September 2015 Upcoming Events

Center for the Study of Europe Events

Thursday, September 17 | Fall Welcome Reception featuring contemporary Nordic folk music
Monday, September 21 | Three Cheers for Comparative Regionalism with Tanja Börzel & Thomas Risse
Monday, September 21 | European Voices: A Reading & Conversation with Swiss Author Christian Kracht
Tuesday, September 22 | Leading Cities from the Left with Düsseldorf Mayor Thomas Geisel
Wednesday, September 23 | A Reading and Conversation with Congolese Author Fiston Mwanza Mujila
Tuesday, October 6 | Saving Europe with Carlo Bastasin
Wednesday, October 7 | Ask Me More About Brecht! A Theatrical Reconstruction of Conversations Between Hanns Eisler and Hans Bunge
Thursday, October 8 | Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Moving Towards Transatlantic Economic Integration with Ambassador David O'Sullivan, Head of EU Delegation to the US
 

Other European Events at BU

Wednesday, September 16 | The British Are Coming! BU Study Abroad London Programs Information Session
Thursday, September 17 | Taste of Italy: BU Study Abroad Padua Programs Information Session and Open House
Thursday, September 17 | BU Study Abroad French Programs Information Session and Culture Reception
Monday, September 21 | Geneva Internship Program Introduction
Thursday, September 24 | When the Ghost Begins to Quicken: An Evening on W.B. Yeats
Tuesday, October 6 | Poetry Reading: Karl Kirchway, Glyn Maxwell, Derek Walcott
 

European Events Off-Campus

Sunday, September 13 | New Films from Germany | Who Am I – No System Is Safe (Coolidge Corner Theatre) 

Professor Timothy Longman, Chair of the Committee of Directors of the Division of Regional and Thematic Studies of the Pardee School of Global Studies, invites you to our first Fall Welcome Reception. Come socialize with faculty affiliated with the various interdisciplinary programs in the Pardee School who work on diverse regions of the world. Enjoy wine, beer, appetizers and live music by contemporary Nordic Folk duo Elise Boeur and Nate Sabat. We are seeking to build an intellectual community of scholars committed to international and area studies and would love to have you come join us! BU Affiliates only. RSVP

Join us for a discussion of comparative regionalism with Tanja Boerzel and Thomas Risse, professors of political science at the Free University of Berlin and editors of The Oxford Handbook for Comparative Regionalism. More Info

Join us for a reading and conversation with Christian Kracht, author of Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas, and translator, Danny Bowles, Assistant Professor German Studies at Boston College. Moderated by Sanjay Krishnan, Associate Professor of English, Boston University.

In 1902, a radical vegetarian and nudist from Nuremberg named August Engelhardt set sail for the Pacific island of Kabakon. His goal: to found a colony based on worship of the sun and coconuts. Christian Kracht's Imperium recounts the details of Engelhardt's coconut-fueled life to craft a fable about the allure of extremism and its fundamental foolishness. An international bestseller, Imperium is funny, bizarre, shocking, and poignant—sometimes all on the same page.

Co-sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Boston and swissnex boston. Reception and book-signing to follow. More Info

Boston University's Initiative on Cities and the Pardee School of Global Studies host a conversation with Mayor Thomas Geisel of Düsseldorf, Germany, on the challenges of leading a city from the political left. Moderated by IOC Director Graham Wilson, the conversation will include a presentation on Dusseldorf as well as Mayor Geisel's goals for his thriving city. Mayor Geisel will be joined on a panel by Dan Koh, Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, and Kaija Schilde, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Pardee School. Lunch provided. RSVP

Fiston Mwanza Mujila was born in 1981 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, where he went to a Catholic school before studying Literature and Human Sciences at Lubumbashi University. He now lives in Graz, Austria and is pursuing a PhD in Romance Languages. His writing has been awarded with numerous prizes, including the Gold Medal at the 6th Jeux de la Francophonie in Beirut as well as the Best Text for Theater (“Preis für das beste Stück,” State Theater, Mainz) in 2010. His novel Tram 83 was a French Voices 2014 grant recipient. In French with English translation. Readings in English from Tram 83. Co-sponsored by the African Studies Center and the Center for the Study of Europe. Refreshments will be served. More Info

Join us for a lecture by Italian economist and journalist Carlo Bastasin, author of Saving Europe: How National Politics Nearly Destroyed the Euro. Bastasin is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development and Foreign Policy programs at Brookings. His work focusses on European political and economic analysis. Saving Europe reveals how the nexus of international economics and national politics pushed monetary union to the brink of a breakup, how that disastrous development was avoided, and why the long-term viability of a common currency challenges politics as we know it. Refreshments will be served. More Info

Join us for a dramatic reading and multimedia performance by Paul Clements and Sabine Berendse, editors of Brecht, Music and Culture: Hanns Eisler in Conversation with Hans Bunge. This book, about the friendship and collaboration between the playwright Bertolt Brecht and the composer Hanns Eisler, has been a sensation in Germany since the 1970s. At long last it has been translated into English. In addition to the book, Clements and Berendse (Hans Bunge’s daughter) have created a performance to make the audience experience first-hand what Eisler has to say about his friend Brecht. The committedly left-wing Eisler reflects on their exile from Nazi Germany in Los Angeles and recalls their bruising encounters with the House Committee on un-American Activities. Humorously and lively he talks about philosophical themes concerning the future of the arts, artists and the lives of ordinary people.

What would a show about a composer be without his music? The performance includes recordings of Eisler’s music in different genres as well as recordings of Eisler himself singing and playing the piano. Rarely seen photographic images of Eisler and others illustrate the show. Moderated by Minou Arjomand, Assistant Professor of English, Boston University. Reception and book-signing to follow. More Info

The Center for the Study of Europe, in collaboration with the Consulate of Portugal in Boston and the Delegation of the European Union in the United States, presents Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Moving towards Transatlantic Economic Integration. The keynote address will be given by Ambassador David O'Sullivan, Head of the EU Delegation to the United States. Welcome remarks by Consul General José Caroço and Center for the Study of Europe Director Vivien Schmidt. Panelists include Tereza Novotna, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Institute for European Studies, Free University of Brussels; Roberto Dominguez, Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Suffolk University; Michelle Egan, Professor in the School of International Service at American University; Fernanda Nicola, Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, American University, and Kaija Schilde, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University. A networking reception will follow the event. More Info

Europe Day photo by Niccolò Caranti