It has been nearly 25 years since the publication of Donald Pease and Amy Kaplan’s seminal collection of essays, Cultures of United States Imperialism (Duke, 1993), a volume which built on and expanded in new directions a field of foreign policy and imperial studies initiated largely by William Appleman Williams and the Wisconsin School in the 1950s and 60s. Since then, of course, ‘US imperialism’ has become a familiar (if still deeply contested) concept for historians, political analysts, sociologists, literary critics, and scholars of other cultural forms. Meanwhile, U.S. foreign policy itself has moved in decisive new directions: the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, interventions in Libya and Pakistan, the changing relationship with Cuba and Iran, and so on. This one-day symposium seeks to revisit and reassess the continuing currency of ‘U.S. Imperialism’ as a concept and its place in the wider projects of cultural, literary, and artistic history.  Bringing together teachers, students, and artists with an interest in the cultural life of U.S. imperialism and foreign policy – both in its various historical contexts, and in its contemporary forms – the symposium seeks to address its central topic from an interdisciplinary and global perspective.

The day will consist of themed panels and roundtables, and, following his solo exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London this summer, a talk by award-winning artist Edmund Clark (more details can be found here).

More details on the event and registration can be found here.