Project: Project July 4, 2026: American Holidays & Celebrations

Right now, the USA seems to have an image - if not a greater - problem: National Guard troops in California or DC, ICE raids across America, arrests of foreign visitors at the borders...

Yet, people around the world including Germany have been impacted by American culture positively in diverse ways, from pop-culture to politics.

Can we, should we, must we (not) celebrate "America"?

Welcome to the moral conundrum that we want to and need to address in this hands-on project course.

Public holidays and celebrations remind Americans and world citizens what the nation's citizens ought to celebrate. Next year, on July 4, 2026, Americans will celebrate the Semiquincentennial, i.e. the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

This B.A. project course will explore the stories and discourses behind the national, regional and other celebrations in the first (winter) semester and will challenge students to prepare a public event on July 4, 2026 that will allow for both, more academic observations on what "America" should or could celebrate or not (and why) and more hands-on, practical elements of observing America at 250.

America's Semiquincentennial _Official Website

Students who enroll in this project course as part of their B.A. module "Applied Studies of English" need to be aware that I require regular attendance, reliablility, individual  AND group work in preparation of the July 4, 2026 event. 

This course cannot be taken remotely or occasionally or just for one semester as we will work towards the joint goal - the July 4, 2026 event - and need to count on every course participant as an active contributor throughout both the planning and event phase.

Please also note that the Applied Studies of English module is designed with 15 LPs in mind, i.e. up to 450 hours of committment (workload) in those two semesters. 

Module "Topics in Literature and Cultural Studies" and Module "Topics in Linguistics" need to be completed by the end of March 2026 latest; else you will not be allowed to take the exam in July 2026 or have your Studienleistungen for this module registered.

Studienleistung: Projektkonzept (WS 2025/26)

Prüfungsleistung: Mostly individual contributions as part of the larger team efford and project (America's Seminquincentennial Celebration on July 4, 2026), but NO TERM PAPERS, for your oral project presentation in July 2026 (20 min/each).

For B.A. Anglistik/Amerikanistik students (5th/6th semester) ONLY