Interpreting the American Dream
December 7, 2007. Understanding the American Dream is necessary in order to understand the American Personality. To help German high school students gain further insight into this topic, Consulate Public Affairs Intern Joshua Kennedy gave a presentation on this topic at the Jakob-Grimm-Schule in Kassell. Mr. Kennedy mixed the sociological, political and historical views and foundations of this most American of phenomena, creating a relaxed formal presentation that held the students' attention and provided an insight into how to understand the citizenry of the United States. The 75 students from upper-level English studies courses were attentive and engaged and the topic, and were subsequently provided with a number of handouts and articles to give them greater insight and a starting point for further research and a more in-depth discussion of the American Dream. Mr. Kennedy's presentation was part of the Consulate's MeetUS outreach program, which provides American presenters to German schools to discuss various topics of American culture. For more information about the MeetUS program, visit the program page at http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/meetus.html