Exchanges, Challenges, and Concerns in the North Atlantic Triangle

This volume addresses exchanges, challenges, and concerns in the North Atlantic Triangle that have been prevalent in the diverse disciplines of the humanities, such as musicology, philosophy, and art history, and considers the institutionalization of Canadian Studies in Austria as well as Québécois TV series and films. The collection discusses the attitude of eminent European scholars and writers toward the United States, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Sigmund Freud, and investigates the development of national identity on both sides of the Atlantic. In the nineteenth century, U.S.-American intellectuals, physicians, and writers sought enhanced professional training and knowledge at European universities. Currently, a major challenge in academia is so-called wokeism, which seems to demand speech control and threatens to rewrite, and often falsify, historical phenomena in historiography. More explicitly, social and political concerns that have emerged from cultural developments in North America and Europe demand better and more engaged attempts at communication. In this context, a look at the history of Intelligence Studies reveals the need for more transparency. Despite the risk of widespread lies through Fake News, the right to freedom of speech is a crucial element of democracy in the Western world, and street protests seem legitimate. The collection also offers accounts of the importance of mentors for the academic careers and the evolution of research interests of several of its contributors, and serves as testimony to the fruitful joint work in The North Atlantic Triangle Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Last but not least, it is also a tribute to the work of Waldemar Zacharasiewicz, the initiator of this Commission, to whom this volume is dedicated.