Alexander Brackebusch was selected as the 2024 Bavarian Library of Congress Fellow. The fellowship will enable the American Studies scholar from LMU Munich to conduct research at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., advancing the work on his dissertation project about failed amendment proposals for the U.S. Constitution. We cordially congratulate Alexander Brackebusch and extend our best wishes for an exciting and productive time in the U.S.-American capital.
Foto: Washington Monument ©Jacob Creswick / unsplash.com
About the Fellow's Research
In his dissertation project, Alexander Brackebusch analyzes amendments to the U.S. Constitution with a particular focus on failed constitutional amendment proposals, the cultural discourses associated with them, and the use of workarounds in place of failed constitutional amendments, which he refers to as “coping mechanisms.” His project aims to examine the multifaceted cultural-political debates and negotiation processes with regard to both society-wide and policy-specific discourses. Furthermore, he aims to analyze and systematize the political-tactical motives for the continuously proposed additional amendments in the face of vanishingly low chances of success.
About the Fellowship Holder
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Alexander Brackebusch is a Doctoral Candidate in “American Cultural History and Transatlantic Studies” at LMU’s Graduate School for Language and Literature (Class of Culture and History). His research interests center around political history and the history of transformation, with a focus on the American presidency and the U.S. Constitution. He received his Master’s degree in “American History, Culture and Society” from LMU’s Amerika-Institut in 2021. In his Master’s thesis, he examined historical transformations of conception, role, and conduct of the American presidency. Alexander also received a supplementary postgraduate certificate in Intercultural Communication (ICCP) from LMU’s Institute for Intercultural Communication. Prior to his M.A., he completed his Bachelor’s degree in “North American Studies,” with a minor in “Languages, Literatures and Cultures” in 2019. His Bachelor’s thesis analyzed the political motivations behind Andrew Jackson’s Maysville Road Veto of 1830.
The Bavarian Library of Congress Fellowship is part of the Fellowship Program of the Bavarian American Academy (BAA) and is announced annually. Applications are open to doctoral candidates from Bavarian universities whose dissertation projects are thematically relevant and whose work benefits from a stay at the renowned American university.
The scholarship is funded by the Bayerische Staatskanzlei. We would like to express our gratitude for this important cooperation and generous support!
