The Swedish Association for American Studies (SAAS) is an inspiring academic network that encourages scholarship in the multidisciplinary field of American Studies. SAAS seeks to develop a critical understanding of the role, place, and meaning of the United States and North America. In Sweden, research about the US/America is conducted in many different disciplines; SAAS thus functions as an important forum for interdisciplinary exchange and encounters between American Studies scholars.
- Oland: New book by Kim Khavar Fahlstedt
On April 24, film and media studies scholar Kim Khavar publishes a book on Warner Oland, Sweden’s forgotten Hollywood star. The book tells the story of how, having emigrated from Västerbotten to New England as a young boy in the 1890s, Oland came of age as cinema emerged and became America’s favorite form of entertainment. Despite lofty ambitions as a serious theatre actor, Oland found himself repeatedly cast as oriental villains in the lucrative moving picture industry. By the twilight 1920s, Oland had become Hollywood’s most well-known “film oriental”, famously appearing in roles both as super villain Fu Manchu and the master detective Charlie Chan. The name Warner Oland was known around the world, yet his public persona was built around a mystery: where did he actually come from?
In Oland, film scholar Kim Khavar Fahlstedt presents the first biography of Swedish-American movie star Warner Oland. Drawing on a decade of archival research and interviews, this study delves into Oland’s captivating life story and explores Hollywood’s constructions of race and shifting transcultural receptions of cinematic stereotypes.
The book is written in Swedish and is published by Appell Förlag on April 24. Link to the publisher: https://appellforlag.se/bok/oland/#
- Call for Contributions: Twelfth SAAS Conference
We will host our 12th Biennial Conference of the Swedish Association for American Studies at Södertörn University, Stockholm/Flemingsberg, a full day October 3 and a half day (morning to early afternoon) October 4.
We invite scholars to submit proposals for presentations of ongoing or planned research projects, including PhD projects, and/or topics for informal roundtable discussions. Presentations/ roundtables concerning teaching within the field of American Studies are also very welcome.
Deadline for proposals: May 19, 2024. Notification of acceptance will be sent by the end of June.
Read more here. Most welcome!
- NAAS 2025 Conference – Call for presentations
The 28th biennial Nordic Association for American Studies Conference 2025 will be held at the University of Turku, Finland
between June 4-6, 2025. The conference is organized by the John Morton Center for North American Studies (JMC), University of Turku, and the Finnish American Studies Association (FASA).Call for papers is now open. We urge all scholars and students interested in American studies to apply for the conference. The organizers puts it as follows:
We welcome proposals that think through, reflect upon, and reconsider the significance of Aspirations in the pasts, presents, and futures of the United States. Aspirational ideals and beliefs have always been at the crux of the United States’ national ethos, but they have also evolved during the course of history.Deadline: June 15, 2024.
Read more on the conference website
- SINAS Visiting PhD Student Program
The Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS) at Uppsala University is offering a Visiting PhD Student Program in the fall of 2023. Please see the attached Call for Applications for more information. Deadline is August 6, 2023.
- NAAS Conference 2023
On May 25–27, 2023, the Nordic Association for American Studies held its 27th biennial conference at Uppsala University, Sweden, addressing the theme “Crises and Turns: Continuities and Discontinuities in American Culture.” The Swedish Association for American Studies (SAAS) co-hosted the event with the Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS).
The keynote speakers were prof. Kristin Hoganson, University of Illinois and prof. Imre Szeman, University of Waterloo. The plenary speakers were prof. Gunlög Fur, Linnæus University, prof. Asbjørn Grønstad, University of Bergen, associate prof. Marianne Kongerslev, Aalborg University, and Sami Lakomäki, University of Oulu.
Read more and find the program in full on the NAAS 2023 conference website.
- Journal: American Studies in Scandinavia (ASiS)
ASiS is the journal of the Nordic Association for American Studies (NAAS). It carries scholarly articles and reviews on a wide range of American Studies topics and disciplines. We encourage you to submit articles and book reviews to the journal!
The latest issue (55:1, 2023) is edited by Anders Bo Rasmussen and features contributions by David E. Nye, Susan Savage Lee, Lovro Škopljanac, Jenny Bonnevier, Georgi Asatryan, and Anne Mørk.
For previous issues and information about submissions, please visit the ASiS website.