C.IAS Spotlight Talk

The Center for Inter-American Studies launched the C.IAS Spotlight Talks, a new series of monthly lectures aimed at shedding light on pressing sociocultural topics in the Americas. For the first round of the series, we invited Anita Krainer and Johannes Waldmüller, who delivered a joint lecture titled “Inter-Culturality under Threat: An Analysis of Repression and the Constitutional Reform in Ecuador.” The lecture explored interculturality as a key principle of coexistence rooted in Indigenous relational territoriality. The speakers examined Ecuador’s current political situation and reflected on the country’s sociopolitical trajectory, focusing on state responses in relation to intercultural governance, rights, and policy development. They traced the origins of Ecuadorian interculturality back to the streets and the demands of Indigenous and popular movements of the 1990s, highlighting the grassroots activism that shaped the country’s legal and social landscape. The lecture also addressed contemporary developments, noting that planned constitutional reforms and the current sociopolitical climate have raised urgent questions about the future of interculturality in Ecuador.

CEEPUS Conference and Network Meeting

"Inter-American Perspectives of Environmental Entanglements: Literatures, Cultures, and Histories"

This year’s CEEPUS Week welcomed European scholars from the Inter-American Studies CEEPUS Network to explore the theme “Inter-American Perspectives of Environmental Entanglements: Literatures, Cultures, and Histories.” Researchers from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia presented their work on literature, culture, and history in the context of Inter-American studies.

Speakers and Presentations (in order of appearance):

• Mirna Radin-Sabadoš (University of Novi Sad) 
  “The Expanse as a Narrative of the Anthropocene: Environmental Transformation and Political Conflict in a Universe Driven by ‘Progress’”

• István Pásztori-Kupán (Károli Gáspár University) 
  “The Landman Paradox: Is Global Energy Trade the Friend or Enemy of Global Environmental Protection?”

• David Livingstone (Palacky University) 
  “‘God Bless the Grass’: The Environmental Songs of Malvina Reynolds”

• Bea Tomšič Amon (Ljubljana University) 
  “The comic as an inclusive way of expression – The Eternaut”

• Milan Damjanoski (Blazhe Koneski, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje) “Romantic Roots and Transcendental Branches: Literary Origins of Environmental Consciousness”

• Réka M. Cristian (University of Szeged) 
  “Inter-American Perspectives of Environmental Entanglements in the US of the Sixties”

• Jelena Šesnić (University of Zagreb) 
  “Images of Nature in H.D. Thoreou’s Walden (and “Walking”) and Margaret Fuller’s Summer on the Lakes”

• Mónika Fodor (University of Pécs) 
  “Environmental perception and imagination in Joy Harjo’s poetry”

• Alena Smiešková (Comenius University Bratislava) 
  “I Am Another You: Ecological Ontology and Hybrid Identity in Reyes and Cisneros”

• Fatmir Ramadani (AAB College) 
  “Evolving Representations of Racial Prejudice and Discrimination in American Literature: From Twain to Angelou”

Semester Kick-Off and Lunch Lecture

On Tuesday, October 7 our center held a kick-off event for students, informing them about opportunities for our certificate and the GUSEGG Summer School.

After a short lunch break, Saskia Fürst gave a guest lecture on "Challenging Human Rights Violations and Racism in The Bahams: Haitian Mobility Narratives in Kareem Mortimer's Cargo and Edwidge Danticat's Krik?Krak!"
Her introduction discussed the historical and contemporary relations between Bahamians and Haitians, particularly in the context of migration and the colonial legacy of racial stereotyping. She illustrated how these relations are represented in cultural/popular media, exemplified by the short story "Children of the Sea" by Edwidge Danticat and the film Cargo by Kareem Mortimer.

The interview with Saskia Fürst can be found here.

C.IAS Lecture Series

During the summer semester 2025 as part of our C.IAS lecture series, we welcomed a number of speakers in Graz and online, primarily focusing on the current US-political climate but also including reflections on the foreign relations between the US and Europe.

April 2

Lonnie Johnson: “Getting to know the United States after 1945 - Exemplary U.S. ‘exchange of persons’ programs in postwar Austria: Fulbright and Smith-Mundt”

The lecture focused on the history and evolution of U.S. exchange programs, specifically the Fulbright and the lesser-known Smith-Mundt programs, and their impact on postwar Austria. It traced how these initiatives emerged in the aftermath of World War II, during the U.S. occupation of Austria (1945–1955), as tools of soft power intended to foster mutual understanding and counter lingering anti-American sentiment rooted in Austria’s historical, cultural, and ideological biases. The lecture highlighted how these "exchanges of persons"—from students and scholars to journalists and jazz musicians—not only introduced Austrian elites to American society but also had lasting influence on Austrian-American relations.

April 7

Elizabeth Dillenburg: “Empire's Daughters: Girls and Britain's Colonial Past”

The lecture elabortate on the interconnected histories of girlhood, whiteness, and British colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It highlighted how, although girls are often overlooked in studies of colonialism, they nevertheless played a vital role in the empire as migrants, settlers, laborers, and creators of colonial knowledge and were heralded as “empire builders.” To examine the complexities of girls' engagement and experiences in the empire, this presentation specifically discussed the Girls' Friendly Society and explored how the Society's multifaceted emigration and imperial education programs constructed ideas of girlhood, race, and empire that then circulated globally. This presentation used the Girls' Friendly Society as a lens to explore the micropolitics of colonialism and argued that understandings of colonialism remain incomplete without considerations of girls and girlhood.

May 7

James Forsher: “Democracy in Times of Change: Has Donald Trump Changed the Furture of American Society?”

The lecture considered the century-long history of right-wing political movements in the United States and in how far these movements foreshadowed the political events of today.

May 28

Benjamin Nienass: “Grief and Political Transformation”

The lecture reflected on the connections of grief and politics, specifically on the role of public mourning in sustaining and confronting ideologies. Drawing on different conceptualizations of public grief, the talk considered temporal registers, melancholic attachments to the past as well as narratives of “overcoming” and progress. 

June 5

Manfred Berg: “Donald Trump and the Crisis of American Democracy”

The lecture provided an analysis of Trump's rise to power and his successful re-election. It discussed the potential consequences for US-American democracy and the recent governing of Trump and his administration. Berg argued that Trump's second term will be a stress test for the checks and balances of the US-American consitutional order.

In Memoriam Marjorie Agosín

Celebrating Marjorie Agosín, who left us too early, we want to commemorate the traces she left, acknowledge the lives she touched, and find solace in the memory that is a blessing for all of us who loved and cherished her. Marjorie was reconciled with Austria through the work she did at the Center for Inter-American Studies, her enthusiastic involvement in the Graz International Summer School Seggau, her creative writing workshops in Graz and Seggau, her mentorship to all of us, and especially her constant love and support, always in awareness of the challenges we all face. Now, it is our task to feel this love in our loss, find consolation in the fact that we had the privilege of knowing such a wonderful person, and to come together and in appreciation celebrate a life well lived by asking the question “Where is love born that does not end in sorrow?” Together, in acknowledgement that “the sun changed colors,” we will find our own poetic voices and “perhaps” feel joy and connection: “But sometimes I see her appear in my dreams, / A visionary filled with love / Who kissed my forehead / And asks me not to forget her”. Those of you who would like to share testimonials and pictures, we will set up a platform for you to contribute, which we will post on the website of the Center for Inter-American Studies of the University of Graz, Austria.

Zoom recording and photos:

Please note that due to technical difficulties, the speeches by Mireille van Poppel (University of Graz), Alex Weitzig (Ambassador of the Republic of Chile to Austria), Ulrike Taberhofer (City of Graz), and Mitch Sims (Fullbright Austria) are not included in this recording. In addition, the music was not registered by the microphones we used.

Contributions in order of appearance: John Wiggins, Heinz Anderwald (Jewish Community Graz), Roberta Maierhofer, Kurt Hahn, Erna Pfeiffer, Nina Reibenschuh, and Mirko Petric.
Music by Amaru Sunqu (Grupo Andino Latinoamericano, Perú, Chile, and Mexico)
We thank every contributor and attandee for making this event possible.

To watch the recording of the event, please follow this link and enter the passcode: x9nC+0+7
The photos of the event can be found here.