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Selected News Archive

Spring 2011

James Vernon Talk Flyer

Why Britain? The Privatization of the University
As part of IES new Rapid Response Series which responds to topical issues in the news with in-depth, expert analysis, on April 7, 2011, in Moses Hall, UCB History Professor James Vernon spoke on contemporary issues regarding university funding in the UK. Last October the publication of the Browne Report “Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education in England” plunged the university sector in to chaos. The sustainable future envisioned by Browne was to be secured by a process of privatization that would replace public funds with student debt-financing that would enable large increases in tuition revenue.  

Despite widespread protests by faculty and students alike, including high profile occupations on a number of campuses, the government embraced the report's recommendations removing all public funding for the teaching of the arts, humanities and social sciences and enabling universities to increase their fees threefold. There are many obvious parallels to the plight of public universities across much of the world but why is it that higher education in the UK has been so vulnerable to neo-liberal reform that it became the first to be effectively privatized? And what may we in the UC system learn from the restructuring of the university system in the UK?

 

Spring 2010

Berkeley Participants Image

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union, 2010

On April 8 the EU Center at Scripps College hosted the 8th Annual Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union. The conference enhances undergraduate student understanding of the European Union and US-European relations, fosters inter-campus exchange and collaboration, and recognizes excellent student work.

Forty-five undergraduate students from twenty-three US and European universities attended . Five from UCB were accepted with papers: “A Future Common Foreign and Security Policy for the European Union: A Look at Nuclear Iran,” Hannah Zarkar; “The ERASMUS Program and the Development of a European Identity,” Alisa Shekhtman; “France’s Governmental Response to the Financial Crisis and its Linkage to Hopes for EU Regulatory Uniformity,” July Hodara; “State & Industry Lobbying on European Financial Regulation Reform: A Case Study of United Kingdom and Germany,” Vaishnavi Jayakumar; and “The History and Politicization of European Agricultural Policy 1957-92,” Norman Waters.


Fall 2009

Berlin Wall Image

Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9, 1989
Christine Schoefer, a freelance journalist living in Berkeley, recounts her first-person memories of the historic fall of the Berlin Wall:

Twenty years ago I saw people dance on the Berlin Wall. I watched East Germans push westward through narrow border gates that had been forbidden to them for three decades. I witnessed strangers embrace each other like long lost best friends. I heard men sob in ecstatic happiness and witnessed a young woman kneel to kiss the cold asphalt of Niederkirchnerstrasse. I was there when the city transformed itself, overnight, from Cold War icon to global symbol of liberation. (continued . . . )


Joan Wallach Scott ImageJoan Wallach Scott
Historian of France, Joan Wallach Scott, professor in the School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, spoke on "The Politics of the Veil" while a guest of IES as part of our Islam, Gender and the West program (see below).

IIS Director Harry Kreisler welcomed her during a videotaped interview in which she traced her intellectual odyssey and recalled the impact of the women's movement on her research and teaching. Professor Scott also described the intellectual influences that led her, more than twenty years ago, to write the now classic article, "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis." Part of the discussion focuses on her recent book The Politics of the Veil, an analysis of the political, cultural, and social factors that led to the French ban on the wearing of the veil by Muslim young women in public schools.

Go to the Conversations with History section of YouTube to view this interview.


Fall 2008

Margot Wallström Portrait by E. Kotila Spacer Image
Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the EU, Speaks at Berkeley
EU Vice-President Margot Wallström gave a talk at International House in late September discussing the role of women in policy and politics. Her visit coincided with the opening of UC Berkeley's new EU Center of Excellence; beforehand she met with graduate students and faculty in EU Studies at the Institute's European Studies Seminar Room. To watch an interview of Ms. Wallström by IIS Director Harry Kreisler, please follow this link to YouTube.


Spring 2007

Joscka Fischer introduced by John Efron, photo copyright 2007 by Eric Gillet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joschka Fischer introduced by IES Director John Efron

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
In April popular Former Foreign Minister of Germany (1998-2005) and Green Party member Joschka Fischer spoke on “The Future of the Middle East: What’s at Stake for America and Europe?” in a talk sponsored by IES. To an overflowing audience in Stephens Hall, Ambassador Fischer was introduced by IES Director Prof. John Efron and discussed his views of the current situation in the Middle East. He commended efforts by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others in the US government to break the bilateral diplomatic silence between the US and its adversaries by speaking directly with players in the region (such as Syria).

Fischer argued that the US-led invasion of Iraq has led directly to an increasing influence of Iran in the region. For countries in the Middle East the focus has been taken off the Palestine-Israel conflict, and the current biggest potential threat to countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and Syria, for instance, is Shia-dominated Iran, due to its population, Shia majority, historical dominance in the area, and regional ambitions. He stressed that each issue in the Palestinian-Israeli dispute has been negotiated literally hundreds of times, and what is lacking is the will from the US administration and others to encourage the parties to come to a lasting agreement. He also feels the US should actively engage others in the Middle East for collective help in containing Iran, as well.

IES was honored to host Ambassador Fischer.

-- Photo © 2007 Eric Gillet

Globalization Conference Photo Spacer Image
Globalization Comes Home Conference
The Globalization Comes Home Conference in February 2007 explored how globalization - once synonymous with “Westernization”- has become a force unto itself, coming back to challenge the political and legal institutions, economic landscape, and cultural foundations of Western industrial democracies. View images from the event ...


Fall 2006
Irish Studies Lectures Online
The Western Institute of Irish Studies has kindly posted videos of two Irish Studies lectures given at Berkeley this Fall -- one on old Irish histories by Jane Ohlmeyer and the other on the contemporary Irish economy by Paul Sweeney. Go here to view the videos (Real Player is required and can be downloaded free).
July 2006
IES Welcomes Director John Efron

Director John EfronJohn Efron, Koret Professor of History and Jewish Studies and Chair of the Program in Jewish Studies, takes over the directorship of IES as the new academic years begins.

His academic focus is on the cultural and intellectual history of modern Jewry, with emphasis on the Jews of German-speaking Europe. He is the author of Medicine and the German Jews: A History (2001), Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (1998), and Defenders of the Race: Jewish Doctors and Race Science in Fin-de-Siècle Europe (1994). IES looks forward to his leadership and wishes him a warm welcome.
Brunhilda and Gerry, Going Away Party   July 2006
Goodbye, Gerry!

IES Director for over a decade, Gerald D. Feldman stepped down in July 2006. To say thanks, IES surprised him with a going away party, replete with opera. View images from the event ....
Sir David King Discussion September 2005
Sir David King Discusses Climate Change

The September conversation on Climate Change with Sir David King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the British Government, was one of the best attended events in IES history. Read more...

Read or listen to Sir David's interview with Professor Harry Kreisler earlier that same day: Click here for the interview.

International Law Conference October 2004
International Law Conference

This IES Panel Discussion on Humanitarian Intervention drew a huge audience. Read about the event...

September 2004
CBS Reception
The Center for British Studies hosted its Second Annual Fall Reception at the Alumni House. Read more...

Goodbye Germany?
Migration, Culture and the Nation State. An IES Conference from October 28-30, 2004. Read more...
Fall Festival 2004 IES Fall Festival 2004
Join the staff of IES for its annual fall reception. This is a great way to get to know the staff and affiliates of IES, as well as learn more about the many programs, events and grants we offer. Friday, October 22, 4-6 pm. More info...


September 2004
Michael Minkenberg Berkeley-Viadrina Cooperation Program
This informal presentation, hosted by Michael Minkenberg, introduced the cooperation program that has existed between Berkeley and Viadrina for 2 years now. View pictures...
Heidenreich week at Berkeley Art Museum, on view through October 3, 2004. More info...

July 2004
IES and EU Studies
IES has taken the lead in creating one of the foremost programs for undergraduate students in European Union Studies. This initiative began in the Spring of 2004 with a course on the European Union, taught by Michelle Bertho, who has taught EU Studies at the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University, and is the program coordinator of IES’ France-Berkeley Fund. Read more...

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