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Research
Research
The John F. Kennedy Institute is one of the most important centers for North American Studies in Europe and host institution to various research activities. While faculty members carry out numerous individual research projects on North American topics collaborative research covers a wide range of topics in North American Studies, e.g. urban culture in metropolitan America, transnational studies, neoliberal economic policy, religion and society in North America, history of colonial North America and emigrant letters from America.
The JFKI is a partner institution in the Berlin-New York Transatlantic Postgraduate Program "History and Culture of Metropolis in the 20th Century" and in the Research Center (SFB) 700 "Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood". Among the successfully concluded research projects are the postgraduate program (Graduiertenkolleg) "Democracy in the USA" as well as "From Welfare to Work", a project carried out by the Department of Political Science and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
The JFKI has successfully applied for a graduate school under the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The institute's proposal for a structured Ph.D. program focusing on "The Challenges of Freedom" was one of eighteen graduate school concepts and one of only two projects in the social sciences and the humanities chosen for funding. The Graduate School of North American Studies, which will be funded with a million Euros annually for a period of five years, will begin with the winter term 2007/2008. Together with the senior faculty of the Kennedy Institute and renowned scholars from related disciplines at the Freie Universität, up to 30 students in eight research areas will explore the complex challenges of freedom in contexts which range from religion and civil rights to the literature and culture of border regions. You will find further information.
Besides numerous individual publications by faculty members, which are documented on the respective staff pages, the JFKI itself offers various possibilities for publications. These series attest to the innovative and ongoing research activities at the institute.
The JFKI library contains the largest North American Studies collection in Germany and the broad range of subjects represented at the library make it unique on the European continent. The library contains books, periodicals, audiovisual and electronic materials relating to North American Studies in the humanities and social sciences. There are research grants available for German and European researchers.
