CCGES – together with BMW Canada – is pleased to announce that Matt Bera, a PhD student in History, is the recipient of the 2007 BMW Canada Award for Excellence. This honour is presented annually to the student enrolled in the Centre’s Graduate Diploma program who is judged to best combine academic excellence with a contribution to Centre life.

Matt Bera has been a Centre-affiliated student since 2003 and in 2005 received a prestigious scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to facilitate a stay in Germany in order to conduct research for his PhD thesis. At the centre of this work is an examination of the activities of the business managers of several German industrial associations during the period between the two world wars. During his time at CCGES, Matt has been an active participant in Centre life and sat on several administrative and advisory committees. (CONTINUE READING)

Before the backdrop of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, this workshop will bring together retired German Army General Helge Hansen with Professors Robert Lathan and David Mutimer of York’s Centre for International and Security Studies to discuss the politics and practicalities of military exit from conflict zones.

Time: 12:00 to 1:30 pm
Location: 230 York Lanes

Book Launch on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 3pm, in 230R York Lanes.

Persecuted as a Jew, both under the Nazis and in post-war East Germany, Johanna Krause (1907­-2001) courageously fought her way through life with searing humour and indomitable strength of character. Johanna Krause Twice Persecuted is her story.

Born in Dresden into bitter poverty, Krause received little education and worked mostly in shops and factories. In 1933, when she came to the defence of a Jewish man being beaten by the brownshirts, Krause was jailed for “insulting the Führer.” After a secret wedding in 1935, she was arrested again with her husband, Max Krause, for breaking the law that forbade marriage between a Jew and an “Aryan.”

In the years following, Johanna endured many atrocities—a forced abortion while eight months pregnant and subsequent sterilization, her incarceration in numerous prisons and concentration camps, including Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s camp near Berlin, and a death march.

After the war, the Krauses took part enthusiastically in building the new socialist republic of East Germany—until 1958, when Johanna recognized a party official as a man who had tried to rape and kill her during the war. Thinking the communist party would punish the official, Joanna found out whose side the party was on and was subjected to anti-Semitic attacks. Both she and her husband were jailed and their business and belongings confiscated. After her release she lived as a persona non grata in East Germany, having been evicted from the communist party. It was only in the 1990s, after the reunification of Germany, that Johanna saw some justice.

Originally published as Zweimal Verfolgt, the book is the result of collaboration between Johanna Krause, Carolyn Gammon, and Christiane Hemker. Translated by Carolyn Gammon, Johanna Krause Twice Persecuted will be of interest to scholars of auto/biography, World War II history, and the Holocaust. (Wilfried Laurier Press text)

Time: 3pm
Location: 230 York Lanes

CCGES is pleased to host this talk by the 2007 Diefenbaker Award recipient, Dr. Arthur Benz. One of Germany’s most prominent scholars in political science, Dr. Benz’ work focuses on federalism, governance, and policy-making.

Prior to accepting his current positions as the Chair of Political Science at the University of Hagen, Dr. Benz taught at the Universities of Konstanz and Halle-Wittenberg. Between 1990-1991 he worked as a Visiting Researcher at the renowned Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, where he collaborated with Fritz W. Scharpf. Since 1995, he has received several grants to further his research in various fields such as National Parliaments in the European Union (2001-03) and Accountability in Multilevel Governance (with Yannis Papadopoulos, 2004-06).

Dr. Benz’s in-depth analysis of the different national political systems provides insights and exposes the challenges that come with federalism. His extensive research allows him to revisit numerous assumptions and bring new arguments and perspectives on the countries’ governments. Among his publications are Horizontale Politikverflechtung (Horizontal Joint Policy-Making, 1992) with Fritz W. Scharpf and Reinhard Zintl); Der moderne Staat (The Modern State, 2001), Föderalismus (Federalism 2002) edited with Gerhard Lehmbruch, and Governance and Democracy (2006), edited with Yannis Papadopoulos. In several articles, published in Publius, West European Politics or Federal and Regional Studies, he has contributed to empirical and theoretical research on federalism and multilevel governance.

Between November 2003 and December 2004, Dr. Benz participated as an expert in a Joint Commission of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat) preparing the constitutional reform of German federalism which came into force in September 2006.

Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Location: 230 York Lanes

As part of Holocaust Education Week events, CCGES is please to present this talk by Ms. Hannah Lessing, Secretary General of the General Settlement Fund and National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism. (CONTINUE READING)