligatory Masterkolloquium Anglistik/Amerikanistik, where students writing their MA theses will present their research and answer questions on it.
As a special feature for the day, you will also have the opportunity to speak to potential thesis supervisors in English and American Studies and learn about their expectations and fields of interest.
Everyone is welcome! If you are unable to attend the whole day, that is fine – you are free to come and go at any point between panels.
Food and drinks are provided.

Wed 14 January, 2026
8.30am - 3.30pm
IBZ, Emil-Figge-Str. 59, 44227 Dortmund

Find the schedule on our website!

This week the Fußballprofessor Andrei S. Markovits is visiting TU Dortmund with a FORTH OF JULY LECTURE on „Die Bedeutung des Forth of July im Leben von Andy Markovits: Eine transatlantische Reflexion“

📆 04.07.
🕑 16 Uhr
📍 IBZ

All are welcome!
No registration needed

Upcoming guest lecture✨
📆 Wednesday, July 02 2025
🕑 12 pm/noon
📍American Studies Foyer (EF 50)

Taylor Swifts Song “All too well” gilt als einer ihrer wichtigsten Songs, besonders die Veröffentlichung der über 10 Minuten langen “Taylor’s Version” wurde von den Medien als ein wichtiger Markstein in ihrer künstlerischen Entwicklung gefeiert.

In dieser Präsentation möchte Musik- & Theaterwissenschaftler Knut Holtsträter von der Universität Freiburg den Song und seine verschiedenen Versionen und Aufnahmen nach Aspekten wie Genre, Songform, Melodik, Harmonik, Produktion, Vokaltechnik und Stimmgebung untersuchen, und zwar um einerseits die genrespezifischen Normen und Traditionslinien sowie Einflüsse von anderen Akteur*innen zu nachzuvollziehen und andererseits das Besondere an Swift als Songwriterin, Sängerin und Künstlerin herauszustellen.

Ohne Anmeldung
Vortrag findet auf deutsch statt
All are welcome!!✨