Fall 2015 Upcoming Events

Center for the Study of Europe Events

Wednesday, September 23 | A Reading and Conversation with Congolese Author Fiston Mwanza Mujila
Friday, October 2 | The Paradox of German Power with Hans Kundnani (at Goethe-Institut Boston)
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
Tuesday, October 13 | European Studies Lunch Talk: How Germany Unified and the EU Enlarged: Negotiating the Accession
 

Other European Events at BU

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
Thursday, October 8 | Poetry Reading: Paul Breslin

European Events Off-Campus

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

The Boston Eric M. Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany, the Goethe-Institut Boston, and the Center for the Study of Europe invite you to a discussion and luncheon with Hans Kundnani, Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund's Europe Program. Kundnani will talk about how Germany has changed in the last 25 years since unification and about how Germany’s pre-1945 history is relevant to the current situation in Europe. Although many perceive a “German Europe” emerging from the euro crisis, in his view Germany is not, and cannot be, a European hegemon. Rather, it has reverted to something like its position of “semi-hegemony” between 1871 and 1945 – except this time in a geo-economic rather than a geopolitical form. Finally, he will discuss what Germany’s new role in Europe means for relations with the United States and the future of the transatlantic relationship. RSVP

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. The public is cordially invited, but RSVP is required.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

How Germany Unified and the EU Enlarged: Negotiating the Accession

European Studies Lunch Talk

12 to 1:30 PM

Pardee School of Global Studies, 152 Bay State Road, Conference Room (1st floor)

Montbenon, Lausanne, Canton of Vaud by Gustave Deghilage