ASCA Events for Fall 2004

22 Sept Video screening: An American Election 1: Primary (Robert Drew, 1960)

John F. Kennedy is often thought of as the first President of the television era. In at least as many ways, however, he was a cinematic figure: though he was quick to respond to the potentials of television, his persona, social life and public relations were all marked by his long-standing engagement with Hollywood. In this pioneering documentary, made during the Wisconsin Primary election in 1960, we see not only a master media operator in action but also a new kind of reportage (cinema verité) complete with its own claims ('behind the scenes,' 'close up,' 'truthful') in the making (58 minutes).

Place: Room 416, Building 465; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 14:15 - 15:15

29 Sept Video screening: An American Election 2: The War Room (Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, 1992)

Having made his name for his cinematography in Primary, D.A. Pennebaker went on to make a number of documentary films before co-directing a celebrated account of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for the US Presidency, The War Room. Organized around the contrasting figures and methods of Clinton aides George Stephanopoulos and James Carville, The War Room covers the full campaign and explores not only the selling of the candidate but also the challenges that Clinton's private life and controversial past posed to his public relations team (96 minutes).

Place: Room 416, Building 465; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 14:15 - 15:50

6 Oct Video screening: An American Election 3: Wag the Dog (Barry Levinson, 1997)

A feature film that satirizes the political use of the mass media to divert the public's attention away from a sexual scandal in the White house, Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog fit well in the mid-1990s, between the first Gulf War, which had inspired Larry Beinhart's novel, American Hero, on which the film is based, and President Bill Clinton's own scandal with Monica Lewinsky. Wag the Dog tells the tale that unfolds after a White House aide (Anne Heche), a spin doctor (Robert De Niro), and a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) stage a war in Albania in a Hollywood studio, create a war hero (Woody Harrelson), and successfully cover up the president's (Michael Belson) misbehavior. (97 minutes).

Place: Room 416, Building 465; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 14:15 - 16:00

18 Oct Guest Lecture: Jonathan Berger (American Embassy Copenhagen)

In this guest lecture, Jonathan Berger, Assistant Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Copenhagen, examines the voting demographics and specific issues as the 2004 presidential election in the United States enters the final "sprint" phase of the campaigns. Berger examines recent polls of the various swing states as well as the candidates of the two major political parties, President George W. Bush (R) and Senator John F. Kerry (D).

22 Oct Video screening: Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (Robert Greenwald, 2004)

In conjunction with the Danish branch of Tell An American To Vote.com. ASCA is screening Robert Greenwald's Outfoxed. Greenwald's documentary looks at the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, especially Murdoch's American television network, the FOX News Network. Drawing on commentary from a variety of media commentators such as including Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy), and David Brock (Media Matters), the film critiques the network's conservative bias, its policies, and its audience. The screening will be followed by a roundtable discussion of the role of media in American politics.

25 Oct Guest Lecture: Edward Ashbee (Copenhagen Business School): Domestic Policy Issues and the 2004 Election

The 2004 presidential election is unlikely to be as close-run as the last contest. Nevertheless, during the late summer of 2004 polls showed the two candidates to be closely-matched, and in such circumstances, any number of issues might tip the balance. Whereas polls usually show President Bush to have a lead over Democratic Party candidate John Kerry in voter preferences on national security issues, the domestic agenda is another matter. In this guest lecture, Edward Ashbee focuses on domestic issues and discusses why and how they might influence the outcome of the campaign.

Edward Ashbee is Associate Professor of American Studies at the Copenhagen Business School, where he teaches courses on various aspects of American politics and society. A regular contributor to political magazines and journals, his many publications include American Politics Today (2nd ed. 2004), American Society Today (2002), The Politics Today Companion to American Government (with Alan Grant, 2002), and Get Set for American Studies (2004). Professor Ashbee's main research interests focus on cultural politics, political parties and policymaking. He is currently studying the attitudes of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in relation to sexual morality, and compiling a Dictionary of American Studies (Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming).

Place: Room 415, Building 467; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 13:15 - 14:00

10 Nov Video screening: An American Election 4: Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins, 1992)

Bob Roberts differs from earlier screenings in this series in that it deals with a race for the US Senate rather than a US presidential campaign. In addition, while the other films emphasized their documentary qualities or implications, Bob Roberts offers a satire (or 'mockumentary') on contemporary American politics. Released as Bill Clinton entered the White House, the movie was a forerunner to films such as Wag the Dog (1997) and Primary Colors (1998); it also constituted an index of the dominance that media images and public perceptions had come to play in American politics towards the end of the twentieth century (105 minutes).

Place: Room 416, Building 465; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 14:15 - 16:00

15 Nov Guest Lecture: Carol Colatrella (Georgia Institute of Technology): How Can Feminism Transform the University?

In the United States the quest for equality has often been thought of in terms of race. In recent decades, however, the struggle for gender equality has also been waged across many areas of public and private life, not least in the nation's universities and colleges. In this guest lecture, Professor Colatrella discusses how her work on Georgia Institute of Technology's computer-based ADEPT program has drawn on feminist science studies to enable members of academic search and promotion committees improve the effectiveness of their work, and to help applicants enhance their prospects.

Carol Colatrella is Associate Professor of Literature in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology, at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her scholarly interests focus on the cultural study of 19th and 20th century American and European literary, historical, and scientific narratives. Her current book project is entitled Toys and Tools in Pink: Cultural Narratives of Gender, Science, and Technology.

Place: Room 216, Building 467; Department of English, University of Aarhus
Time: 13:15