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Current Events

FALL 2009

Tue
4 Nov

through

Wed
11 Nov

 

EXHIBITION

"From Peaceful Revolution to German Unity”.  An ongoing exhibition of posters depicting the history of events which lead to the Fall of the Wall and to German reunification.                               

Watson Institute lobby
Free and open to the public

 

Wed
4 Nov
 

FREEDOM WITHOUT WALLS
FILM SCREENING

“Goodbye Lenin”
(In German with English subtitles)    

8:00 pm, MacMillan 117
Free and open to the public.

Screening of award winning film, “Goodbye Lenin” (2003).  German comedy about a son who must hide the fall of the Berlin Wall from his sickly mother because he believes that the shock might kill her. 


Thur
5 Nov
 

FREEDOM WITHOUT WALLS
LECTURE

“West meets East – Past Experiences and Current Challenges”


Reiner Möckelmann, Consul General Reiner Möckelmann, Retired West German Diplomat and Director of Summer School Wust


7:00 pm, Joukowsky Forum at the Watson Institute
Free and open to the public with reception following


Consul General Reiner Möckelmann, a former West German diplomat, who held posts at the embassies in Moscow, Belgrad, Vienna, Lima, Ankara and as Consul General in Istanbul, will lecture about his experiences working for the embassy during the Cold War and now since 2006 as Director of the Summer School Wust located in former East Germany. This school was founded in order to give educational opportunities to former citizens of the GDR.  Consul Möckelmann’s career was influenced greatly by the existence of the Berlin Wall. Due to security reasons, as a western diplomat he did not enter East Germany except in transit to Moscow.  Upon his retirement, he assumed the Directorship of the Wust Summer School and celebrated  the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the wall at the school this summer by hosting prominent figures from politics and law who were participants in the ‘peaceful revolution’ and members of formal roundtable negotiations in eastern Germany in 1989-1990.  Brown University’s German Studies Professor Kay Goodman was a founder of this summer school.  Each summer, two to three Brown students travel to Wust to work as instructors at the summer school and to live with families in the village.

Sponsored by the C. V. Starr Lectureship Fund

 

Fri
6 Nov
 

FREEDOM WITHOUT WALLS
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

““Brown/Rostock Exchange 1979-1989: Scholarly Exchanges with East Germany”


Professor William Crossgrove, Professor Marilyn Rueschemeyer, Professor Duncan Smith

3:00 pm:  Kaffeestunde
3:30 pm:  Roundtable Discussion with reception following

Joukowsky Forum at the Watson Institute, Free and open to the public.

Brown University has a long tradition of exchanges with former East Germany (German Democratic Republic). In 1979, the first exchange between any university in the US and in the GDR was established between Brown and the Wilhelm Pieck University in Rostock, East Germany. Undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty from such disciplines as English, medicine, physics, chemistry and German participated in this exchange. This exchange grew to be the largest exchange program between a US and an East German university. About one hundred students participated in the semester or year program, and many more in the summer programs. Another fifty or so faculty members also regularly participated. The exchange took place between libraries as well, which led to Brown having an extensive collection of holdings relating to the GDR. The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University still maintains an exchange with the medical school in Rostock.  In this roundtable, Professors emeriti Duncan Smith and William Crossgrove from Brown’s Department of German Studies along with Professor Marilyn Rueschemeyer from the Watson Institute will reflect on these exchanges and on their own research on the topic.

Sat
7 Nov
 

FREEDOM WITHOUT WALLS
GALA

Semi-formal Event (Please dress nicely! Suit and tie are not required, no sneakers, flip-flops or blue jeans)

8:00pm-12:00pm:  Music and dancing, food and fun!

8pm-9pm: Live piano music performed by Brown students Ja Bin Hong and Sang Bin Hong

Bach: Partita in e minor
Brahms: Intermezzo in e-flat minor (Op.118 No.6)
Schumann-Liszt: Widmung

9-midnight: Dance to the best German music!

Sayles Hall, Ticket required.
Please email German_Studies@Brown.edu for more information.

Click HERE for ticket sales information.

Mon
9 Nov
 

FREEDOM WITHOUT WALLS

“Tear Down this Wall”

11am – 1pm:  Wall Art Competition. Add graffiti to our miniature replica of the Berlin Wall and get the chance of winning a trip to two to Berlin!   Sharpies will be provided! Bring your own paints! All participants will receive their own Freedom without Walls pens and highlighters.

12noon – 1:00 pm:  Public Speaking and Spoken Word Competition.  Give a short “speech” or perform a “poetry slam” about the fall of the wall.  Winning speech will be entered into nationwide competition.  Prize is trip for two to Berlin. All participants will receive a drawstring backpack filled with cool prizes, including a water bottle, and gummi bears! Click HERE for competition guidelines.

1pm-2pm:  “Tear Down this Wall”.  Grab a hammer, put on a Freedom without Walls t-shirt and tear down this wall!

Main Green
Free and open to the public. 

Twenty years ago, on the 9th of November, 1989, the world watched in astonishment as jubilant crowds gathered around midnight on both sides of the Berlin Wall. A peaceful revolution had forced the Wall open.  What is the significance of the fall of the wall? What does it mean to students born twenty years ago? To present and future generations, the fall of the Berlin Wall sends a universal message of hope. It reminds us that peaceful change remains possible even where hard line regimes reign. It reminds us that freedom will prevail.

 

Thu
12 Nov
 

LECTURE

Brigid Doherty
(Associate Professor in the Princeton University Departments of Art and Archaeology and Germanic Languages and Literature)

"A Footnote to Art History in Walter Benjamin's 'Artwork Essay'"

6:30 pm, List 110, 64 College Street

Thu
19 Nov
 

COLLOQUIUM
Susan Solomon, Comparative Literature
Michael Powers, German Studies

4:30pm, Library at 190 Hope

PAST EVENTS FALL 2009

Wed
30 Sept
 

LECTURE
Prof. Wolfgang Bernard
(University of Rostock, Germany)


'The Ongoing Process of German Reunification - A Look Behind the Scenes '

Noon, Library at 190 Hope
Pizza lunch provided

Thur
1 Oct
 

COLLOQUIUM
Professor Kevin McLaughlin
(Professor of English and Comparative Literature and German Studies)

“Making Room for Reason in Kant and Derrida”

4:30pm, 190 Hope, Room 103
Click HERE for flyer.

Fri
23 Oct
 

OKTOBERFEST
Come join us for Wurst und Kuchen

 

3:00 pm, lawn, 190 Hope Street

Thu
29 Oct
 

COLLOQUIUM
Beatrix Himmelmann
(Visiting Professor in Philosophy)

“How to Make Sense of the World - Nietzsche's Aesthetic Point of View”

4:30pm, Library at 190 Hope

 

SPRING 2009

5 Feb
to
1 March
and
5-8 March
 

MUSICAL
Cabaret
Brown University Theatre

Click HERE for more information

Friday
6 March
 

COLLOQUIUM
Ulrike Küchler

The Magical Mechanical: Automata
and the Fantastic in literature.
E.T.A. Hoffmann´s Olimpia and Alfred de Musset´s Blandine

4:30 pm
190 Hope Street, Library
Click HERE for flyer

Wednesday
11 March
 

WORKSHOP ON POETRY
Ian Cooper
(Selwyn College, Cambridge)

'Faces, Fingers and Photographs: Les Murray and his European Contexts'

Noon - 2:00pm
Marston 209

Preregistration required with zachary_sng@brown.edu
Lunch provided
Sponsored by the Departments of German Studies and Comparative Literature
Click HERE for flyer

Fri-Sat
13-14 March
 

SYMPOSIUM
Theatricality and Performance

Click HERE for event website.

Monday
30 March
 

WORKSHOP ON POETRY
Ian Cooper
(Selwyn College, Cambridge)

"Durs Grünbein's Voices"

5:00 - 7:00 pm
190 Hope Street, room 103

Pre-registration required with zachary_sng@brown.edu.
Sponsored by the Dept. of German Studies
Click HERE for flyer

Friday
3 April
 

BROWN DEGREE DAYS
Meet alumni to hear about their career paths post Brown.

3:00PM
190 Hope Street, Library
Cleck HERE for flyer

Tuesday
7 April
 

LECTURE
Professor Bernd Stiegler
"Montage as Cultural Technique"

5:00pm
190 Hope Street, room 203
Click HERE for flyer

Wednesday
8 April
 

GERMAN CLUB
Kabarettabend

7:30pm
Hourglass Café (basement @ Faunce House)
Click HERE for flyer

Tuesday
28 April
 

FILMFEST
6th annual Bruniale Filmfest 

Noon - 2:00pm
Salomon 101
Click HERE for flyer

Tuesday
5 May
 

COLLOQUIUM
Katrin Dettmer
tbd

Silja Maehl
"The body of Language: Yoko Tawada and Walter Benjamin".

3:00-5:00pm
190 Hope Street, room 103

Friday
8 May
 

DELTA PHI ALPHA INDUCTION & AWARDS CEREMONY

2:00-3:00pm
190 Hope Street, room 103

Friday
May 8
 

GRILLFEST

3:00-5:00pm
190 Hope Street, lawn

FALL 2009

4-11
November
 

Freedom Without Walls Campus Week

Click HERE for more information.

 

Past Events

FALL 2008

Tue
16 Sept

 

LECTURE SERIES
German Studies and the Humanities: New Directions
Elisabeth Weber, "'Torture was the essence of National Socialism': Reading Jean Améry Today."
Free, refreshments, 4:00pm, Faunce House, Petteruti Lounge.
RECOMMENDED READING AVAILABLE HERE

Tue
23 Sept

 

LECTURE
Professor Roberto Simanowski
Eating Text: The Life of Words as Image, Sound and Action @ Goethe Institüt-Boston. Click HERE for details.

Tues
30 Sept

  LECTURE
Professor Roberto Simanowski
Digitale Median in der Erlebnisgesellschaft. Kunst - Kultur - Utopie
Goethe Institut - Boston

Wed
Oct 1

 

FILM SCREENING
The Lives of Others (2006)
190 Hope Street, Room 203 @ 7:00pm. Thriller/Drama. German with English subtitles. Click HERE for trailer.

Tue
7 Oct

 

READING
in English and German
Jan Wagner

Click HERE to hear Wagner read some of his poems. McCormack Theater @ 7:00pm

Thur
23 Oct
  LECTURE SERIES
German Studies and the Humanities: New Directions
Lutz Koepnick
"Benjamin in the Age of New Media.
RECOMMENDED READING AVAILABLE HERE

Wed
29 Oct

 
FILM SCREENING

Herr Lehmann (2003)

7:00pm
190 Hope Street, Room 203
Click HERE for trailer.

Thu
30 Oct

 

LECTURE SERIES
German Studies and the Humanities: New Directions
Stefan Andriopoulos,"Phantasmagoria: Specters of Kant."
Free, refreshments, 4:00pm, location Pembroke Hall 305.

RECOMMENDED READING AVAILABLE HERE

Tue
11 Nov

 

LECTURE SERIES
German Studies and the Humanities:
New Directions

Peter Fenves,"Kant and the Idea of 'Other Human Beings of a Different Species (Race).'"
Free, refreshments, 5:00pm., 190 Hope, Room 203.

RECOMMENDED READING AVAILABLE HERE

Wed
3 Dec

 

FILM SCREENING
Yella (2007)
190 Hope Street, Room 203 @ 7:00pm. Drama. German / English subtitles. Click HERE for trailer.

Thu
4 Dec
  COLLOQUIUM

“Coming to Terms with the Ghost:  Spectral Narration in Uwe Johnson's Jahrestage” by Prof. Lara Kelingos. Free, refreshments, 4:00pm, 190 Hope, Room 103.

 

 

 

SPRING 2008

Fri
25 Jan
  Clemens Risi Welcome Receptionrefreshments, 4:30-6:00pm., Library, 190 Hope Street
Fri
1 Feb
  Bettina Brandl-Risi talk: "this is my theory-friendly everyday life. It is intense and it is gradually becoming capable of theory! ... and not that art shit or shit like that!" René Pollesch and the Politics of Virtuosity on German Stages, 4:00-5:30pm, Theater, Speech and Dance, Lyman Hall, Room 007.
Thu
7 Feb
FILM SCREENING:
Die Stadt als Beute / Berlin Stories

Salomon 203, 7-9:30 pm
Admission Free. German with English subtitles.

Sat
21-24
Feb

  Senior Showcase: Hamletmachine, by Heiner Müller In a new translation by Katrin Dettmer and J.E. Macián, Directed by José Enrique Macián, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, Leeds Theatre
Sat
23 Feb
  Conference: Fascism, Nazism and Sexuality, 9:00am - 4:00pm, Vartan Gregorian Quad Lounge, 101Thayer Street, Saunders Inn
Thu
28 Feb
  FILM SCREENING:
Sommer vorm Balkon

Salomon 203, 7-9:30 pm
Admission Free. German with English subtitles.
Thu
13 Mar
  FILM SCREENING:
Schultze Gets the Blues
Thu-Fri
13- 14
Mar
  Conference: Cogut Center presents "WAGNER and SCANDAL - A Rigorous Conversation with Music and Drama", Grant Recital Hall, Brown University. Check HERE for details.
Tues
Mar 18
  Colloquium: "Opera in Performance - In Search of New Analytical Approaches" Prof. Dr. Clemens Risi, Max Kade Visiting Professor of German Studies and Music colloquium (in English), 4:00pm, Smith-Buonnano 106, Reception to follow .
Thu
Mar 20
  Guest speaker, Robert Sollich, dramaturg, to visit Clemens Risi's GRMN1660X: Richard Wagner's Theater course.
Thu
Apr 3
  FILM SCREENING:
Das Wunder von Bern

Salomon 203, 7-9:30 pm.
German w/ English subtitles. Admission Free.
Thu
3 Apr
 

Concert: "Spiritual Resistance: Music from Theresienstadt" by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair, Russell Ryan on Piano, 7:30pm, First Unitarian Church, Benefit and Benevolent Streets, Prov., RI. Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Presented by the Cogut Center for the Humanities.

Fri
4 Apr
  Lecture: Soccer and German Patriotism: From the 1954 Miracle to a "Summer's Tale" by Jochen Vogt, (2006), Library, 190 Hope St, 3:00pm
Tue
15 Apr
  Colloquium: Thomas Bäumler, "Shaping Crisis, Shaping Religion: Thinking Social Form in Schleiermacher's 'Speeches'", Dept of German Studies Library 190 Hope St., 4:00pm.
Thu
17 Apr
 

FILM SCREENING: Young Törless
Salomon 203, 7-9 pm. Admission Free
German w/English subtitles

Fri
18 Apr


 

GERMAN CLUB:
Fußballtag! April 18th, 3PM, Lawn @ 190 Hope St. Free.

Tue29
Apr
  GERMAN CLUB
Kabarettabend. April 29th, 7PM at Peterutti Lounge. Please contact Maria_Elisabeth_Schreiber@brown.edu
before Sunday, April 27th if you would like to perform a German related skit, poem, song, or anything else. Free. All welcome.
Thu
1 May

  GRILLFEST
May 1st, 3pm, Lawn @ 190 Hope St. Free.
Mon
5 May
  ΔΦΑ INDUCTION CEREMONY:
May 5th, 4pm, Library @ 190 Hope St.

 

FALL 2007

Thu
20 Sep
  Seminar: Avital Ronell Presents: Kleist’s Militerary Strategy: Overturning the Story Line in THE MARQUISE VON O. 5:00 – 7:00 PM , Crystal Room, Alumnae Hall

Tues
2 Oct

  Oktoberfest, Tuesday, October 2nd, starting at 3 pm. on the lawn near the German Studies Dept. @ 190 Hope St.

Wed
3 Oct

 

GDR Film Series: “Ich war neunzehn” (1968),
7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno 201, in German with English subtitles    

Thur
4 Oct
 

Reading Digital Literature Conference, Opening reception and Exhibition: 8:00pm - 9:00pm in List Art Center
Click here to view our conference website.

Fri
5 Oct

 

Reading Digital Literature Conference, Conference Opening: 4:30pm - 5:00pm
Sessions: 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Performance of Digital Literature: 7:00pm - 8:00 pm
All in Smith-Buonanno 106

Sat
6 Oct

 

Reading Digital Literature Conference,
Sessions: 9:30am to 6:30pm
Performance of Digital Literature: 8:30pm to 10:00 pm
All in Smith-Buonanno 106

Sun
7 Oct
 

Reading Digital Literature Conference,
Student Panel: 10:00am - 12:00pm
All in Smith-Buonanno 106

Wed
17 Oct

  GDR Film Series: “Spur der Steine” (1966)
7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno 201, in German with English subtitles

Wed
31 Oct

  GDR Film Series: “Die Legende von Paul und Paula” (1973)
7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno 201, in German with English subtitles

Thu
14 Nov

 

GDR Film Series: “Jakob, der Lügner“ (1975)
7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno 201, in German with English subtitles

Wed
28 Nov

  GDR Film Series: "Winter adé" (1988)
7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno 201

SPRING 2007

Thu
26 Apr
  "One Hans with Hot Sauce - Life in Two Worlds"
A reading in German by author, Hatice Akyün. 4p.m., Dept. of German Studies, 190 Hope Street, Rm.103, Reception will follow the talk.
Wed
11 Apr
  "Rosenstrasse" (2003) director Margarethe von Trotta, 8 p.m. Smith-Buonanno G 01 (German with English subtitles)
Tues
10 Apr
  "Sentiment and the Sublime in the 18th Century"
Lunchtime Seminar at the Cogut Center for the Humanities, by Zachary Sng.
Paper will be pre-circulated, and pre-registration is required. For details, click here.
Thu
5 Apr
  "Watching Watching: Surveillant Intermediality in Fritz Lang's The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse." Seminar by Thomas Y. Levin, Princeton University. McKinney Room, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street. 12-2 pm.
Pre-registration required. For details, click here. Hosted by Cogut Center for the Humanities.
Wed
4 Apr
  "Anxious Cinema: Surveillance as Narrative Form." Lecture by Thomas Y. Levin, Princeton University. Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute,
111 Thayer Street. 7:30 - 9:00 pm. Hosted by Cogut Center for the Humanities.
Tues
3 Apr
  "Suicide and Biopower: Elias Canetti's 'Auto-Da-fe'".
Colloquium given by Katrin Dettmer. In English.
Dept. of German Studies, 190 Hope Street, Rm. 103, 4 p.m. Reception will follow.
Tues
3 Apr
  "Die Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse" (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). Film Screening at List Art Center, Room 120, 6:00 - 7:30 pm (in German with English subtitles).
Wed
21 Mar
  "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin"(2000) director Tom Tyker, 8 p.m. Smith-Buonanno G 01 (German with English subtitles)
Mon
19 Mar
  "Talking Cures: The Unconscious as (Operatic) Mise-en-Scène."
Colloquium given by Michelle Duncan. In English.
Dept. of German Studies, 190 Hope Street, Rm. 103, 4 p.m. Reception will follow.
Wed
7 Mar
  "Comedian Harmonists,"(1997) director Joseph Vilmsmaier 8 p.m. Smith-Buonanno G 01 (German with English subtitles)

 

FALL 2006

Wed
15 Nov
  "Go for Zucker"/ "Alles auf Zucker" (2004)

Smith-Buonanno G01, 7 p.m.
In German with English subtitles
Admission Free
Th
2 Nov
  "Writing in the Web of Words"
An Evening with the Author Yoko Tawada, organized by East Asian Studies. Reception and meeting of the author at 6 p.m.
Lecture and reading at 7 pm . Located at: 333 Brook Street.
Wed
1 Nov
  "Sound Scraps, Vision Scraps: Paul Celan's Poetic Practice," Marjorie Perloff
Reinhard Kuhn Memorial Lecture organized by Dept. of Comparative Literature
Smith-Buonanno 106, 5 p.m.
Wed
1 Nov
  "Crazy" (2000)

Smith-Buonanno G01, 7 p.m.
In German with English subtitles
Admission Free
26 - 28
Oct
  "Freud and the Humanities,"
A conference, film series, and concert organized by the Cogut Center for the Humanities.
(See details on the Cogut Center website)
Wed
18 Oct
  "Legend of Rita" / "Stille nach dem Schuss" (2000)

Smith-Buonanno G01, 7 p.m.
In German with English subtitles
Admission Free
Tues
17 Oct
  "False Alarm: On Responsibility in Kafka's Story "A Country-Doctor.'"
Colloquium given by Prof. Zachary Sng, Assistant Professor of German Studies.
Dept. of German Studies, 190 Hope Street, Rm. 103, 4 P.M. Reception will follow.
Wed
4 Oct
  "Nowhere in Africa" / "Nirgendwo in Afrika" (2001)

Smith-Buonanno G01, 7 p.m.
In German with English subtitles
Admission Free
Fri
22 Sep
  A Seminar by Werner Hamacher (U. of Frankfurt)
to discuss 2 pre-circulated papers:
- "The Right to Have Rights"
- "The Right Not to Use Rights"
Faculty Club, 12-2 p.m.
Pre-register with kit@brown.edu. Lunch provided.
(sponsored by Comparative Literature, Cogut Center, and German Studies)
Thu
21 Sep
 

"Uncalled: A Commentary on Kafka's 'The Test,'"
a Lecture by Werner Hamacher (U. of Frankfurt)
Brian Room, Maddock Alumni Ctr
5:30 p.m., with reception to follow
(sponsored by Comparative Literature, Cogut Center, and German Studies)

 

SPRING 2006

4 May
  Colloquium (in English) given by Prof. Roberto Simanowski entitled "Aesthetics of the Spectacle. On Interaction and Reflection in Digital Literature and Art." (Department Colloquium Series)
190 Hope Street, Rm. 103, 4 p.m. to 5p.m.
5 Apr
  Film "Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken," 7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno, G-12. German with English subtitles.
16 Mar
  "No Place in Reality: The autonomy of Reflection and the Diminution of the Subject in W.G. Sebald's "Austerlitz."
Talk by Katrin Dettmer.
(Departmental Colloquium Series)
190 Hope Street, Rm. 103, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
15 Mar
  Film "Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei," 7 p.m. Smith-Buonanno, G-12. German with subtitles.
2 Mar
  "Projections of America: The New World in the texts of 20th century German-Jewish authors"
Talk by Thomas Kniesche
(Departmental Colloquium Series)
190 Hope St., Rm. 103, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
1 Mar
  Film "Gegen die Wand," 7 pm. Smith-Buonanno,G-12. German film with English subtitles.
28 Feb
  "Deep Walls"
Exhibition opening and lecture
by artist Scott Snibbe
CIT Lecture Room 165, 7 pm
Reception at 8 pm
(Exhibition runs until March 28, 2006)
3 Feb
  "Unsettling Opera," a 1-day Workshop
Grant Recital Hall, 1 Young Orchard Ave
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Organized by Cogut Center for the Humanities
(click here for details)

 

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