Zielkultur: USA Historical context is important, but not a history course. All topics connect and are interwoven with many other aspects of US cultural.

Zielkultur: USAHistorical context is important, but not a history course.

All topics connect and are interwoven with many other aspects of US cultural history.

Content (facts, data) secondary to concept (approach, attitude).

Readings are used as a point of departure for further discussions: document history.

African-American Experiences

1619 First Africans in North America: indentured servants, not slaves.Sidebar: US population in 2012: 313,914,040 African American: 39 million or 12.6 % Hispanic or Latino: 50,5 million or 16.3% Native American: 5.2 million or 1.7%

☞ African-American experiences today are a special area of research and teaching at universities. (African American or Black Studies. See film.)

☞ African-American history required in most schools.☞ BUT: While nearly seven in 10 whites (69%) say that

blacks are treated "the same as whites" in their communities, this view is held by only 41% of blacks.

African-American experiences connect fundamentally to every topic of the Blockseminar: religion, comparative history and feminism, sports, and music, and represent a major guiding influence in US-American culture. BUT…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

USA Religion and BeliefsExtrasensory perception, or ESP: 41%That houses can be haunted: 37%Ghosts/that spirits of dead people can come back in certain

places/situations: 32%Telepathy/communication between minds without using traditional

senses: 31%Clairvoyance/the power of the mind to know the past and predict the

future: 26%Astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect

people's lives: 25%That people can communicate mentally with someone who has died:

21%Witches: 21%Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after

death: 20%Channeling/allowing a 'spirit-being' to temporarily assume control of

body: 9%

Fast Facts about American Religions: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html

Comparative History

How perspectives and audience influence the historical narrative. A “People’s History” compared with standard

university textbook on the history of the USA. (Side note on the textbook industry in the USA)

History often taught using “document readers” with minimum introduction or background: basis for discussion.

Social history: another approach to history, usually focuses on historical consequences on everyday life.

Another approach to a central topic of cultural history: women’s issues.

Today, most people read history in the Internet, often through Wikipedia.

Many also learn about history and culture from television.

It is assumed that participants in this seminar will access information from the Internet as a matter of course.

So it would be appropriate to add internet sources as additional perspectives on history. For example, does Wikipedia have an identifiable, particular approach to historical topics?

US history of feminism is usually divided into three “waves”:1. 19th-century sufferage movement2. Post-WWII feminist movement3. Since 1990s third wave: emphasis on non-white, non-

heterosexual feminist issues (sometimes called “post-feminism”.

2nd wave: Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Kate Millet

Immigration History: USA = Nation of Immigrants

President (then Senator) John F. Kennedy published this book as part of his political agenda to liberalize immigration. The law that he supported was passed in 1965, two years after his assassination.

Germans greatly influenced US-American CultureBooklet: The German-Americans (kostenlos)Deutsche im Schmelztiegel der USA (original)

In der Bibliothek:Deutsche im Schmelztiegel der USA: Erfahrungen im größten Einwanderungsland der Europäervon Willi Paul AdamsStandort: MagazinSignatur: 2005 SB 167Ausleihstatus: ausleihbar, verfuegbar

What US-Americans Really Love:Sports and Music

Young people especially are thoroughly occupied with music, and sports are not far behind.64% of teens listen to music through YouTube56% of teens listen to music on the radio53% of teens listen to music through iTunes50% of teens listen to music on CD

Young people between the ages of 8 and 18 spend 2.5 hours per day listening to music.They spend over 7.5 hours per day using electronic media: television, cell phone, computer, etc.

US-American MusicPop music history and current pop music trends: Most young people in North America and Europe are an encyclopedia.

Sociology of pop music:History based on social changes, technology, 20th-century• African-American• Phonograph• Radio• Radio in automobiles; transistor radio (rock and

roll; country)• Television• Internet• Marketing• Social-political movements

US-American Music

Business of pop music (recordings and concerts): • Worldwide: $60-70 billion / year; € 46-54 Milliarden• North America: $12-13 billion / year; € 9-10 Milliarden

Contingent economics: publishing, musical instruments, electronic media devices…

Sports: football, baseball, basketball

The National Football League (NFL) alone brings in about ¾ of the revenue per year as the entire North American music industry.

(http://www.plunkettresearch.com/sports-recreation-leisure-market-research/industry-statistics)

Most recent estimates indicate that 26% of US-Americans regularly attend church.

More people spend 6-10 hours per week watching football on television.

Recently, scholars and commentators call football a religion.

How many hours per week people in the USA watch football on television:

Zu den am weitesten verbreiteten deutschen Vorurteilen gegenüber Amerikanern gehört zweifellos die amerikanische Oberflächlichkeit. Außerdem sind sie angeblich ungebildet, arrogant, patriotisch, geben an, sind dick, essen nur Fastfood und ausschließlich von Plastikgeschirr, haben keine Kultur und schauen dauernd fern.

(DAAD: https://www.daad.org/?p=57031 )