Finding the Cost of Freedom

Locating and Teaching Sustainable American Studies in Times of War and Climate Change

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1592-4467/13637

Keywords:

American Studies, Environmental Humanities, Transnational Memory Culture, Place-Based Pedagogy, Public Humanities, Sustainability and Climate Literacy, Experiential Learning

Abstract

Fourth contribution to the Forum Outside In, Inside Out: Teaching American Studies in a Changing World

Author Biography

Frank Mehring, Radboud University

Frank Mehring is Professor of American Studies at Radboud University with a focus on transnational American Studies, public humanities, and memory culture. His interdisciplinary research connects local histories with global cultural, political, and environmental processes, with particular emphasis on democratic engagement, migration, visual culture, music, and sustainability. Mehring’s scholarship explores how cultural memory and artistic practices foster transnational dialogue and civic participation across borders. He is the author of the award-winning monograph The Democratic Gap: Transcultural Confrontations between German Immigrants and the Promise of American Democracy (2014), recipient of the EAAS Rob Kroes Award, and co-editor of volumes including Politics and Cultures of Liberation (2018), Soundtrack of Liberation (2015/2025), Faces of Liberation (2025), and The Environment in Sustainable American Studies (2026). Beyond academic publishing, his work bridges research, teaching, and civic society through collaborations with museums, memorial institutions, archives, and international cultural organizations.

Mehring currently serves as President of the Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA) and Regional Director of the Deutsche Atlantic Society (DAG). As honorary director of Museum Forum Arenacum, he develops place-based and experiential learning models that connect universities with public memory cultures and transnational communities.

Downloads

Published

2026-08-31

Issue

Vol. 37 (2026): (Re)Reading Encyclopedic Narratives in the Digital Age

Section

A Serialized Forum

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Frank Mehring

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

RSAJournal will apply a CC BY 4.0 license to all its contributions starting with issue 37 (2026). Previous issues are licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND licence.