February 13, 2020

February 4, 2020

This comprehensively revised, updated and significantly extended edition introduces German film history from its beginnings to the present day, covering key periods and movements including early and silent cinema, Weimar cinema, Nazi cinema, the New German Cinema, the Berlin School, the cinema of migration, and moving images in the digital era. Contributions by leading international scholars are grouped into sections that focus on genre; stars; authorship; film production, distribution and exhibition; theory and politics, including women's and queer cinema; and transnational connections. Spotlight articles within each section offer key case studies, including of individual films that illuminate larger histories (Heimat, Downfall, The…

November 16, 2019

The Berkeley German Department is pleased to announce a call for papers for the 28th Annual Berkeley German Studies Conference.  Please send submissions to berkeleygermanconference@gmail.com by December 31, 2019.

October 24, 2019

Professor Deniz Göktürk has published a new book on the social dynamics of humor: Komik der Integration. Grenzpraktiken und Identifikationen des Sozialen, co-edited with Uwe Wirth and Özkan Ezli.   Congratulations Professor Göktürk!

September 27, 2019

We are grateful to the Sunrise Foundation for the establishment of a new Fellowship in German Film & Media. The Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts has a central mission in the promotion of German film and media. It recently sponsored the reconstruction and distribution of several classic silent films (Das alte Gesetz 1923 and Die Stadt ohne Juden 1924) and has supported the academic study of German cinema through workshops and seminars.

October 25, 2017

Professor Jeroen Dewulf published From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians. The book presents a provocatively new interpretation of one of New Orleans’s most enigmatic traditions—the Mardi Gras Indians. By interpreting the tradition in an Atlantic context, Dewulf traces the “black Indians” back to the ancient Kingdom of Kongo and its war dance known as sangamento. Enslaved Kongolese brought the rhythm, dancing moves, and feathered headwear of sangamentos to the Americas in performances that came to be known as “Kongo dances.”    Dewulf’s groundbreaking research suggests a much greater impact…

March 7, 2016

Emina Mušanović has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of German at Linfield College. Congratulations, Emina!

September 11, 2015

The German Department at Berkeley welcomes this year’s Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professor, Professor Helmuth Lethen (IFK, Vienna). Professor Lethen is offering a compact seminar entitled “Brecht’s Hauspostille.” He will also participate in Prof. Kaes’ seminar on the Avant-garde throughout September. Professor Lethen will give a public lecture on “Der Schatten des Fotografen” on September 18, 4-6 pm.

April 19, 2015

Photo by Stephanie Peltner The Alumni Conference “The Future of the Past” was truly a unique event. Special thanks are due to the organizing committee – Nina Berman, Noah Isenberg, Jennifer Kapzcynski, and Barbara Kosta – for putting together a well-composed program, as well as the other alumni speakers – June Hwang, Susanne Baackmann, Sara Hall, Robert McFarland, Kristin Kopp, Nancy Nenno, Kurt Beals, Rick McCormick, and Eric Ames – who travelled to Berkeley for this homecoming. We owe the pleasure of this reunion to one very special person, Professor Anton Kaes, who was the advisor on the dissertations written by all these former students. Our colleague and…