presented by Freie Universität Berlin and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in cooperation with the University of Chicago

German University Alliance representatives met with colleagues from partner institutions worldwide to talk about new developments and initiatives at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Freie Universität Berlin following their success in the national “Excellence Initiative” and joint projects in the future.

The luncheon was hosted in the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club which has played an important role in Washington life for nearly 100 years. It has been a prime location for press conferences and meetings for key figures in modern history, from Presidents of the United States and heads of many other countries, to senators, congressmen and diplomats, as well as scholars, business leaders and athletes.

German University Alliance sponsored a panel at the Thirty-First Annual Conference of the German Scholars Association in San Diego, California. The panel on “German Jewry in Trans-national Perspective:  A New Look at the Construction of Modern Jewish Identities and Communities"  was moderated by Michael Brenner, Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Cornelia Wilhelm, Privatdozentin for Early Modern and Modern History at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Visiting Professor at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University, New Brunswick and LMU Academic Liaison in New York, presented her view on German Jews in the United States and the Shaping of a New Civil Jewish Identity in America. Her thoughts were followed by Yaakov Ariel, Professor of American Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapell Hill, who talked about the Rise of Jewish Scholarship on Judaism and Christianity: From Germany to America and Palestine. Finally, Gertrud Pickhan, Professor of East-Central European History at Freie Universität Berlin, discussed “Multiple Modernities: Jewish Concepts of Identity in Eastern Europe and their Relationship to German Jewry”. The panelists’ talks were commented by Jonathan Skolnik, Assistant Professor of German at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).