Thomas Medicus is a Berlin author and journalist who has done research on the subject of the “family novel” and the ways history is reflected in such works. At this event, he will read – in English – from his recent book In den Augen meines Großvaters (In My Grandfather’s Eyes), a geographical and historical journey in the search for his grandfather, the Wehrmacht general Wilhelm Crisolli, who was killed by partisans in Italy in 1944.

Dr. Thomas Medicus is an author, journalist and historian is in Toronto as the Second Munk-Goethe Writer-in-Residence. Born in 1953, he studied German, Political Science and Art History in Marburg/Lahn, finishing his PhD dissertation in 1982. He has worked as a freelance journalist and editor for several German newspapers, was a guest researcher at Hamburg’s “Institut für Sozialforschung” and its department “The Society in the Federal Republic of Germany” in 2001 and 2006 and is now a Berlin-based freelance arts editor based for the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Time: 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Location: 230 York Lanes

Along with the Comparative Research in Law and Political Economy Network, CCGES is pleased to co-present Dr. David Soskice and his talk “Explaining Patterns of Corporate Governance” at Osgoode Hall Law School on March 8, 2007.

Dr. Soskice is Research Professor in the Political Science Dept at Duke University, School Centennial Professor of European Political Economy at the London School of Economics, and Research Professor at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB).

As Director of the WZB, he developed a research programme on Varieties of Capitalism. This research is collected in the volume co-edited with Peter A Hall (Harvard), Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage (Oxford Univ Press, 2001). His current research is on the co-evolution of capitalist systems and their political and legal representation over the last two centuries (two initial papers from this with Torben Iversen (Harvard) have been published in the American Political Science Review, 2001 and 2006). He also works on the political economy of macroeconomics (papers with Iversen, Quarterly Journal of Economics 2000 and Annual Review of Political Science 2006), and has just published Macroeconomics: Imperfections, Institutions Policies (OUP, 2006) with Wendy Carlin (UCL).

Dr. Soskice is on the advisory board of the CLPE Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy Network at Osgoode Hall Law School. This semester he is Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard.

Time: 5:00-7:00 pm
Location: Room 410, Osgoode Hall Law School

The history of the German Empire between 1871 and 1914 has served not only as a prime example of the radicalization of the idea of the nation, but also has been written, even by its fiercest critics, solely from the perspective of the nation-state. In his talk, Prof. Conrad will challenge the traditional view of historians that German hypernationalism since the turn of the 20th century is to be explained primarily by domestic political, socio-economic, and cultural developments. Instead, he contends that Germany’s exposure to and active participation in processes of globalization contributed greatly to the radicalization of German nationalism. The peculiarities of German nationalism thus can be explained as a reaction to increased global connectivity.

Sebastian Conrad is Junior Professor for Modern History at the Freie Universität Berlin. His fields of research include modern German and Japanese history, theory and history of historiography, and the history of globalization. Among his numerous publications are two monographs: Globalisierung und Nation im Deutschen Kaiserreich (2006) and Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Nation. Geschichtsschreibung in Westdeutschland und Japan 1945-1960 (1999). Edited books include: Competing Visions of World Order: Global Moments and Movements, 1880s – 1930s (2007), Geschichtswissenschaft in Japan (2006), Transnationale Geschichte (2006), Das Kaiserreich transnational (2004), Die Nation schreiben. Geschichtswissenschaft im internationalen Vergleich (2002). Recently Prof. Conrad was awarded the prestigious Philip Morris research prize.

This lecture is presented as the second in a series entitled “Germany in the World: The Nation Transcended in the Age of Globalization”. This series will run through the 2007-08 academic year and is intended to offer a platform to North American and European experts from a variety of academic fields (including economics, political science, history, urban and cultural studies and sociology) to contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding transnationalism and globalization by presenting their current research, most of which, but not all, is related to Germany.

Financial support for the lecture series has been generously provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Time: 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Location: 230R York Lanes

Please RSVP to ccges@yorku.ca

For the seventh consecutive year, CCGES is offering faculty members from across Canada the opportunity to participate in a two-day seminar on contemporary Germany entitled “Germany in Europe – Europe in Germany.” The seminar has the function of informing scholars of Germany and Europe about the latest developments in the German society, to provide them with analytical and empirical insights, and to offer networking possibilities for the participants.

The seminar will be taught by Centre-affiiated faculty members from Canada and Germany. Date and location are: February 2-3, 2007 (Friday and Saturday) here at our Centre offices at York University.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome and the ongoing debates about the future of the European Union, the 2007 Fortbildungsseminar will discuss Germany’s role in the process of European integration and the Europeanization of German politics and society in historical, present-day and future perspectives.

Prof. Marcus Funck, DAAD Visiting Professor of History at York, is overseeing this year’s seminar. In addition to Prof. Funck, Prof. Markus Reisenleitner from York’s Division of Humanities and Prof. Stefan Gänzle, a DAAD Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, will be taking on the role of session leaders as well.

York students with an interest in and/or background in EU studies are encouraged to attend an informational meeting on the EU Study Tour with Dr. Alexandre Berlin, Honorary Director of the European Commission on Wednesday, January 31st at 2:30 pm.

The EU Study Tour is a three-week trip taking participants to the major institutions of the European Union in Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxemburg, and Frankfurt. This year’s tour will run from May 6 – May 25 2007 at a cost of $ 2,500 including accomodations and local transport. Financial support for transatlantic airfare is available through York International while arrangements can be made for tour participants to receive academic credit (directed reading) in Political Science / Arts. In addition, participants can apply for a limited number of post-Tour internships with European institutions.

Please consult the Tour website for further information: http://www.capcollege.bc.ca/programs/europe/Home.html

Interested students should attend the upcoming information session:

On Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 2:30, Behavioral Sciences Building Room 163

Please note: Dr. Berlin will be giving a guest lecture in the POLS 4515 ’European Union’ seminar before the presentation on the EU Study Tour. His lecture will begin at 2:30 pm with the information session to follow afterwards.

For more information on this event, please contact:

Professor Burkard Eberlein, SSB and The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, beberlein@schulich.yorku.ca

Dr. Glenn Goshulak, Instructor PolSci 4515 European Union, Department of Political Science, ggosh@yorku.ca