GERMAN STUDIES

PAST EVENTS

German Studies Lecture Series

"Terrorism in Europe: The 'German Autumn' of 1977 after Thirty Years" November 4-8, 2007

Free Public Symposium 

A series of late-afternoon seminars and film showings organized by Profs. Ken Ledford (History) and Susanne Vees-Gulani (German Studies). Sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences,  the Baker-Nord Center, the Max Kade Center for German Studies, the Dept. of History, and the Center for Policy Studies.

• The Many Lives of Terror: Political Activists, the RAF, the State, and the Media in West Germany. Prof. Belinda Davis, Department of History, Rutgers University.

• Screening. Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn). German with English subtitles (1978). Introduction and discussion leadership by Profs. Ledford and Vees-Gulani.

• Radical Visions: Aesthetic Responses to Ulrike Meinhof and the RAF. Prof. Karin Bauer, Department of German Studies, McGill University.

• The 'German Autumn' as Turning Point, or, What the West Germans Learned from Terrorism.  Prof. Karrin M. Hanshew, Department of History, Michigan State University.

• Screening. Was tun, wenn's brennt? (What To Do in Case of Fire) German with English subtitles (2001). Introduction and discussion leadership by Profs. Ledford and Vees-Gulani.  

 

ARTISTIC RESPONSES TO THE HOLOCAUST (Spring 2007)

Brad Prager (Associate Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia) “Screening the Perpetrators: Das Experiment, Downfall, and Contemporary German Film.”

6 March, 2007 4:30-6:00 p.m. Clark 206

Prof. Prager's talk explores how contemporary German films “screen” the Nazi past. It examines recent German thrillers including Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Das Experiment, and it views such films in light of Der Untergang?(Downfall), which Hirschbiegel also directed. Downfall was particularly controversial in Germany because of its willingness to represent the perpetrators and Hitler as sympathetic. After looking briefly at German debates about that film, this talk then turns to a close reading of Das Experiment, a film that addresses what makes ordinary (in this case, German) men perpetrators of violent crime.

The talk addresses several key questions about this film, which was inspired by the well-known Stanford Prison Experiment, including: How and why does the film exclude questions of history and identity in its theorization of perpetration? How explicitly does it evoke or “screen” the issue of perpetration of Holocaust atrocities? How does it depict the perpetrators in relation to class rather than national identity? “Screening the Perpetrators” draws not only on recent German cinema scholarship, but on recent theories of perpetrator motivation.

 

Sandra Alfers (Assistant Prof., Dickinson College)

Culture and Poetry in Theresienstadt.

10 April, 4:30-6:00 p.m.  Clark 206.

 

GERMAN CABARET TALKS (FALL 2006)

"VERBOTEN:GERMAN CABARET 1920-90" Max Kade Lecture Series

"For the Nazis, this culture of immorality, impudence, and individuality had to be suppressed, by force if necessary." (Lubich)

1. Cabaret Culture: Paris-Berlin-New York.

March 30, 4:30-6:00pm

2. The Rise and Fall of the Weimar Cabaret

April 13, 4:30-6:30pm

3. "No Drinks or Improv Allowed!" The Idiosyncrasies of Censorship in East German Cabaret

April 20, 4:30-6:00pm

Max Kade 2005/2006 Workshop

"VERBOTEN:GERMAN CABARET 1920-90" Max Kade Lecture Series

Student Projects

 

FILM SERIES:
HEIMAT 3: A CHRONICLE OF ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

January 20-29, 2006
Cleveland Cinematheque
11141 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH (216) 421-7450

Six Episodes
The third and final Heimat series explores post-reunification Germany. It can be watched both as a gripping conclusion to the previous two parts, or as a powerful drama in its own right.

Following on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, Heimat 3 looks at the last decade of the century, as the economy falters and workers arrive from East Germany. Now an internationally respected conductor, Hermann moves back to the Hunsrück and builds a house with his partner Clarissa. Both have to confront how they, and Schabbach, have changed.
Click here to watch the trailer for Heimat 3

Reduced Admission for Case Students:  Single Episode: $5 (*$8); Double Episode: $10 (*$13); Series Ticket for all 6 episodes: $20 (*$30).

(*regular admission price)

For more tickets or information, call the Cleveland Cinematheque, (216) 421-7450.

 

2005 Events

  Ernestine Schlant Bradley
  "Reflections on a German Past and
   an American Present in Life and
   Literature" (Flier)
   December 1, 2005
   Dampeer Room, Kelvin Smith Library ·
   11055 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland
   Reception at 4:30 p.m. · Talk from 5:00 to 6:00

Dr. Ernestine Schlant, the wife of former senator and presidential hopeful Bill Bradley, is an eminent scholar and writer of ethical issues concerning the Holocaust. She will read and discuss her most recent book, her autobiography: The Way Home: A German Childhood, an American Life. E. Bradley. Pantheon, 2005.

Sponsored by the Max Kade Center for German Studies at Case Western Reserve University and by the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

 

Readings, Talks, and Performances

Further information about most events and speakers can be found under Readings.

• Lecture. Wolfgang Wildgen (Professor, Universität Bremen). Constructing Meaning in Experimental Poetry: Paul Celan. Lecture Series: Cognitive linguistics approaches to poetry and music.  Center for Culture and Cognition, CWRU and The Max Kade Center. Nov. 2007

• Multi-Lingual Poetry Reading: Jazz and Poetry. With: Uwe Kolbe (Berlin), David Young (Oberlin College), Per Aage Brandt (Copenhagen and CWRU), Sarah Gridley (CWRU poet-in-residence). October 2007.

• Reading: Uwe Kolbe, Berlin. Dichterreise durch Deutschland. November 2007.

• Reading: Gila Lustiger, So sind wir. That’s the Way We Are. November, 2007

• Reading: Mariella Mehr, Daskind (Flier) November, 2005.

• Max Kade Workshop 2004: September 20 - October 1, 2004; Professor Andrea M. Esser of Munich, Germany; “The Structure of Kant's Aesthetic Judgment.” See the workshop page for more information.

• Lecture: Nina Berman, “Autobiographical Accounts of Kenyan-German Marriages: Reception and Context,” March 2004.
• Reading: Peter Stephan Jungk, “Jerusalem Revisited,” Selections from Shabbat, November 2003.
• Lecture: Walter Erhart, Greifswald, Max-Kade Scholar-in-Residence at The University of Kansas, Lawrence, “Written Capitals:  Berlin and Washington in Travel Literature,” March 2003.
• Reading: Doron Rabinovici, “Gedenken ist Vergessen,” Selections from Suche nach M., November 2002.
• Lecture: Gabrielle Alioth, Basle, “The Enchanted Man: How Woman Mastered Writing,” August 2002.
• Lecture: Angelika Fuehrich, (Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington): “Disciplining the Woman? Gender, Technology, and Work in Popular Weimar Cinema.” March 2002.
• Reading: Irina Liebmann, “Deutsch-deutsche Reflexionen,” Selections from Berliner Mietshaus. November 2001.
• Lecture: Jeffrey L. Sammons, Leavenworth Professor of German, Emeritus, Yale Univ.: “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Some Observations on Origins and Reception.” 2001.
• Lecture: Patricia Simpson, Visiting Assistant Professor of German, Kenyon College: “Retro-Nationalism: Rock Music in the Former GDR” 2001.
• Lecture: Eli Nathans, Visiting Assistant Professor at Albion College: “Recent Changes in German Citizenship Policy in Historical Perspective.” 2001
• Reading: Barbara Neuwirth, “Nocturnal Gardens.” Selections from In den Gärten der Nacht and Die Schneekönigin. April 1996.
• Reading: Gabrielle Alioth, “A Woman's Ark.” Selections from Die Arche der Frauen and Der Narr. October 1995.
• Reading: Thomas Rosenlöcher, Selections from “Dresden Diary,” April 1995.
• Reading: Richard Wagner, “A German in Rumania—A Rumanian in Germany.” Selections from Ausreiseantrag, November 1992.

Further Information

In addition to a number of guest lectures throughout both semester, the German Studies Program also conducts the Max Kade Visiting Artist/Scholar Workshop each year, generally in the Fall Semester.  A description of the workshop, past workshops and student reactions can be found here.