American Studies has two visiting scholars in residence for the 2011-12 year. Henning Gartner is a Fulbright scholar visiting for the year, and Thea Petchler is an Assistant Professor at Art Center College of Design, here for the on sabbatical. Please extend a welcome to them at the potluck on the 26th.
Henning Gärtner works as a writer and critic for various media in Norway. He holds a BA in art history and an MA in comparative literature from the University of Oslo, and is planning to do his PhD on modern extremism in literature. He has worked around the world on different theater and performance projects, and also writes fiction.
After writing about television and its critics, Thea Petchler has returned to the topic she identified in her application to the AmSt program all those years ago. She shouldn't be surprised at how things come full circle, but she is. While her original interest was in artists, her current work asks: When and how did creativity become a common-sense value in the contemporary U.S.? How is the process central to making art supposed to improve us as citizens and as workers?
