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| Professors discuss travel writings from 19th and 20th centuries |
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| Written by Shreeya Rana, Contributor to The Shorthorn | ||||
| Thursday, 12 March 2009 11:21 PM | ||||
 Rutgers University history professor Andrew Lees speaks at the 44th Annual Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures on Thursday in the University Center Rio Grande Ballroom. The History department sponsored the event, titled “Crossing the Atlantic: Travel and Travel Writing in Modern Times.” (The Shorthorn: Monica Lopez) Nils H. Roemer of UT-Dallas presented the keynote lecture, Mapping Modernity: Jews and Other German Travelers. He said Jews came to the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century, because they were fascinated with America, particularly New York. Rutgers University history professor Andrew Lees, in his lecture titled Between Modernity and Antimodernity: From Enthusiasm to Anxiety in German Perceptions of American Big Cities, said the U.S. captivated Germans mostly because of its democratic republic status, but also because America was the land of the future — politically, economically and socially. “Germans could gain insight by observing what was happening across the Atlantic,” he said. He said in the 19th century, interest in America as a modern society grew in German consciousness. New York and Chicago were viewed as world cities with populations of 2.5 million and 1.1 million, respectively. History associate professor Thomas Adam presented Travel, Gender, and Identity: George and Anna Tichnor’s Travel Journals, which focused on the differences between the writings of the 19th century American academician and his wife while they traveled in Dresden, Germany. “An eye for details clearly separates George and Anna Tichnor’s journals,” he said. He also mentioned that seeing through George’s eyes seems like watching a black and white movie, while Anna’s journals are more colorful. History Professor Emeritus Dieter K. Buse of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario opened the series with, Social Crossings: German Leftists View Amerika and Reflect Themselves. Views: 992 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 April 2009 06:23 PM ) | ||||
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