Principal Researcher: Margarida Vale de Gato
Co-responsible: Edgardo A. Medeiros da Silva
Research Unit: ULICES
Partners: American Corners Portugal – US Embassy, Georgetown University American Studies Program, CHUL – Centre for History of the University of Lisbon
Duration: From 2023 onwards
Funding: US$ 8,500 from American Corners Portugal – US Embassy; US $3000 Georgetown University American Studies Program; €3000 CHUL.
Overall description:
American Studies Over_Seas: (Re)Imagining Shared Pasts, Bridging Ecological Temporalities is the new designation / continuation of the project (Re)Imagining Shared Pasts Over the Sea and Across Borders (2018-2023) launched in 2018 by the American Studies research group at ULICES (GI3). Transdisciplinary in nature, the project also delves into dialogue, reception and projections between the United States, the Americas, and Europe, focusing on the imagery and (re)constructions of our shared ocean(s), now with assumedly more ecocentric vistas. We aim to look from, think with, and think through the sea (Jue 2020; Mentz 2024), while also addressing the processes associated with the notions of time, urgency, progress and retreat. (Re)Imagining Shared Pasts, Bridging Ecological Temporalities wishes to go beyond the traditional premises associated with the study of the maritime world and embrace a new model that “takes the sea as a proprioceptive point of enquiry” (Blum, 2010, p. 671). It proposes to look at the Atlantic world as a “site of memory,” a fluid space of cosmopolitan interchange of people, goods and ideas, where the lines of history, literature and geography intersect (Boelhower, 2019, p. 37). In this respect, the underscore sign connecting the words “over” and “seas” in the project title simultaneously separates and bridges, just like the oceans, the shores, the cultures and the times of the nations that make up the Atlantic world. As we consolidate our long-term collaboration with Georgetown University, in 2024-2025 we wish to focus our attention on coastal studies, strengthening not only our present network of partners, but also the transdisciplinary reach of our activities. We will be hosting a symposium titled American Studies Over_Seas: Active Ties, Tides, and Times (Nov. 7-9, 2024), bringing together academics from natural and environmental history, anthropology, maritime biology and geography. The symposium aims as well to connect with community-led ventures and reach out to the general population, policy-makers and activists working in affected coastal areas. We will collaborate with the municipality of Almada, a sea-rising endangered region, with a follow-up program in Portuguese (“Abordar o Transbordo”). To give continuity to this community outreach activity in 2025-2026, an additional proposal for funding has been submitted to American Corners, Portugal, titled American Studies Over_Seas: Our Plastic S(h)ores. Thus far, a significant output was the contribution of two project members to The Routledge Companion to Ecopoetics (2023). Forthcoming is the publication of a bilingual volume of eco-poetry & arts, titled Dez Ar Mar / Ten Sea Air, with invited authors on breathing in and navigating the current climate crisis. Finally, members meet regularly in a reading circle called Thinking with the Atlantic as a way of developing critical mass for the overall project.
