[JFKI-News] WG: Early May 2017 News & Invitations

["Bodmeier, Gabriele" <Office@gsnas.fu-berlin.de>]

Title: Early May 2017 News & Invitations

 

 

 

Von: American Academy in Berlin [mailto:news=americanacademy.de@mail107.sea21.rsgsv.net] Im Auftrag von American Academy in Berlin
Gesendet: Dienstag, 25. April 2017 10:48
An: Bodmeier, Gabriele
Betreff: Early May 2017 News & Invitations

 

News and Invitations from the American Academy in Berlin

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News & Invitations
Early May 2017

Dear Friends of the American Academy in Berlin,

The American Academy in Berlin was founded upon the generosity of many people, but it owes particular thanks to one special person: Anna-Maria Kellen, who passed away in New York City on April 9, at age 98. She and her late husband, Stephen M. Kellen, provided the Academy’s founding gift, in 1997, enabling the refurbishment of the Wannsee villa that was once her childhood home and that would eventually house the American Academy.
 
During the Weimar years, Anna-Maria’s parents—Hans and Ludmilla Arnhold—cherished their home as an idyllic escape from their Berlin-Tiergarten residence. Here they hosted some of the day’s leading cultural and intellectual figures, alongside some of the city’s most important business leaders. “My mother and father filled our home with affection and happy times,” Anna-Maria said at the opening ceremony of the Hans Arnhold Center, on November 6, 1998. “So many of my parents’ friends who visited here were writers and artists and musicians. In a very real sense, this house has always been a cultural center.” (Please visit our website for photographs of Anna-Maria Kellen at the American Academy over the years.)
 
The Academy’s board of trustees, management, and staff were saddened to learn of Anna-Maria’s passing, but we are honored that her legacy continues through her daughter, Marina Kellen French; her son, Michael M. Kellen; her grandson Andrew Gundlach; and her niece, Nina von Maltzahn—all of them Academy trustees. It is indeed because of the Kellen, Arnhold, and Gorrissen families that we may look forward to another full season of lectures and readings—programming that furthers the cultural tradition the Arnholds established in this villa nine decades ago.
 
In early May, philosopher Paul Guyer details the intellectual camaraderie between Immanuel Kant and Moses Mendelssohn; musicologist Mark Pottinger examines the influence of Romantic-era science on the day’s opera (and vice versa); sound artist Thessia Machado presents an aural composition at SomoS Gallery Berlin; and media theorist Wendy Chun assesses the social consequences of discriminatory algorithms. In collaboration with Hospitalhof Stuttgart and the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum Stuttgart, historian Kate Brown discusses life in the post-Chernobyl biosphere, and for the US Embassy’s literature series, fellows Molly Antopol and Adam Johnson read at the English Theatre Berlin. Finally, from May 11 to 13, the American Academy will participate in an international conference on migration at the Berlin Wall Memorial Visitor Center.
 
Regards from the Hans Arnhold Center,
 
Michael P. Steinberg
President

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 2, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Mendelssohn, Kant, and Freedom of Religion

Daimler Lecture
Location: American Academy in Berlin

The Enlightenment philosophers Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant were strong defenders of religious liberty; the state had no right to establish a preferred religious belief or practice. But while Kant argued for the superiority of Christian symbols, Mendelssohn held that a variety of historical religions was an appropriate outcome of the varied histories of peoples. In this lecture, philosopher Paul Guyer defends Mendelssohn against Kant.

 

REGISTER TO ATTEND

 

 

 

Thursday, May 4, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Science and the Romantic Vision in Early Nineteenth-Century Opera

Nina Maria Gorrissen Lecture
Location: American Academy in Berlin

After the final defeat of Napoleon, the nation-state began to reflect concepts of freedom and unity that contrasted with earlier political thought. This dynamic perspective influenced the era’s leading scientists, including Alexander von Humboldt, who were fascinated with the physical forces that define the natural world: light, heat, electricity, and magnetism. Musicologist Mark Pottinger explains that the desire to harness nature’s power was not just an aspiration for the sciences; it was shared by the arts—especially opera. 

 

REGISTER TO ATTEND

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Discriminating Data: Identity, Authenticity, and Governance in the Era of Data Analytics

Holtzbrinck Lecture
Location: American Academy in Berlin

That the Internet creates “echo chambers” has become a truism—a fact revealed most recently by the political effects of fake news. To understand how we have become trapped in ever-smaller pigeon-holes—and to imagine a different future—Wendy Hui Kyong Chun examines the ways in which identity is embedded and revealed through our interaction with social media platforms and search engines. To correct course, she argues for the use of critical concepts from the humanities to create more public networks.

 

REGISTER TO ATTEND

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 10, 2017, 8:00 p.m.

Reading from Her Novel-in-Progress, The After Party

US Embassy Literature Series
Location: English Theatre Berlin (Fidicinstraße 40; 10965 Berlin)

Writer and fiction fellow Molly Antopol is motivated more by questions than by themes: What happens when the causes to which a person has dedicated their life lose relevance in the course of world events? What’s the relationship between activism and narcissism? In this reading and discussion, Antopol will talk about the research she’s undertaking for her new novel, The After Party. 

Please note that this event takes place at the English Theatre Berlin (Tickets €8): Registration: tickets@etberlin.de. School groups: IRCBerlin@state.gov, for free admission. Read more at the English Theatre Berlin’s website.

In cooperation with the US Embassy and the English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center

 

 

 

Thursday, May 11 through Saturday, May 13, 2017

Impossible Order: Europe, Power, and the Search for a New Migration Regime

International Conference on Migration
Location: Berlin Wall Memorial Visitor Center (Bernauer Straße 119; 13355 Berlin)

Since the end of the Cold War, migration within and to Europe has changed fundamentally. As a response, the EU has developed a system that sharply distinguishes between internal freedom of movement and isolation against the outside. This international conference—including panels with Academy president Michael P. Steinberg and Academy fellow Jane O. Newman—will address the search for a comprehensive migration regime in Europe over the last three decades.

The conference is organized by the Center for Contemporary History, Potsdam, and supported by the Federal Agency for Political Education, Andrea von Braun Foundation, and Bard College Berlin. Cooperation partners are the American Academy in Berlin, Centre Marc Bloch, and the Institute for Migration and Intercultural Studies, Osnabrück. Read the full program online.

To register to attend, write to voigtlaender@zzf-potsdam.de, by May 4, 2017.

 

 

 

Thursday, May 11, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Life after the Chernobyl Disaster: Human Survival in Times of Ecological Crises

Head-to-Head: A Meeting of Inspired Minds
Location: Hospitalhof Stuttgart (Büchsenstraße 33; 70174 Stuttgart)

A discussion between Academy fellow Kate Brown and renowned technology-assessment expert Armin Grunwald, director of the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag, about the new biological and social realities of the post-nuclear age and the ways in which residents near the Chernobyl exclusion zone have learned to adapt to them.

In cooperation with the Evangelisches Bildungszentrum Hospitalhof Stuttgart and the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum Stuttgart. Generously supported by Dr. Dirk Ippen, the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, and the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH

 

REGISTER TO ATTEND

 

 

 

Monday, May 15, 2017, 8:00 p.m.

Reading from Fortune Smiles and Work-in-Progress

US Embassy Literature Series
Location: English Theatre Berlin (Fidicinstraße 40; 10965 Berlin)

Holtzbrinck Fellow and Pulitzer-winning author Adam Johnson reads from Fortune Smiles and his current work-in-progress.

Please note that this event takes place at the English Theatre Berlin (Tickets €8): Registration: tickets@etberlin.de. School groups: IRCBerlin@state.gov, for free admission. Read more at the English Theatre Berlin’s website.

In cooperation with the US Embassy and the English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 17, 2017, 6:30 p.m.

telix

Inga Maren Otto Concert and Sound Installation
Location: SomoS Gallery Berlin (Kottbusser Damm 95; 10967 Berlin)

Inga Maren Otto Fellow in Music Composition Thessia Machado presents a sound installation and performance series at SomoS Gallery Berlin. The installation features wall mounted, photo sensitive sound modules, conducted by light patterns from a graphic-score traveling on a mechanical apparatus built from a deconstructed fax machine. Machado will discuss her work with Volker Straebel, of the Universität der Künste Berlin, and, on May 18 and 19, perform with turntablist Pedro Lopez and multi-instrumentalist Theresa Stroetges.

Please click here for program and registration information for this series, which runs through Saturday, May 20.

In cooperation with Technische Universität Berlin, Universität der Künste Berlin, and SomoS Gallery Berlin

 

 

News from the American Academy

 

 

New Partnerships for Stuttgart Head-to-Head Series

The American Academy’s Head-to-Head Series—which brings together German and American thinkers to discuss topics ranging from global politics to the arts—was established in 2012 to strengthen German-American ties in the state of Baden-Württemberg. As of spring 2017, in addition to our ongoing partnership with Literaturhaus Stuttgart, the series has begun partnering with the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum Stuttgart and the Evangelisches Bildungzentrum Hosptialhof Stuttgart. The Head-to-Head series is made possible by generous support from the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, Berthold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH, and Dr. Dirk Ippen. 

 

As a not-for-profit organization, the American Academy in Berlin relies entirely upon the generosity of its supporters, whose commitment makes possible our level of activity and excellence. All donations are tax-deductible and all donors are listed on our website and in the Berlin Journal. Thank you for your support.

For more information on how to contribute, please visit americanacademy.de or contact Berit Ebert: E-Mail: be@americanacademy.de; Tel: +49 (30) 804 83 108.

 

 

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