IES is pleased to announce the establishment of an annual memorial lectureship in honor of beloved former IES Director, Gerald D. Feldman. Prof. Feldman, 1937-2007, was an eminent economic historian with a focus on early 20th century Germany. He taught at Berkeley for 44 years and was especially admired by his graduate students, whom he nurtured and challenged with his humanity and high standards.
Through the work of current IES Director John Efron, Associate Director Beverly Crawford, and generosity of his wife Norma Feldman — who previously had established a graduate fellowship in honor of Prof. Feldman — the Gerald D. Feldman Memorial Lecture is slated to begin this Fall at Berkeley with a talk by historian James Sheehan of Stanford.
The Institute of European Studies depends on your help to support our research, public programs, and graduate students. Please join us in strengthening that committment through gifts to IES.
IES Associate Director
Beverly Crawford, Finnish Studies Program Finnish-language Lecturer
Sirpa Tuomainen (left) , and visiting Fullbright Teaching Fellow
Jenni Tuikkala (right) all had the honor of attending a lunchtime meeting with Finland's Ambassador to the US Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Consul General of Finland in LA Kirsti Westphalen, and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade
Alexander Stubb (center) .
The meeting was the final stop in Stubb's tour (christened FinnvasionUSA) of the US to foster trade and start-up investment. Before coming to Northern California, the Minister had met with twenty-seven Finnish start-ups in Washington and New York, where he presided over the opening bell at NASDAQ.
At Cal, Stubb discussed the future of the European Union including his views on the integration theory to an invited audience, including members of the Departments of Economics and Political Science. He highlighted Finland’s triple-A rating in the financial markets and transparent business ethics, as well as the country’s sustainable development of its natural resources.
A Photo Exhibit by Eric Kotila, Institute of European Studies
Last Week ! February 17- April 30, Weekdays 1:00-4:00 pm (except during other events and Spring Holiday, March 30, 2012)
Expansive Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki manages in microcosm to present the history of the country in an aesthetically magical, symbolically rich environment evocative of Finnish identity and nationalism. The graves – most often in Swedish, Russian, and Finnish – concretely attest to the country’s trajectory from a Swedish possession, to a Russian Duchy, to an independent modern nation.
Photographer Eric Kotila captures its siting and landscape design, various chapels, and exquisite grave-markers in his photo essay undertaken with sponsorship from the Finlandia Foundation and IES. The environment captures the design history of a country which values architecture, landscape architecture, and the arts so markedly. Finns both prominent, such as Alvar Aalto and Field Marshal Mannerheim, and humble are buried and memorialized here, often with striking, creative gravestones ranging from Baroque to Art Nouveau. The exibit is cosponsored by the Department of Scandinavian and the Finnish Studies Program at IES.
Video of the inaugural 2011 Romani Studies Conference held at Cal, which IES was proud to cosponsor, is now online. Talks from most presenters, including the Keynote Address by Romani scholar and activist, Professor Ian Hancock, are available for viewing at your leisure. We hope you take time to learn more about this fascinating field and people.
