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Spring 2011
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.
Spring 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
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 . . . )
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
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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
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.
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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 ... |
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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
 John
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.
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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 .... |
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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. |
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October 2004
International Law Conference
This IES Panel Discussion on Humanitarian Intervention drew a huge audience. Read
about the event...
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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... |
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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
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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... |
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| Heidenreich week at Berkeley Art Museum,
on view through October 3, 2004. More
info... |
July 2004
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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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