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Bad Homburg Conference 2020: »Europe. The USA. A Shared Future?«
This year's Bad Homburg Conference will take place on September 18 and 19. It will focus on the development of transatlantic relations and the question of whether the USA and Europe are heading for a shared or a divided future.

The topic
The United States has played a central role in the development of democracies in Europe and, as a firm ally, has long been a guarantor of stability and peace. Recent political developments in the USA and the simultaneous shift in the geopolitical order call into question the reliability of this transatlantic alliance, which has long been taken for granted, as is evident not least from the conflicts in foreign and economic policy.

Against this background, the fourth Bad Homburg Conference will discuss which future there might be for relations between Europe and the USA. Can we be confident that the USA will continue to side with Europe? Or do the interests and values of these two regions diverge, leading them down different paths? What would be the consequences for us in Europe? During the conference, experts from the academic, political and cultural spheres will hold discussions with the public. Aspects of foreign and security policy will be addressed as well as the question of how perceived socio-political polarizations influence the democratic cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. Finally, the role of American popular culture, often referred to as »soft power«, will be examined. Could the subversive potential attributed to it be capable of keeping alive the democratic ways of life that appear to be endangered by politics?

Chair and programme
The Bad Homburg Conference 2020 will take place from Friday, September 18 to Saturday, September 20, 2020 at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. The concept will be developed by American studies scholars, political scientists, historians and philosophers from Goethe University as well as representatives of the Forschungskolleg and the city of Bad Homburg: Prof. Dr. Andreas Fahrmeir, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main; Dr. Bettina Gentzcke, Cultural Director of the City of Bad Homburg; Prof. Dr. Gunther Hellmann, Goethe University; Iris Helene Koban, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften; Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften; Prof. Dr. Darrel Moellendorf, Goethe University; Dr. Thomas Schimmer, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften; Prof. Dr. Johannes Völz, Goethe University; Prof. Dr. Simon Wendt, Goethe University. We expect to publish the conference program in June 2020.

The Bad Homburg Conferences
The Bad Homburg Conferences are jointly organized by the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften of Goethe University and the city of Bad Homburg. Having started in 2017, they take place once a year in the fall, initially over a period of five years. They offer a public forum for reflection on today’s important social questions with the aim of providing ideas and insights for shaping our future.

Contact
Iris Helene Koban, managing director, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften (i.koban@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de)

Dr. Thomas Schimmer, referent/projects, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften (t.schimmer@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de)