Following the events of „9-11“ as well as the current U. S. involvement in the Near East, the concepts and practices of „Americanization“ and „Globalization“, once more, demand widespread international attention. This volume of essays, selected from the 2001 annual conference of the German Association for American Studies, focuses on the United States' pervasive influence and its effects of real or perceived Americanization tendencies on a global scale, including the ambivalent responses such homogenization has produced worldwide. The essays thus represent a multifaceted documentation of American Studies interests characterizing different fields and focal points: popular culture, music, education, history, and contemporary social concerns.
