Blog

A Note to Readers: Our blog includes news items, research materials,
and teaching resources – browse past posts by month on the right. If
you would like to contribute your own syllabus or other materials (in
English or German), please contact us at mgp@berkeley.edu.

Spring 2014 Multicultural Germany Course

This semester the UC Berkeley German Department will once again offer the undergraduate seminar “Multicultural Germany,” which will focus on migration and mobility in post-WWII German history. In the coming weeks, we hope to share some of the conversation generated … Continue reading

Perspectives on Cultural Memory: Aleida Assmann’s Berkeley Visit

Aleida Assmann’s recent visit to the University of California, Berkeley, October 28-29, 2013, brought local and academic communities together to participate in discussion on cultural memory and dealing with the past. Chair of English Literature and Literary Theory at the … Continue reading

Immigrant Students and Foreign Students in Germany

In some urban part of Germany, the proportion of students with migration backgrounds is up to 90 percent. However, few of them will achieve college degree so that they are less confident compared with native German students. The project “Dialog … Continue reading

Reuters: Germany Becoming More Open to Immigrants

Student News Report by Yiran Wang: According to the news agency Reuters, Germans are becoming more inclusive toward immigrants. In past decades, Germany was known for its strict immigration laws and unfriendly attitudes towards immigrants. Due to unemployment in the 1970s oil crisis, the … Continue reading

Featured Article — Welfare State Integration of Immigrants: The German Case

Student News Report by Judith Sijstermans: This month the Institute of European Studies at Berkeley is featuring an article on the integration of immigrants in Germany. The article is written by Friedrich Heckmann from the University of Bamberg. He addresses the … Continue reading

Bundesintegrationsministerium?

A group of more than 60 Academics released an online petition Tuesday calling on the new German government to reform integration politics by creating a separate government bureau to exclusively address migration and integration policy. The reformers state that the … Continue reading

Aleida Assmann: Film and Lecture (Oct 28 & 29)

Circulating Memory events with Aleida Assmann (University of Konstanz, Germany)  — Film Screening and Lecture Film Screening — US Premiere!: 10/28, 5-7pm, Dwinelle B-4 Anfang aus dem Ende: Die Flakhelfergeneration (Beginning out of an Ending) 2013, documentary, 85 min, directed by Aleida Assmann, in German … Continue reading

Syrian refugees applying to the European Union

Although most Syrian refugees have applied for refuge in neighboring countries, five European Union countries have also seen an increase. These countries are Germany, the UK, Sweden, Austria and Belgium. Compared to the refugee numbers in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, … Continue reading

Duden Adds English Words

Recently, the German dictionary Duden, equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary in the UK, added 5,000 new words to its 26th edition including many English words or words of English origin, such as “flashmob”. The German Language Society resisted such changes … Continue reading

Saarbrücken & Prostitution

The opening of a new brothel in Saarbrücken is raising questions about increasing prostitution and sex worker migration in this Southwestern city.

CFP: “Cinema and Migration” – NeMLA 2014

Call for Papers on “Cinema and Migration” for the NeMLA 2014 conference (April 3-6, Harrisburg , PA)

Five Percent of German Parliament Members Have Migration Background

Following Sunday’s elections, 5% of Parliament members in the new German Bundestag have a migration background.

Rapper Bushidos Memoiren Veröffentlicht

Der Rapper Bushidos neue Memoiren sind jetzt im Buchladen erschienen. Hier eine Rezension in der Zeit.

IES Event: The German Elections 2013 – Their Impact on Europe

Tuesday, September 24, 2013 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Multiculturalism and the 2013 Bundestag Elections

Early partial results in German Bundestag elections show the Christian Democratic party (CDU) winning with 42 percent of the vote. The Social Democrats (SPD) are in second place with 25.5 percent of the vote. The Left Party and the Green … Continue reading