Mr. Harald Leibrecht, Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation for the German government

CCGES and the European Union Centre of Excellence are pleased to present Mr. Harald Leibrecht a member of the German Parliament and the German government’s Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation on Friday, October 7th from 10-11 am in room 626 York Research Tower (building #95 on the map found here).

Mr. Leibrecht speak on “The Crisis of the Euro: A German View”, outlining the positions taken on the Euro crisis by the German government as well as the country’s opposition parties. In addition, he will provide some insight into German popular opinion on this important matter.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

Date: Friday, October 7th, 2011
Time: 10-11 am
Location: 626 York Research Tower

Prof. Dr. Viola Georgi

CCGES Visiting Scholar Prof. Dr. Viola Georgi (Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin) will lecture on the topic “Migration and History: Young Immigrants and the Memory of the Holocaust in Germany” on Wednesday, October 5th from 12:30 – 2:00 pm in room 749 York Research Tower (building #95 on the map found here – please note that during construction, the YRT is best accessed via the 2nd floor crossover between it and and York Lanes).

Viola Georgi is a highly-respected German scholar who has published widely on a number of themes including diversity and citizenship in education. In particular, she has worked on historical consciousness among immigrant youth and the concept of European citizens education.  Recently she edited The Making of Citizens in Europe: New Perspectives on Citizenship Education in Europe (2008) and Crossover Geschichte. Historisches Bewusstsein Jugendlicher in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft (2009, with Rainer Ohliger). In addition to her academic work, she also sits on several advisory boards including that of the German Ministry of Family, Seniors, Women and Youth’s committee “Youth for Diversity, Tolerance and Democracy”.

This lecture is a co-presentation of CCGES and the Faculty of Education. Prof. Dr. Georgi’s stay at CCGES has been made possible by the generous support of the DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

Date: October 5, 2011
Time: 12:30-2:00 pm
Location: 749 York Research Tower (building #95 on the map found here)

On Monday, October 3rd, CCGES is pleased to present a lecture by Dr. Klaus Hödl, Executive Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria, entitled “Jews in Vienese popular culture around 1900”.

Viennese Jews of the Fin-de-Siècle period are the topic of numerous books in Jewish studies. The overwhelming majority of those books deal with Jews’ contributions to ‘high culture’ and science. A focus on personalities such as Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Arthur Schnitzler, Arnold Schönberg, et.al. has led to the assumption that Jews contributed merely to intellectual cultural trends, and that they had no impact on popular and mass culture.

A closer look at the emergence of mass culture in Austria, however, reveals that Jews were very prominent as organizers, producers, and consumers. In some fields they were even at the forefront of new trends. Against this background, Jews closely interacted with non-Jews in the development of popular and mass culture; the former were not absent from this cultural terrain, but helped significantly in its formation. This  presentation focuses on this role of Jews in Austrian popular culture.

This event is being co-presented by the Centre with the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York and Hillel Canada.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be provided.

Date: Monday, October 3, 2011
Time: 3-5 pm
Location: 764 York Research Tower(#95 on the map found here. During subway construction at York, the Research Tower is best accessed from the crossover connecting the Tower with the 2nd floor of York Lanes (building #24 on the map).

Prof. Dr. Martina Löw

On Friday, September 23rd, Prof. Dr. Martina Löw from the Technische Universtität Darmstadt, Germany, will present a lecture entitled “The Intrinsic Logic of Cities – Towards a New Theory on Urbanism”. This talk is presented in the context of The City Seminar, an interdisciplinary series of presentations and discussions on urban landscapes, past and present organized by York’s CITY Institute.

Prof. Dr. Löw is a Professor of Sociology and works with the LOEWE Research Centre at the TU Darmstadt.  Her work focuses on space-related social analysis, urban and regional sociology. Prior to joining the TU Darmstadt,  she previously held positions at the Institute of Social  Research in Frankfurt. In 2000 she was awarded the Christian-Wolff- Prize for her work to date, in particular her habilitation thesis on the  concept of space.

Prof. Dr. Löw is at York as a Visiting Research Scholar at CCGES, a visit which has been made possible through the generous support of the DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service.

Date: Friday, September 23, 2011
Time: 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Location: 305 York Lanes (building #24 on the map found here)

The European Union Centre of Excellence housed at CCGES  is pleased to present a talk by Dr. Jennifer Fredette, a scholar at the University of Albany and a EUCE Visiting Scholar at York from September 26-30, 2011.  On Thursday, September 27th, Dr. Fredette will deliver a lecture entitled “Enjeux de la diversité en France et dans les États-Unis” in room C123 in York Hall on Glendon Campus (building #9 on the map found here) at 10:30 am. This lecture takes place as part of the series EUROPEAS: EUCE Seminars in History, Culture and Society”.

Jennifer Fredette teaches courses in constitutional law, comparative law, and sociolegal studies at University of Albany (SUNY). Her research addresses law and society themes such as law and identity, legal consciousness, and legal mobilization, as well as political theory’s concerns with justice and democracy. Fredette studied at Sciences Po-Paris in 2006, and was a visiting research fellow at Sciences Po-Bordeaux in 2008.  Her current project, On the Muslim Question: The contentious politics of citizenship in France, explores the disconnect between how Muslims and French elites discuss citizenship, identity, and belonging.

All are welcome, but please note that the lecture will be delivered in French.

Date: Thursday, September 29th
Time: 10:30 am
Location: C123 York Hall, Glendon Campus