Forthcoming Book Officially Announced
My forthcoming book, Staging West German Democracy: Governmental PR Films and the Democratic Imaginary, 1953-1963 (Bloomsbury, March 23, 2019) is now officially announced on my publisher’s website:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/staging-west-german-democracy-9781501347108/
Invited Paper at The Arts of Democratization Symposium at Washington University
I am very excited to present an invited paper at The Arts of Democratization: Styling Political Sensibilities in Postwar West Germany Symposium organized by the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Washington University St. Louis. My paper is entitled “Foundational Narratives: West German Nation-Building Through State Sponsored PR Films, 1951-1963.” I will present on Saturday, April 7 at 2 pm. For more information on the event, see:
https://sites.wustl.edu/theartsofdemocratization/
[https://german.wustl.edu/events/1408]
SCMS 2018: Toronto
On March 15, 2018, I presented a paper at the SCMS 2018 Conference in Toronto. The title of the paper was “Bonn during the Adenauer Years: Explaining the West German Provisional Capital through Government-Commissioned Film Productions.”
Book Contract for Staging Democracy in Postwar West Germany
I am happy to report that my book Staging Democracy in Postwar West Germany: Governmental PR Films and the Democratic Imaginary, 1953-1963 is now under contract with Bloomsbury Academic. The book will appear in the New Directions in German Studies series edited by Imke Meyer.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/series/new-directions-in-german-studies/
[By Bloomsbury (http://www.bloomsbury.com/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]
Invited Paper: IAMHist Conference 2018 @ New Orleans, January 12, 2018
On January 12, I presented an invited paper at the 2018 IAMHist Conference organized by the International Association for Media and History. The title of my paper was “Staging West German Democracy: Governmental PR Films and the Democratic Imaginary, 1953-1963.”
http://iamhist.org/category/iamhist-masterclasssymposium-2018/
Invited Lecture on West German Cold War Politics at Miami University, Ohio, November 27, 2018
On November 27, 2017, I was invited by the Department of German, Russian, Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and by the Department of History to give a lecture entitled “Promoting Western Integration: Mobilwerbung and Governmental PR Films in West Germany during the Adenauer Years.” For more information on the event, see:
[By USAF [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsBy USAF [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]
ACTFL 2017: Nashville
On November 17, 2017, I presented a paper on the Georgia Tech study abroad program Languages for Business and Technology (LBAT) at the 2017 ACTFL in Nashville, TN. The title of my paper was “Fostering Intercultural Competence: Video Documentary Projects during the Georgia Tech Study Abroad Program in Berlin.”
New Conference Paper: GSA 2017
I will present a paper entitled “Promoting Rearmament in Rural Lower Saxony: Governmental Mobilwerbung Campaigning during the Early Adenauer Years ” at the GSA Conference in Atlanta, GA. The presentation will take place on Saturday, October 7, from 2 -4.00pm at room Georgia 13.
September 26, 2017: German Elections Roundtable at the University of Georgia
I am invited to discuss the outcome of the German Federal Election with Dr. Cas Mudde and Dr. Markus Crepaz of the Department of International Affairs at UGA. The event will take place at 4 pm in MLC 268.
March 13- March 16, 2017: Director Agostino Imondi @ Tech!
I will be hosting director Agostino Imondi on the Georgia Tech campus in March 2017! Imondi’s visit is part of the sustainability-themed “Refocusing Development Media Festival” organized by the School of Modern Languages and supported by a grant from the Georgia Tech Strategic Plan Advisory Group. Imondi’s film Neukölln Unlimited will be shown at the Clary Theater in the Student Success Center on March 15 at 4 pm. The event will be followed by a panel discussion.
Here is a link to the film website
Image: wikipedia Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License
New Conference Paper: GSA 2016
I will present a paper entitled “Staging West German Democracy through Foreign Policy: The Politics of Self-Representation through Government-Sponsored PR Films during the Adenauer Years (1949-63)” at the GSA Conference in San Diego, CA. The talk will take place on Friday, September 30, from 4.15 -6.00pm at Royal Palm Salon 1.
Guest Scholar at Grinnell College
In the Fall of 2016, I will be teaching my signature course “Coca-Colonization? Americanization and Anti-Americanism in the Federal Republic of Germany” as a student workshop at the German Department at Grinnell College. Needless to say, I am thrilled to work with the Grinnell students!
By Aureliusxv (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Pletzinger on Campus!
German author and journalist Thomas Pletzinger read to a packed crowd of more than 80 people on Monday February 1st. In his 90-minute reading, Pletzinger read a short story, an excerpt from his award-winning novel Funeral for a Dog (W.W. Norton), and a journalistic piece on German basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki. Pletzinger, who is currently working on Nowitzki’s authorized biography, shared personal stories and insights about his love for literature, basketball, and his challenges and successes as a writer and journalist. The presentation generated lively interest and numerous questions from the students. Besides his reading, Thomas also visited my course “Political Songwriting since 1945,” where he discussed his novel, dogs, and wing suits… An eventful visit!
Novelist / Journalist Thomas Pletzinger to visit Georgia Tech
I am bringing Thomas Pletzinger to the GT campus! Thomas Pletzinger’s articles regularly appear in the German weekly Die Zeit and in the nation’s leading news magazine DER SPIEGEL. His critically acclaimed novel Bestattung eines Hundes (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2008) was published by W. W. Norton as Funeral for a Dog and has won him several awards. For his second book Gentlemen, wir leben am Abgrund (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2012; Gentlemen, We Are Living on the Edge) he spent an entire season with the professional basketball team ALBA Berlin. He currently teaches Creative Writing at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. In his presentation, Pletzinger will read excerpts from his works, talk about his passion for Basketball, and share related stories!
February 1st 2016 3:00pm-4:30pm Stephen C. Hall Building Room 102
New Conference Papers: SCMLA Nashville 2015
I will present a paper entitled “Bonn during the Adenauer Years: Explaining the Provisional Capital through Government-Commissioned Documentary Film Productions” at the SCMLA 2015 in Nashville, TN. The talk will take place November 2, Parthenon C, 4.45 pm.
Public Lecture at the Goethe Zentrum Atlanta: Heiner Carow’s “The Legend of Paul and Paula”, October 21, 2015
I will introduce
the DEFA classic “Die Legende von Paul und Paula” (1973) by Heiner Carow at the Goethe Zentrum during their film series “Germany in the 20th century through the films of Germany’s greatest directors.” After the film I will lead a discussion.
6.30 pm | German Cultural Center Atlanta | 1197 Peachtree Street NE | Colony Square, Plaza Level | Atlanta | GA
For more information: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/atl/ver/en14718950v.htm
Goethe Zentrum Atlanta Film Night: “M” (1931) by Fritz Lang, May 29, 2015
New Conference Papers
I presented a paper entitled “Place-Based Education during Study Abroad: Pedagogical Considerations and Technological Applications” at the 17th Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education: New Frontiers in Providence, RI. (November 6, 2014).
SCMLA Austin 2014
I presented a paper entitled “Filmic Representations of Reconciliation: The Deutsche Wochenschau
Special Features on the Reconciliation with France, 1961-63.” on Monday, October 20 at the SCMLA in Austin, Texas.GSA Kansas City 2014I presented a paper entitled “Performing Reconciliation: The Neue Deutsche Wochenschau Special Feature Films on the Rapprochement with France” on Saturday, September 20 at the GSA Convention in Kansas City.
April 2014: Ivan Allen College Research Grant Received
I just received an Ivan Allen College Research Grant ($5000) to fund research on my book project A Government Channel: The Neue Deutsche Wochenschau Newsreel Special Features during the Adenauer Years, 1949-1963.
New Conference Papers
CIBER Park City 2014
I will present a paper entitled “The City as Classroom: Place-Based Education in Berlin During the GT Study Abroad” on Friday, April 25 at 11.50 am at Painted Horse I.
GSA Denver 2013
I will present a paper entitled “Building Consensus for the Chancellor: West German Newsreel Special Features and Konrad Adenauer’s Media Image” on Sunday, October 6 at 12:30 pm at Conifer 2.
Novelist Eugen Ruge to visit Georgia Tech
The School of Modern Languages at the Georgia Institute of Technology is proud to present a reading by bestselling German author Eugen Ruge. Ruge’s debut novel In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts won the German book prize in 2011. It sold over 450.000 copies in Germany alone and was translated into 21 languages. Ruge is touring select locations in the US this fall to present the recently released English translation of his first novel, entitled In Times of Fading Light.
An intricate portrait of an Eastern German family’s relationship to Socialism through four generations, the novel describes the increasingly “fading” adherence to an ideology that profoundly shaped the lives of its protagonists in different ways. In an elaborate montage of flashbacks, Ruge’s novel offers a captivating glimpse into the private experience of the “real existing Socialism” of the GDR and its aftermath.
The reading will take place on October 9th at 4pm at the Clary Theater on the Georgia Tech Campus. It will be followed by a discussion.