On Thursday, February 25th, CCGES is pleased to present a free screening of Peas at 5:30/Erbsen auf halb sechs, a 2003 film by German director Lars Buechel. This film tells the story of Jakob, a young stage director who loses his sight in a car accident, and Lily, the young woman who tries to help him come to terms with the dramatic changes this means for his life. This is a movie about lovers who can’t see each other, about two blind people, who venture into an unknown world. At the same time, it is an interesting attempt to make the world of the movies accessible to the visually impaired.

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York University has been awarded a grant to establish a European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE). Recognized for the excellence, breadth and depth of its European Union (EU) studies and scholarly activities, York will receive funding of $480,000 over three years to integrate the University’s existing research, teaching, outreach and networking activities on Europe and the European Union (EU), and introduce and facilitate new activities on the EU and EU-Canada relations.

York’s EUCE will be hosted by CCGES and directed by Professor Willem Maas, Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration and professor of political science and public & international affairs at Glendon College. (CONTINUE READING)

Graduate students from across Canada are invited to apply to participate in an interdisciplinary ten-day study tour (26 April to 5 May 2010) to the Ruhr region—formerly the industrial heart of Germany, and in 2010 the European Capital of Culture. Supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York University / Le Centre canadien d’études allemandes et européennes  at Université de Montréal, the tour will operate under the title “From Coal to Culture – The Ruhrgebiet in Transition” and will provide unique first-hand insights into the remarkable changes that have been taking place in what was once home to German heavy industry. In addition, successful applicants will have the opportunity to complete an internship in the Ruhr region within an organization or institution working in area(s) related to the themes of the study tour.

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CCGES is now accepting applications to the 2010 Transatlantic Forum, an annual event intended to facilitate open discussion among Canadian scholars on topics of relevance to Germany, Canada and the transatlantic relationship. This year’s Forum will run under the title “The Peaceful Revolution(s) of 1989: History, Memory, Mythology” and takes place on February 26/27, 2010 (Friday, Saturday) at CCGES York (Toronto). The deadline for applications is January 8, 2010 and more information can be found by clicking on the link here: Transatlantic Forum 2010 – Call for Applications

The call for applications to the awards, scholarships and bursaries available to students enrolled in CCGES’ Graduate Diploma program is now out and the deadline for submissions is Friday, January 15th, 2010.

More information on the support available, can be found here.

In cooperation with the German Consulate General Toronto and the Federal Foundation for the Critical Appraisal of the SED-Dictatorship abd the Consulate General Toronto of the Czech Republic, CCGES will be hosting the poster exhibits “From the Peaceful Revolution to German Unity” and “1989 – As Seen by Photographers” from Monday, November 23rd through to Friday, December 11th in the 2nd floor foyer of the York Research Tower. Using the photographic record, these powerful exhibit marks the 20th anniversary of the events in brought an end to the Cold War and which literally changed the world. (CONTINUE READING)

Mr. Vojtech Kyncl (PhD candidate, University of Southern Bohemia and Schiller University Jena) has spent this semester at CCGES pursuing research related to his dissertation thesis which looks into the investigation and prosecution of World War II war crimes in Communist Czechoslovakia.

In this talk, he’ll present information on this process, in particular the level of cooperation between Czechoslovak prosecutors and officials in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. To do this, he will use as a case study the prosecutions of Nazi soldiers tried for their participation in the acts of terrible retribution which followed the assassination of the highest ranking National Socialist official in the Protectorate, Reinhard Heydrich, by the Czechoslovak resistance  in June 1942.

All are welcome to this talk.

Time: 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Location: Room 749, York Research Tower