The American Studies Network (ASN) is a group of European centers involved in American Studies. The idea of a network of centers arose during the European Association for American Studies (EAAS) meeting in London in April, 1990. The ASN was founded in November, 1990 in Berlin at a meeting of interested directors of American Studies centers. The initial group of eight members has expanded to include 17 institutions from all over Europe.

All members take an interdisciplinary approach to American Studies; are independent organizations with some of their own sources of funding, not exclusively linked to a university; have some research facilities; and are committed to a role of public service to the community at large. ASN works in close association with the EAAS. Its goals are those of promoting the study of the United States by close cooperation of the different institutions interested in this area of study.The ASN exists to provide mutual support for all the centers involved, help channel the flow of information on resources among the mem bers and the community, establish joint projects that will increase cooperation and productivity and thus integrate the European studies of America. The ASN is willing to act as an advisory group to encourage the development of American Studies, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe.

One of the key activities of the ASN is the network ing of resources and information such as the availability of visiting scholars for lecturing at the different institutions. Through different means of communication, the ASN hopes to make available to members the library resources of each center and establish an interlibrary loan. Another goal is that of promoting the exchange of scholars and students of the different centers. One of the specific ASN projects is the establishment of the American Studies Network Book Prize, a prize of €1,000 for a remarkable book published in English by a European scholar on any aspect of American Studies. The jury for that biennial prize, presented at the EAAS conferences, is comprised of representa tives from the EAAS and the ASN. The deadline for submitting books for this prize is announced in the EAAS newsletter in the year preceding the EAAS conference.

The Directors of the ASN member centers meet every year to discuss the joint projects and accept new members. The presidency of the ASN rotates among the current directors. In order to become a member, an institution should write and apply to the current president. The prospective institution should include a dossier with information on itself. Any institution that wishes to become a member should comply with the following four criteria:

1. Be an independent organization with some kind of external funding, although it may be linked to another institution such as a university or library.
2. Be of an interdisciplinary nature
3. Have research facilities and carry out research
4. Be of public service to the community by, for example, providing a public library or research archive.

For the 2010 ASN Book Prize click here!

ASN Members (as of 1 May 2009)

President
Detlef Junker
Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Curt und Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais
Hauptstraße 120
69117 Heidelberg, Germany
E-mail: djunker@hca.uni-heidelberg.de

Vice-President
Erik Åsard
The Swedish Institute for North American Studies
Engelska parken, Humanistiskt centrum
Thunbergsvägen 3L, P.O. Box 527
751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
E-mail: erik.asard@engelska.uu.se

Treasurer
Cornelis A. van Minnen
Roosevelt Study Center
P.O. Box 6001
4330 LA Middelburg,
The Netherlands
E-mail: ca.v.minnen@zeeland.nl

Austria

Salzburg Seminar American Studies Center (Salzburg)
http://www.salzburgseminar.org

Belgium

American Studies Center (Mons)
http://www.umh.ac.be/ASC/

Denmark

Center for American Studies (Odense)
http://www.sdu.dk/Hum/amstud/

Center for the Study of the Americas (Copenhagen)
http://uk.cbs.dk/forskning_viden/institutter_centre/institutter/csa

Germany

John F. Kennedy Institute (Berlin)
http://www.jfki.fu-berlin.de/

Heidelberg Center for American Studies (Heidelberg)
http://hca.uni-hd.de/

Center for United States Studies (Halle-Wittenberg)
http://www.zusas.uni-halle.de/en_index.html

Center for North American Studies (Frankfurt am Main)
http://www.zenaf.uni-frankfurt.de/

Great Britain

The David Bruce Centre for American Studies (Keele)
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/as/Dbruce/bruce.htm

Eccles Center for American Studies (London)
http://www.bl.uk/ecclescentre

Arthur Miller Center for American Studies (Norwich)
http://www.uea.ac.uk/eas/centres/miller/miller.intro.shtml

Rothermere American Institute (Oxford)
http://www.rai.ox.ac.uk/index.html

Italy

Centro Studi Americani (Rome)
http://www.centrostudiamericani.org

Netherlands

Roosevelt Study Center (Middelburg)
http://www.roosevelt.nl

Poland

American Studies Center (Warsaw)
http://www.asc.uw.edu.pl/

Spain

Institute for North American Studies (Alcalá)
http://www.iuien-uah.net/

Sweden

The Swedish Institute for North American Studies (Uppsala)
http://www.engelska.uu.se/sinas.html