Alexandra Schenke, M.A.

Research Interests

• political & media history
• transatlantic relations
• public history & public diplomacy
• film studies
• studies of national identity & patriotism

Biography

Prior to her time at LMU Munich, Alexandra Schenke studied film and acting in New York City. She has since worked for international film and theater productions as well as dubbing studios as translator, voice actor, and writer while completing degrees in North American studies and educational sciences. Besides her teaching, which predominantly focuses on US political and media history, she has designed and directed several public history projects, including a staged reading of historical documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Her dissertation research examines inscenations of American patriotism and Cold War visual politics.

Dissertation Project

Let’s Make America Great Again: The 'Pro-Hero' Image Makers of the Reagan Era

Publications, Projects, Fellowships (excerpt)

• Doctoral Researcher at NYU Steinhardt for political communication, LMU-NYU Research Cooperation Program (2025)
• Participant of the Bavarian American Academy’s 13th International Summer Academy in Montréal (2025)
• Public history project "Amerika in München" as part of the City of Munich series '1945-2025: Stunde Null? Wie wir wurden was wir sind' (2025)
• Book review of "Populismus und Kino: Politische Repräsentation im Hollywood der 1930er Jahre" by Johannes Pause for H-Soz-Kult (2024)
• Interview for Episode 6 "Why Journalism Needs Heroes" of ZDF Terra X podcast series 'USA — Der Riss' (2024)

Teaching (excerpt)

• Free Enterprise: Social and Economic History of the United States in the 20th Century
• The Making of Enemies: US American Enemy Images in Film
• The Reel Reporter: Journalism and Media Critique in Hollywood Cinema
• Combatting the Crisis: Pro-Hero Politics and Filmmaking in the Reagan Era
• Introduction to Questions of Methodology in Cultural and Historical Studies
• Blockbuster History: Historical Narratives in Hollywood Cinema

Memberships

• German Association for American Studies
• Society for Cinema & Media Studies
• Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (alumna)
• International Women’s Artist Salon
• American German Business Club (Munich chapter)