Kulturraumstudien USA, Tips for Enriching Break

Thanks for a productive semester! Below are some tips for keeping your English and cultural knowledge active during the break:

- aim to read at least one (US) novel or work of non-fiction in English.  Good book reviews can be found on the NY Times, Guardian and Globe and Mail websites. Have a look at the books available in our book swap shelf on the fourth floor in the main wing of offices.

- watch some (US) films in English (obviously Netflix is great, but explore the cinemas in the region that offer English-language films in the original, like Odeon, Off Broadway and Filmpalette in Cologne, Brotfabrik and Neue Filmbühne in Bonn, and Black Box in Düsseldorf).

- check out the documentaries on US history and culture available on Netflix. Documentaries by PBS and part of the series called The American Experience are of a very high quality.

- keep up to date with US news by regulary watching news clips (PBS NewsHour is my favorite US news source) on YouTube or reading headlines from news outlets like the NY Times, the Guardian, or the BBC. The Atlantic and National Geographic are great resources for long reads.

- when we reconvene in March, the primary period for the 2020 elections, so keep up on who is in the lead among the Democrats, possibly by watching some of the debates and campaign speeches made.

- check out the YouTube channels of major publications like the NY Times and the Economist. Bonn-based Deutsche Welle also has excellent English-language content. Content made by YouTube influencers can also be very interesting to analyze culturally.

- the Literaturhaus Köln invites a lot of US-based authors for readings and Lit.Cologne is an annual literary Festival in Cologne that also invites many "A-list" US writers to read and lecture.

Links of interest:

ABC News (Australia) documentary "The Fight to Take Back Hawai'i": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAFdLaW02jw