19 May 2021Access America20-Dollar Bill, 20-Dollar Bill Controversy, African Americans, American Society, Andrew Jackson, Brittany Cooper, Civil Rights, Civil War, Combahee River Raid, Currency Redesign, Emancipation, Harriet Tubman, Indian Removal Act, Kasi Lemmons, Kerry Walters, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, National Identity, Sarah Bradford, Slavery, Time Magazine, Women's RightsHenrike Kattoll

Harriet Tubman and the 20-Dollar Bill Controversy

By Sabrina Völz

Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61139114

Mere days after Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States, the new administration announced its intention to put Harriet Tubman – known as Moses – on the twenty-dollar bill. The currency redesign – a relatively common occurrence in the 19^th century – was originally set for release in 2020 to mark the centennial of the 19^th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. The majority of Americans supported the redesign in 2016 when the last poll on the issue was taken. President Donald Trump put the project on hold, citing security issues and attributing the Obama initiative to sheer political correctness. While Trump may still view Andrew Jackson as an American hero, historians are quick to point out the complexities of the former U.S. president’s biography. Jackson owned hundreds of slaves and was responsible for the Indian Removal Act that led to the death of about 4,000 Cherokees, forced to walk from the Southern states to modern-day Oklahoma on what is now referred to as the Trail of Tears. Even though he probably should be, Jackson will not be completely removed from the twenty-dollar bill – he’ll just be demoted to the back. The irony of placing Tubman on one side and Jackson on the other on a symbol of national identity has not gone unnoticed and certainly speaks to the division in American society today.

12 May 2021Teaching ToolsAliens, Black Feminist Theory, Dungeons and Dragons, Etherpad, Fiction, Future Society, Intersectionality, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Peer Editing, RPG, Science Fiction, Social Science Fiction, Space, Stories, Student Engagement, Technology, UPC, Women and Science Fiction, World BuildingHenrike Kattoll

Collaborative Writing – The Final Frontier

By Lynette Kirschner

If you want to go where no man has gone before, why not try your hand at collaborative writing? The idea is simple: Combine various types of writing in an elective course with a deep understanding of a specific theory. The seminar, “Where no man has gone before: Women and Science Fiction,” was my attempt to have students not only apply various forms of writing but also gain a deeper knowledge of intersectionality using social science fiction – with a dose of creativity. Just look at these student-produced project covers!

5 May 2021Teaching ToolsAztlán, César Chávez, Chicana, Chicano, Cinco de Mayo, La Cultura Chicana, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Mexican Americans, Mexican-American War, Mexican-U.S. Border, Mexico, Quiz, The House On Mango Street, U.S.-Mexican Border, United States, USAHenrike Kattoll

Chicana/o Quiz

By Maria Moss

In order to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the – unfortunately not official – holiday of Mexican Americans in the United States, I’d like you to do the quiz and see how much you know about “la cultura chicana.”

Download the quiz and don’t look at the answers yet!

28 April 2021Access AmericaAmanda Gorman, Ernest Hemingway, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Robert Cohn, Salvador Dalí, San Fermin Festival, The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, Virginia Woolf, William ShakespeareHenrike Kattoll

Hemingway

By Michael Lederer

I first read Hemingway at college in 1978, an intro course called Modern Existential Literature. The Old Man and the Sea was like looking at an x‑ray to see how we are put together. The Sun Also Rises was a look at how we fall apart. It was also a siren’s call: “This way, follow me.”

Photo credit: Katarina Lederer: Michael Lederer with Hemingway’s statue, Havana, 2013

In spring 1980, I had five hundred bucks, a Eurail Pass and a backpack, and two months in which to see as much of Europe as I could. From Paris, following the characters from Sun, the train took me as far as Bayonne and from there it was thumb out. An old man named Jesus picked me up in a white car and drove me up the mountain to Pamplona. As a boy during the San Fermin festival, he had shaken Hemingway’s hand. When I got out of the car and he shook my hand, I was convinced if not a torch at least a spark had been passed.

21 April 2021Creativity CornerCreative Writing, Fiction, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Little Girl, Short Fiction, Short Story, Student ContributionHenrike Kattoll

Little Girl

By Matti Linke

“old iron gate” by CoreForce is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The day started with a cold waft from a freezing night in the middle of March, as the warm light from the slowly rising sun filled the old but well-kept house of Mr. Parnell with brightness. It crawled from the kitchen sink over every cupboard to the empty wooden dining table and the flowered armchair in the lounge, paved its way to the frayed carpet in the small hallway and revealed the outlines of the main door, an inconspicuous iron gate, covered with branches and tendrils.

Although the house included a few more rooms, you could never see through the heavy drapes behind the windows, falling gravely from the curtain rods. Neither Mr. Parnell nor his little girl ever used the rooms, which were filled with antique furniture, old paintings, sculptures, and various collectables. Every little piece had its proper place, well ordered but in their sheer multitude simply unfathomable. The narrow basement, which was mostly used as a storage room for groceries, had another tiny window, but it was nothing more than a vent and way too small to let any light in or out.

14 April 2021Best Books & Fabulous FilmsFamily, Jeff Nichols, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Loving, Loving pro Virginia, Loving v. Virginia, Mildred Loving, Racism, Richard Loving, U.S. Supreme Court, VirginiaHenrike Kattoll

Loving pro Virginia: A Films’ Powerfully Poignant Depiction of a Family’s Longing for Home

By Hannah Quinque

“I wanna move ’em back to the country.

I don’t care what they do to us.

I won’t raise my family here.”

The 2016 arthouse film Loving, directed by Jeff Nichols, has already run one hour and nine minutes before Mildred Loving expresses her unwillingness to comply with the court sentence that forbids the family to reside in their home state of Virginia. Her decision sets them on a path of no return. The route takes their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Loving v. Virginia will pave the way toward freely marrying, living, and loving for interracial couples in the United States (for couples, which fit hetero- and cisnormative standards, that is.) At first glance, the desire to return to Virginia might appear at odds with the violently hateful treatment Mildred and Richard Loving experienced at the hands of Virginian authorities amidst betrayal by one of their neighbors. At second glance, however, the film shows that the Lovings’ love for their home and home state is as much a driving force behind the struggle for equal rights as is their love for each other.

Mildred’s final decision to return to Virginia follows after their child Don is hit by a car in the busy Washington neighborhood. One of the most action-driven scenes in the otherwise strikingly calm and quiet movie, Don’s accident serves as the final tipping point, initiating the long journey of the Loving v. Virginia court case.