Election Night USA

Peter Kwint (former member of parliament for the SP) and Peter Bootsman (confidant TBS) bundle their love for country music in making the podcast Bright Lights. Expect a lot of nerding, many deepdives, a lot of unexpected facts, many music snippets and who knows maybe even some insight into how American politics and music became intertwined in the U.S.

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

How is it possible that a twice-divorced convicted sex criminal is the candidate of Evangelical Americans? In this session, we will discuss this and other hot topics regarding American religious views and how they play out in electoral politics. We will look at key issues and what the data tells us about Christianity in the United States in 2024.

Anne M. Martínez teaches courses on race, religion and politics in American Studies at the University of Groningen. Her research analyzes the intersections of race, politics and Catholic practice among and between communities of color in the 20th and 21st century United States. She lived in six U.S. states, including nin years in Texas before moving to Groningen a decade ago.

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

The race for the White House is in full swing! Forum marks this political battle with an exhibition by world-famous artist Andres Serrano about American society and the presidential candidate on whom all eyes are focused: Donald Trump. Election Night USA is the last chance to visit the exhibition.

As a visitor of Election Night USA you have free access to the exhibition.

Get on the dancefloor and dance to the dynamic music of DJ Orchid!

‘It doesn’t get any crazier than this’. That’s what journalists and correspondents said to each other in 2008. The American elections couldn’t get any stranger. There was the unexpected rise of an unknown black Democrat from Illinois, who beat the powerful political machine of a former First Lady. On the other side there was a rowdy Republican blabbermouth who chose a vice-president candidate who seemingly knew nothing about the world, except for that she could see Russia from her house in Alaska. Election year 2018 was branded by racism, islamophobia and conspiracies. Oh, and the global economy almost bit the dust. No, it couldn’t get crazier than 2008. 

Two decades later, we know better. It can always get crazier, as proven by the election of a realitystar in 2016 and the worldwide pandemic in 2020. And then we haven’t even talked about the temperament of the politicians themselves. Since Trump, the topic of mental health and cognitive fitness is at the top of the agenda for voters. It can’t get crazier than 2024, we’re thinking now. But Hans Klis illustrates in his new historical book Help, de president is gek geworden (Help, the president has gone crazy) that maybe the U.S. politics has always been ‘crazier’ than we might think.

Hans Klis is a writer and a journalist. He was U.S. correspondent (2014 – 2018) for, among others, NRC Media, BNNVARA and HP/DeTijd. Klis had a front row seat to the rise of Donald Trump. He wrote the book Generatie Columbine (2019), about school shootings. In september 2024 his latest book Help, de president is gek geworden was published. In this book, Klis delves into the mental health/clarity of the residents of the White House.

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Americana singer-songwriter Hilde Vos is no stranger to country music. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she managed to conquer the hearts of many music lovers with her authentic voice and sensitive lyrics. Her style is characterized by a mix of country, Americana and folk, where she is often inspired by the Drenthe and American countryside. 

The Dutch singer Hilde Vos and her band, including drummer Fokke de Jong (from Normal), the Arnhem fiddle player Peter van den Bos and songwriter Robert Weston, recently achieved great success during the Texas Sounds International Music Awards in Marshall, Texas. The band was awarded the prestigious award for Best Band, a milestone in their international career. The victory at the Texas Sounds International Music Awards is confirmation of her growing (inter)national success. This award, which is presented annually to promising artists from all over the world, puts Hilde and her band firmly on the map in the American music scene.

Concession speeches are an important part of the United States presidential election cycle. These speeches, delivered by the losing candidate on election night, are a key moment in the transition of power by bringing closure to polarizing elections campaigns. Jelte Olthof will talk on how the rhetoric of presidential concession speeches has evolved in response to the increasingly polarized political climate in the United States. He will pay particular attention to Donald Trump’s refusal to admit his loss in 2020 and what this might mean for the coming election. 

Jelte Olthof is Assistant-Professor with the department of American Studies at the University of Groningen. His research focuses on U.S. political, legal and environmental rhetoric from the founding to the present. His publications include Profiles in Power: Personalitym Persona and the U.S. President and Projecting a Future Present: Greta Thungberg's use of Presence at the United Nations Climate Action Summit. He is currently working on a project on the rhetorical use of choldhood youth climate activists in courts in the United States and beyond, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Get on the dancefloor and dance to the dynamic music of DJ Orchid!

In this talk, Dr Tim Jelfs will trace connections between geopolitical developments since the end of the Cold War and American culture. Taking as examples the original Top Gun (1986) and the much more recent Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Dr Jelfs will show how politics and culture relate to one another. He will also introduce the idea of ‘Westalgia’ as a way of explaining broader trends that unite politics and culture across the political spectrum of the West.

Dr. Tim Jelfs is Senior Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Groningen. He specializes in the relationship between politics and culture in the contemporary United States and teaches in the BA and MA in American Studies in the Faculty of Arts. 

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Americana singer-songwriter Hilde Vos is no stranger to country music. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she managed to conquer the hearts of many music lovers with her authentic voice and sensitive lyrics. Her style is characterized by a mix of country, Americana and folk, where she is often inspired by the Drenthe and American countryside. 

The Dutch singer Hilde Vos and her band, including drummer Fokke de Jong (from Normal), the Arnhem fiddle player Peter van den Bos and songwriter Robert Weston, recently achieved great success during the Texas Sounds International Music Awards in Marshall, Texas. The band was awarded the prestigious award for Best Band, a milestone in their international career. The victory at the Texas Sounds International Music Awards is confirmation of her growing (inter)national success. This award, which is presented annually to promising artists from all over the world, puts Hilde and her band firmly on the map in the American music scene.

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Get on the dancefloor and dance to the dynamic music of DJ Orchid!

Americana singer-songwriter Hilde Vos is no stranger to country music. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she managed to conquer the hearts of many music lovers with her authentic voice and sensitive lyrics. Her style is characterized by a mix of country, Americana and folk, where she is often inspired by the Drenthe and American countryside. 

The Dutch singer Hilde Vos and her band, including drummer Fokke de Jong (from Normal), the Arnhem fiddle player Peter van den Bos and songwriter Robert Weston, recently achieved great success during the Texas Sounds International Music Awards in Marshall, Texas. The band was awarded the prestigious award for Best Band, a milestone in their international career. The victory at the Texas Sounds International Music Awards is confirmation of her growing (inter)national success. This award, which is presented annually to promising artists from all over the world, puts Hilde and her band firmly on the map in the American music scene.

In this talk, and through the participation of the attendees, we will map the various military, terrorist, and other sources of political-military threats to US interests. This mapping exercise will highlight both the similarities and the differences between Vice President Harris and former-President Trump’s policies, politics, advisors, and their likely impacts on world politics. Through our discussion, we will draw attention to questions of over-extension, the legacy of colonial, cold-war, and GWOT-conflicts, as well breaking-news from the Middle East. Participants will be asked to join in thinking together, regardless of their level of expertise in political/military matters. Bring a sense of humor and some energy and we will work together to make sense of how Trump and Harris might approach world politics.

Dr. Jesse Crane-Seeber holds a BA in Resisting Hegemony, a major of his own design, from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY, USA), and a PhD in International Relations from American University (Washington, DC, USA). His research has covered the US military as a sociological worksite, as an occupying force in Iraq and Afghanistan, as a symbolic cornerstone of masculinity in US culture, and a productive site of desire. His recent work has contributed to critical security studies, particularly in theorizing embodiment and desire in militarized cultures and institutions. He is currently completing his book Fetishizing the Tactical, which traces the history and diffusion of de-politicized tactical training from the US military into US society and around the world, with the goal of understanding the sociocultural basis of permanent unwinnable wars and their racialized and gendered effects. 

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Get on the dancefloor and dance to the dynamic music of DJ Orchid!

From serious biopics about presidents, to pleasantly disturbing political satires: the American film is packed with films reflecting the political chaos of the country. In an overview lecture using much discussed films, filmjournalist Hugo Emmerzael will take you along into the democratical circus called America. He will do so to illustrate that entertainment and politics go hand in hand in the U.S., and continuously seem to influence one another. 

Hugo Emmerzael is a filmjournalist, curator and programmer. He is editor of the Filmkrant and writes, among others, for MUBI Notebook, Senses of Cinema and Talking Shorts. Since 2020 he curates at the Forum van de Regisseurs at the Dutch Film Festival. He has been on jury's of the filmfestivals of Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary and Moscow.   

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Remember the Dean Scream? Freedom Fries? Do you know the difference between a RINO and a DINO? Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? Victor and Robin, inquisitors extraordinaire at local quiz café De Toeter outside of election season, have binders full of questions waiting for you to put your knowledge of American political history to the test. So whether you are part of the 1%, the axis of evil or the woke liberal media elite, come join the only party everyone wants to be a part of.

We choose to ask these questions, not because they are easy, but because they are hard! 

The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.

Americana singer-songwriter Hilde Vos is no stranger to country music. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she managed to conquer the hearts of many music lovers with her authentic voice and sensitive lyrics. Her style is characterized by a mix of country, Americana and folk, where she is often inspired by the Drenthe and American countryside. 

The Dutch singer Hilde Vos and her band, including drummer Fokke de Jong (from Normal), the Arnhem fiddle player Peter van den Bos and songwriter Robert Weston, recently achieved great success during the Texas Sounds International Music Awards in Marshall, Texas. The band was awarded the prestigious award for Best Band, a milestone in their international career. The victory at the Texas Sounds International Music Awards is confirmation of her growing (inter)national success. This award, which is presented annually to promising artists from all over the world, puts Hilde and her band firmly on the map in the American music scene.

The Rabo Studio will be transformed into the situation room of the American elections. Under the leadership of Twan van der Linden and Hanne Nijtmans, you follow the American channels to stay informed of the results and the latest news. Moreover, we will keep you awake with a cheerleading course and various activities organized by the ACLO. Towards the end of the night we close out Election Night USA with drinks and donuts.

The end time is subject to change.
The entire program of Election Night USA is in English.