CGES Year in Review 2024-2025

● Open house: On September 19, 2024 CGES invited faculty and colleagues from across the University to celebrate the beginning of the school year and opening of its offices on the third floor of the Social Sciences building. If you haven’t visited yet, come see us! 

A Conversation with Climate Activists Louisa Neubauer and Helena Marschall: In mid-October, CGES hosted German climate activists Louisa Neubauer and Helena Marschall as a part of their tour of the United States, sharing their takeaways from years of climate activism in German and Europe. Lousia and Helena shared an honest and inspiring message detailing the early days organizing School Strike for Climate or Fridays for the Future in Germany, and what activists from Minnesota and across the US can learn from their experiences. 

Introducing the European Book Club: In the fall of 2024 the Center launched our European Book Club. This club brings academics and community members together to discuss Europe’s best reads. Recent prize-winning books, all in translation from their original language, were selected for discussion throughout the year:

○      Oct. 18th Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos 

○      Dec. 6th Andres Barba, The Right Intentions

○      Jan. 24th Olga Tokarczuk, A Biography of a Chance Miracle

○      March 21st, Olga Tarczuk, Drive the Plow Over the Bones of the Dead 

○      May 2nd, Neige Sinno, Sad Tiger

 The Past and Present of the Far Right in Europe: This series shed light on on the rise of a far-right movement across Europe. Contributions from scholars addressed increased collaborations between right-wing parties in Europe and the US, the way the European Union constricts and gives platform to far-right parties, and the populist politics of German literary authors. Prize winning author Manja Präkekls read from her novel which depicts the evolving Neo Nazi scene in East Germany and conducted three workshops with students.

○ December 5th, Professor Bernhard Weidinger’s  talk on “Authoritarian Atlanticism” 

○ March 6th, Manja Präkels’ reading discussion & workshop on her book “When I ate Schnapps Cherries with Hitler” and political essays. 

○ March 30th, Professor Catherine Guisan’s talk on “Do Institutions Matter?”

○ April 11th Professor Sonja Klocke’s talk on “when Literature Turns Political” 

WorkArt Program: CGES has partnered with local art associations across Germany to provide internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in working in community-based art and curation for over ten years. This summer, 10 students were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants from MCAD, Boston College, and UMN to intern with Kunstverein as WorkArt Fellows. Placement locations range from Bavaria to Berlin.

DAAD Project Highlights: The Center continued to support our ten unique faculty-led projects with financial support from the DAAD. These projects showcase the interdisciplinarity of the Center and the academic community at the University of Minnesota and Beyond.

● Lived Experiences of Asian Immigrants in Europe: Professors Richard Lee (Psychology/Asian American Studies) and Teresa Swartz (Sociology/Asian American Studies) convened a working group with German scholars from Potsdam University, Hannover University, University of Duisburg-Essen, Humboldt University, Leipzig University, and Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, along with members of the NGO, Asian Voices Europe. The working group was organized to examine Asian immigrant life in Germany in the context of rising anti-Asian racism. Having now met twice in Berlin and Minneapolis, the working group is developing a special issue journal proposal on racism in the Asian diaspora and a collaborative survey study to examine anti-Asian attitudes and experiences in college students.

● Art Exchanges: With support from the DAAD grant, the Department of Art is able to send two students to study at Milchhof Studios in summer of 2025, in support of their artistic research. Isabela Sanchez’s project, A Diaristic, Experimental Film: Documenting My Time in Berlin, will provide the time for Sanchez to continue to develop her journalistic filmmaking skills, specifically exploring how to incorporate interviews into larger journalistic pieces. Isabela Escalona’s project, Exploring the Plants in the Spaces Between, will explore the process of urban foraging, and experimentation with local plants to dye fabrics. The process will be documented, culminating in the production of a final book containing records and recipes for plant-based dye baths. In fall of 2024, Weissensee graduate Alanna Dongowski visited the Department of Art for three weeks. Alanna participated in MFA critiques, and ended her visit with an artist talk titled things I know, talking about recent work addressing issues of identity and the notion of naivete.  

● Learning from KITA: Lessons for American Preschool Programs in summer 2024 a group of 10 early childhood educators and policy makers from Minnesota traveled to Germany to better understand the role of Early childhood education. The group split their 12 day trip between Berlin and Erfut, visiting both cultural and historic sites as well as educational facilities and conversations with educational experts. This immersive experience allowed educators to compare and contrast German and American approaches to early education and return home with a new perspective on their work. Read more. 

● Reading and Conversations in German Literature Jamele Watkins and Thomas Gurke, faculty in the German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch Department, hosted a number of German authors in the Twin Cities and online. These bi-lingual readings and workshops engaged undergraduate, graduate students, and community members alike.  Guests included authors Tomer Gardi, Hadija Haruna-Oelker, and Sharon Dodua Otoo. 

● Walking the path of human history from Neanderthals to Nazis: This June, Professor of History JB Shank will take ten undergraduates on a study abroad trip which seeks to offer students a panoramic survey of the multi-millennia transformation of European civilization as it unfolded from the end of the Pleistocene era to the start of the twenty-first century. Course highlights include spending time in the Neander valley, reflections on German contributions to art, philosophy, and science in Trier, Weimar, and Dresden, and a meaningful exploration of the long shadow of the Third Reich in Nuremberg. 

Looking ahead: 

●      Mears Fellows Summer 2025 and Recruitment Fellows 2025/26: CGES awarded ten outstanding graduate students Hella Mears Research fellowships to advance their projects in German and European studies over the coming summer. The supported projects explore a wide variety of ideas from the aesthetics of martyrdom, to the ethnography of post-Brexit Gibraltar, to the Morovian Church and its influence on inuit people in Labrador.

○      The Center is also excited to welcome three new PhD students, Engen Yolcu, Caroline Cassase, and Jude Pitti as recipients of the 2025-26 Hella Mears Recruitment Fellowship which is designed to support departments in the CLA in recruiting top graduate students to the University of Minnesota. 

Please save the date for CGES’ fall 2025 open house on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025. For those of you looking for a summer reading list, we invite you to consider the titles for the fall European Book Club (books are free for graduate students!) and we hope to see you at book club meetings next semester. 

To our colleagues, faculty, and community members, we thank you for your commitment to the mission of the Center and support of our programs. 

Matthias Rothe & Anna Dolezal 

Program Director & Coordinator