Academic Events
“Second Class Refugees”: The Struggles of Lesser-Known German Jewish Writers in the U.S.
xxxxx
Professor Krishna Winston’s talk “Second Class Refugees”: The Struggles of Lesser-Known German Jewish Writers in the U.S. is the second event in our series “Germany Meets the U.S.” and will take place Wednesday, October 5th, from 4:30-5:30 p.m., in Fisk 208. Refreshments will be served.
Professor Winston will talk about German Jewish writers who had been quite well known in Germany but who struggled to establish themselves professionally when they emigrated to the U.S. and thus endured great economic and emotional hardship. Among them are Mehring, Hans Sahl, Curt Riess, and Heinrich Eduard Jacob. Her parents, the distinguished translators Richard and Clara Winston, knew these authors personally and translated their works into English. Krishna will draw on her collection of letters exchanged between these refugees and her parents as well as on her own memories.
Nathan the Wise
This was followed by a lovely meal at the Loreley Biergarten.
German Events this Fall
Also see Olivia Drakes article on our events.
“The Wallpeckers” Professor Krishna Winston introduces Günter Grass’s novel “Too Far Afield”
……..
Please join us for our fourth and last lecture in the German Department’s fall series on commemorating the 25th year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this Thursday, November 6, in the Downey House Lounge at 4:15 PM. In her talk, “The Wallpeckers,” Krishna Winston introduces and reads from Günter Grass’s novel, Too Far Afield.
Refreshments will be served.
NPR -Journalist Bellamy Pailthorp ’89 will speak about “The Fall of the Wall — An Eyewitness Perspective.”
“25 Years: Fall of the Berlin Wall” is co-sponsored by the German Embassy in Washington D.C. All events are free of charge and open to the public. For more information call 860-685-3359.
Sarah Wiliarty will speak on The Fall of the Wall – A Political Perspective
Please join us for the first lecture in the German Department’s fall series on commemorating the 25th Year of the 
Fall of the Berlin
Wall.
This Wednesday, October 15 in FISK 210 at noon, Prof. Sarah Wiliarty will speak on “ The Fall of the Berlin Wall – A Political Perspective.”
Refreshments will be served.
“25 Years: Fall of the Berlin Wall” is co-sponsored by the German Studies Department and the German Embassy in Washington D.C. All events are free of charge and open to the public. For more information call 860-685-3359.
Hannah Arendt, directed bu Margarethe von Trotta
Please join us for the screening of Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta.
September 27, 8:00 p.m. at the Goldsmith Family Cinema
Introduction by Leo Lensing (Professor of German and Film Studies), followed by a Q&A with Pam Katz P ’16, the film’s co-screenwriter
A second screening will take place on September 28, at 10:00 a.m. at the Powell Family Cinema.
Exercising Judgment in Ethics, Politics, and the Law
Wesleyan University is hosting a conference on Hannah Arendt on September 26-28, 2013. The conference is made possible by the generous support of David Rhodes, COL ’68. It is hosted by the Center for the Humanities and co-sponsored by the College of Letters; Jewish and Israel Studies; German Studies; Government; Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory; and the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
Uli Plass is moderating the session on Judging Evil on September 27, 4:00-6:00 p.m. in Bechkam Hall.
Leo Lensing is introducing the the film Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta on September 27, 8:00 p.m.
Peter Handke in America
Friday, December 7th, 6:30 p.m. Deutsches Haus at New York University, 42 Washington Mews New York, NY 10003
Please join the German House in New York City for a discussion with Fatima Naqvi (Rutgers University), Christoph Bartmann (Goethe Institut NYC), Klaus Kastberger (University of Vienna), Heike Polster (University of Memphis), Krishna Winston (Wesleyan University), and Thorsten Carstensen (The Indiana University School of Liberal Arts).
Peter Handke in America is an important theme for understanding the writer’s work. Because of his life-long fascination with America, Handke was among the first German-speaking writers of his generation to present a positive image of the United States against the anti-imperialist aversions of the European 1968-movement. Particularly in his early work, scholars have traced his fascination with writers such as John Ford, Walker Percy (whom he also translated), as well as the blues, New York City, the image of the “Native American” and with the beauty of the American landscape. His 1971 novel Short Letter, Long Farewell makes his fascination with the United States the central motif. Handke also lived in New York (after lengthy travels through Alaska), where in 1979 he wrote his important novel The Long Way Round. In his film Three American LPs, he co-produced with Wim Wenders, many of these themes can also be clearly identified. More information
You can watch some of the discussion on Youtube.
The Social Individual
Several German authors, works and themes will be presented at this year’s annual conference of the Northeastern American Society for 18th Century at Wesleyan University on October 12 and 13.
Friday, 12 — 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
The Imagination and Sociability in German Literature …………………………………………………………… Wyllys 115
Chair: David Pugh (Queen’s University)
Andrea Speltz (University of Guelph):“Imaginative Compassion in Christoph Martin Wieland’s Die Geschichte des Agathon”
Paola Mayer (University of Guelph): “Einbildungskraft as Creator of Einbildung: E.T.A. Hoffman’s Die Räuber”
Dennis Mahoney (University of Vermont): “Joseph von Eichendorff and the Domestication of the Romantic Imagination”
Edward Larkin (University of New Hampshire): “Imagining the Social Individual: C.W. Frölich’s Über den Menschen und seine Verhältnisse”
Friday, 12 — 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Open Panel on Enlightenment Philosophy …………………………………………………………… Usdan 108
Chair: Lucy Guenova (Wesleyan University)
James J. Caudle (Yale University): “‘Sociability and other Cruel Sports’: James Boswell Among The Soaping Club and The Criticks”
Charlotte M. Craig (Rutgers University): “Ambivalent Traits in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Image: Enlightener, National Author, Patriot, Cosmopolitan, Freemason”
Michael Printy (Wesleyan University): “‘Revolutions of the Spirit’: The Protestant Enlightenment and the Rise of German Philosophy”
Catherine Keohane (Montclair State University): “Seeing Oneself in(stead of) the Poor: Charity and Imaginative Substitution”
Satuday, 13 — 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Sense and Sociability in France and Germany …………………………………………………………… Wyllys 110
Chair: Edward Larkin (University of New Hampshire)
Masano Yamashita (University of Colorado): “Enlightenment Conceptions of Commonality: French Questionings of the Public Nature of Aesthetics”
David Pugh (Queen’s University): “Social Anxieties in German Asthetics”
Mark Ilsemann (University of Virginia): “‘Everyone has […] Their Own Way of Seeing’: The Science of Optics (and its Metaphors) in Georg Forster’s Anthropology”
Satuday, 13 — 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Genius ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Wyllys 112
Chair: Ulrich Plass (Wesleyan University)
Sarah Eron (University of Rhode Island): “Fielding’s Muse: Inspiration, Genius, and the Dialogic Novel”
Amelia Bitely (University at Buffalo): “‘His name consenting crowds repeat’: The Exhortations and Praise of Genii Loci”
Lorraine Piroux (Rutgers University): “Imagining the Social Genius: Possession and Self-‐Possession in Diderot’s Paradoxe sur le comedien”
Joseph Drury (Villanova University): “The Machine in the Ghost: Ann Radcliffe’s Music”