The European Diaspora
Category: Politics
Number: 116
Description: Antje Strubel in conversation with Kay Ferres: 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Antje Strubel was 15 and living in East Germany at the time. Her novel Snowed Under examines the subsequent chaotic race to westernise.

Authors: Antje Strubel, Kay Ferres
Date: 13/09/2009 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Location: Red Box
Free/Ticketed:
Free
Presented by: Innovative Universities European Union Centre

Does Democracy Have a Future?
One of Britain's leading political writers, John Keane posits that democracies everywhere are sleepwalking their way into deep trouble. Stefan Auer and John Carroll argue that on the contrary democracy is alive and well. Proudly supported by the IUEU Centre.Date: 29 August, Time: 10am - 11am. Venue: BMW Edge, Federation Square.
Session Code: 2911
Visit MWF to book your ticket

The Byron Bay Writers Festival
IUEU sponsored event:
Saturday 8 August, 4:00 - 5:00 pm at the Red Marquee:
Extremism and fanaticism: equals terrorism?
Paul McGeough, Wayan Juniartha, Thando Sibanda, Chair: Liz Porter

On 20 July 2009 His Excellency Mr António J. Mendes, Ambassador of Portugal, visited the IUEU Centre at La Trobe University to launch a new History of Portugal written by a La Trobe historian, Dr Antony Disney. The product of many years research by Dr Disney, this history was praised by Mr Mendes for its accessibility to the general reader and its thorough scholarship. Introducing the ambassador, Dr Adrian Jones from La Trobe’s History programme also spoke about Dr Disney’s extraordinary achievement in writing the first comprehensive English-language survey of the history of Portugal (vol. 1) and of Portugal’s seaborne empire (vol. 2) to appear in over forty years.  Dr Jones showed how Dr Disney’s work re-defined national boundaries, re-appraising Portugal’s unique contributions to Europe and to the world. Dr Disney has shown how Australian scholarship can also make a valuable contribution to trans-national perspectives on Europeans and Europe. The title of Dr Disney’s history is A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Earliest Times to 1807, in two volumes and published by Cambridge University Press in 2009.

from l to r: His Excellency Mr António J. Mendes, Dr Anthony Disney and Dr Adrian Jones.

The city of Paris as a site for exploring the temporal relationship between place, memory and people will be surveyed in Remembering Paris through both photography and video installation.

The evocation of the city of Paris as a metaphor for illuminating human emotional responses and the contradictions inherent will be revealed through various textural readings.

Featuring works by Adam Geczy; Nathalie Hartog-Gautier; Maria Miranda and Norie Neumark; Juliana O’Dean Remembering Paris

Public Programs included a curators talk, a bilingual artists talk with Nathalie Hartog-Gautier and a talk by Juliana O’Dean “A Vision of Two Rivers”

2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of yet another round in the ceaseless process of redefining the physical, cultural, political and psychological borders of Europe. Far from a static region, Europe has historically seen periods of expansion and contraction that have left deep traces in the histories and cultures of societies both within and without Europe. Seen as a shifting political and cultural space rather than a fixed geographical given, ‘Europe’, in its various shapes and sizes throughout history, might be conceived variously as a product of self-conscious invention, as a site for rival projects of imperial rule or as an expression of a shared historical trajectory. Europe’s expansions and contractions, whether achieved through politics, trade or warfare, raise issues of sovereignty, identity, power and agency within Europe. The history of European interaction with the extra-European world also raises deep questions about the nature of the legacy of Europe in global history. Just as its physical, political and cultural contours shift, the historical meaning of ‘Europe’ has seen a number of changes. Along with other aspects of modern European history, this conference will concern itself with the dynamics and effects of the expansions and contractions of Europe in modern times.

http://www.socsci.flinders.edu.au/history/theAAEH/

Issues in cross-cultural communication have exercised the minds of thousands of scholars world-wide and will no doubt continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Cross-cultural communication is often relatively unproblematic (as relatively unproblematic, that is, as communication within cultures), but it is a well-known fact that problems do develop from time to time and warrant the attention of linguists and applied linguists alike. Cross-cultural pragmatic failure, as it has been called, occurs because of insufficient knowledge, either of the formal rules of the language in which an interaction takes place (rules that relate to its lexicon, its phonetics, its syntax), or of more elusive aspects related to implicit cultural norms and values, often not adequately taught in foreign language classrooms. In the absence of appropriate cross-cultural savoir-faire, it can have disastrous repercussions for interpersonal relationships and lead to unhelpful stereotyping.

http://www.eurolang.mq.edu.au/CSSC/

4pm Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay, 22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. Bookings required

Rooted in the German student movement of the late 1960s, the Baader Meinhof Group or the Red Army Faction turned to terrorism in the early ‘70s to fight against perceived imperialism and the lingering spectre of the Nazis. Stefan Aust, former editor of Der Spiegel and one of Germany’s most respected journalists, co-wrote the controversial new film The Baader Meinhof Complex and the book of the same name. He talks about the enduring significance of Baader Meinhof and our continued fascination with their campaign with Macquarie University’s Martina Mollering.

STEFAN AUST was the editor of Der Spiegel from 1994 to 2008. He worked with Ulrike Meinhof on the left-wing publication Konkret in the late Sixties. The film, The Baader Meinhof Complex, is based on his book. Released in the UK last November, the film is produced by Bernd Eichinger (Downfall) and stars cast members from the Academy Award-winning The Lives of Others.

http://www.swf.org.au

For full details of this program:
Summary of events:
-30 March 2009, Seminar: 'How the EU really works'; Flinders University, South Australia
-30 March, Public lecture: "Transatlantic Relations under Obama: University of Adelaide
-31 March 2009. Spinelli Lecture: The EU’s Relations with its Strategic Partners: The US, Russia and China: University of Melbourne
-31 March: Seminar: The EU: The Next Superpower? : La Trobe University
-01 April 2009, 'An interview with Dr. Stefan Auer'; La Trobe University, Victoria
-01 April 2009, Public Lecture: 'Can the European Union survive its present crises'; Australian Institute of International Relations, Dyason House, East Melbourne, Victoria
-02 April 2009, Public Lecture: 'Prospects for EU-Russian Relations'; Australian Institute of International Relations, Harris Terrace, 46 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland
-06 April 2009, Public Lecture: 'Dealing with the Dragon: the EU and China'; Macquarie University Art Gallery, North Ryde, New South Wales
-07 April 2009, Public Lecture: 'EU-Russian relations'; Australian Institute of International Relations, The Glover Cottages, 124 Kent Street, Sydney
For full details of this program:

A three-day international conference featuring contributions from academic researchers and practitioners from the Pacific Rim, the European Union, Asia and North America. The conference will provide a forum for the sharing of ideas and knowledge about the value of creativity as a means of engendering social inclusion and will allow academic researchers, practitioners and organisations to explore aspects of commonality in their pursuits with the possibility of collaboration both within Australia and in international contexts...
Final program updated

Thursday 19 March 2009, 4.00pm
Seminar Room, Ancient Cultures Museum, Macquarie University, 3rd floor, Building X5B Room 311, North Ryde

RSVP: Wednesday 18 March 2009
Gina Haggar: Ph: (02) 9850 7915 or Email: regina.haggar@mq.edu.au

Mr Luca Bader, Director of the Institute of European Democrats in Brussels and IUEU Centre 2008 Honorary Research Fellow...

Click to view more information on Mr Bader

Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 12 noon: Room 127, Building W6A
A ‘Histories on Wednesday’ presentation by Dr. Stefan Auer, Senior Lecturer in History and Politics at La Trobe University

RSVP: Monday 16 March 2009
Dr. Nic Baker
Ph: (02) 9850 8856 or
Email: nicholas.baker@mq.edu.au

Click to view abstract

Click to view more information on Dr. Auer

Wednesday, 4 March, 12 Noon 2009
The Macquarie University Art Gallery, North Ryde

This event was followed by a BBQ in the Earth Sciences Garden with the opportunity for one on one discussions with Professor Dreyssé and Professor Nathalie Nyst Université Libre de Bruxelles. Both academics are on the governing board of this organisation as well as being prime movers in a consortium of European university museums called “Universeum” ...

Bodo Richter, Directorate General for Education and Culture, European Commission, presented information about Erasmus Mundus II. There was also be short presentations by representatives from DEEWR and the European Commission's Delegation to Australia and New Zealand.
Click here to open Mr Bodo Richter's presentation
Click here to open Mr Richard Wade's presentation

Seminar in the Departments of History and Politics
"EU development assistance, human security and fragile states"
Contact at Flinders: Professor Peter Monteath,
Acting Head of the Department of History. Phone: +61 8 8201 5568

Alumni Lecture – IUEU Centre Seminar
"EU development assistance, human security and fragile states"
Date: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 8.00pm (incl questions and refreshments)
Venue: Lecture Theatre T1, Building X5B, Macquarie University
Map: Click here for a map detailing the building location for this seminar, and preferred parking areas
Cost : Free
RSVP : Monday, 16 February 2008
Enquries: Email: events@vc.mq.edu.au or Phone: +61 2 9850 4271
Bookings: Booking Form

http://iueu.org.au/webpages/audio/HOUT_180209.mp3

The events of 9/11 intensified a new set of security challenges within the Asia-Pacific. Among the perceived challenges are the emergence of radical Islamic movements confronting state authority, the heightened risk emanating from weak or fragile states and the influence of ethnic separatist movements...
Keynote address: Prof. Wil Hout
The contact person for this event is Tamara Dent, if you have further queries please contact at t.dent@murdoch.edu.au

In conjunction with a conference on the issues of citizenship testing and national identity an exhibition focusing on artworks by emigre artists has been organised by the IUEU Centre and the Macquarie University Art Gallery. This exhibition will be on public display in the Exhibition Space of the Macquarie University Library.

Flinders University invites you to a public lecture:
"Transnational Citizenship and Colonial History: Case study - The Netherlands" by Professor Berteke Waaldijk, Utrecht University

From Migrant to Citizen: testing language, testing culture. In December 2008 the IUEU Centre and Macquarie University are supporting a conference on the issues of citizenship testing and national identity.

Professor Mathias Albert, from the University of Bielefeld, Germany presented a seminar at La Trobe University titled "Constructing Another Europe or Euopre's Other? British and german Discourses on Turkey's EU accession"

Professor Johnsen is an expert in comparative analysis of legal services policy in Europe. He has also done research on cultural barriers to the Sami People's usage of the legal system in Norway."He has worked with the Council of Europe's "Commission for the Efficiency of Justice" (CEPEJ) on a major comparative research project, and is currently working on delays in European judicial systems for the CEPEJ.

Professor Johnsen will be in residence at Flinders University between 23 October 2008 and 20 January 2009. More information will be posted as it is made available to the centre.

Seminars:

During his stay he conducted seminars at:
Flinders University:

• Seminar 1 - Flinders University
  "What is the role of the Council of Europe in European integration of human rights in Europe? The work and effectiveness of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice"
  Seminar 2 - Flinders University
• "A comparison of the design and effectiveness of legal aid policies in Norway and Finland in promoting human rights."

La Trobe University

• 25 November - La Trobe University with the IUEU Centre and the Centre for Dialogue
  "The role of the Council of Europe's Commission on the Efficiency Justice (CEPEJ)in the integration of human rights in Europe."

Macquarie University

• 26 November - The IUEU Centre and The Division of Law, Macquarie University
  "The role of the Council of Europe's Commission on the Efficiency Justice (CEPEJ)in the integration of human rights in Europe."?
• A website he cited in this seminar is: http://www.coe.int/t/dg1/legalcooperation/cepej/textes/adoptedTexts_en.asp

The Department of Critical and Cultural Studies, the Innovative Universities European Union Centre and the Centre of Middle East and North African Studies present a one-day symposium concerned with work that conceptualises the Mediterranean not as a fixed geographical locus mapped and regulated by a series of longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates but, rather, in terms of a dispersed spatio-temporal and geopolitical phenomenon that is not identical to itself. This is not the Mediterranean of the imperial mare nostrum; rather, it is a transmediterranean marked by lines of contestation, dissemination and reconfiguration. This symposium brings together scholars working on Mediterranean cultures, their multiple dispersions and embodiments. The symposium examines how Mediterranean cultures are engaged in flows of transnational cultural exchange that are reconstituting local cultures and identities and translocating these things in the context of national/ist cultures. The symposium will also focus on the phenomenon of diaspora, both transmediterranean and transnational (with a particular focus on Australian diasporic cultures and their Middle Eastern, North African and European affiliations and connections), refugees and the undocumented, the “war on terror,” media representations, colonial and imperial histories, tourism, and aesthetic visions.

Addmission is FREE. For further information, contact: Joseph Pugliese, Department of Critical and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney. Joseph.Pugliese@scmp.mq.edu.au

Seminar: The Political Economy of Managed Migration: National Non-State Actors and Europeanisation in the Formulation of European Immigration Policies: a lecture by Dr George Menz, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Seminar: "The Culture of the Europeans": a free lecture by Professor Donald Sassoon
7 November at 2pm; La Trobe University, Social Sciences Building, Room S 423

Seminar: "Mona Lisa: The Best Known Girl In The Whole Wide World": a free lecture by Professor Donald Sassoon
10 November at 6pm; John Scott Meeting House, La Trobe University

Professor Greffe is the author of Arts and Artists from an Economic Perspective (2002) and a distinguished academic with the University of Paris at the Sorbonne. Due to limited space, RVSP is essential for these events.

• Seminar: "Urban Cultural Landscapes": a public seminar by Professor Xavier Greffe
  13 October 2008: 5:30pm Griffith University Southbank Campus

• Seminar: "New Business Models For Cultural Companies": a public seminar by Professor Xavier Greffe
  14 October 2008: 5:30pm State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane

• Seminar: "Urban Cultural Landscapes": a public seminar by Professor Xavier Greffe
  16 October 2008: 6:30pm Macquarie University Art Gallery

• Seminar: "New Business Models For Cultural Companies": a public seminar by Professor Xavier Greffe
  17 October 2008: 2pm Department of Economics, Macquarie University

• Click here for further details on each of these events

Join Noah Bassil, Acting Director of the Centre for Middle East and North African Studies, as he examines the implications of rendition and torture and the claims that the actions of the United States and its allies, such as Australia, are part of a civilising mission. Delve into the world of espionage, covert operations and the secret 'war on terror', and consider whether security or civil rights should be considered paramount. Bassil will discuss rendition and the issue of civil rights in the wider context of the age of counter-terrorism as a way of understanding the impact of such policies on the possible success of the 'war on terror'.

A series of activities to bring together the European Union and Bendigo area interests in education, business, trade and community activity.

Did you know that Australia’s largest economic partner is the European Union (EU)? Have you heard that in 2007 more than one million Australians visited Europe, and that nine out of ten Australians are of European descent? Most Australians aren’t aware of these facts, so the EU, through the Delegation of the European Commission to Australia in Canberra and its Member State embassies and the Innovative Universities European Union Centre are bringing Europe to Greater Bendigo. This programme will include public forums, lectures, speeches, workshops, competitions and information stalls and will be supported by the City of Greater Bendigo, the Bendigo Business Council, La Trobe University and the Monash European and EU Centre.

The Orange Trees of Baghdad

Listen to Leilah Nadir in conversation with Professor Kay Ferres from Griffith University.

Leilah Nadir is a freelance writer who has written and broadcast political commentaries for the CBC, The Globe and Mail and the Georgia Straight, and published a feature article in Brick magazine. She has a master's degree in English literature from the University of Edinburgh and a joint honours bachelor's degree in English and history from McGill University. She has worked in London and Vancouver in the publishing industry. The Orange Trees of Baghdad is a detailed exploration of life in Baghdad filtered through the voices and memories of the Iraqi diaspora.

For more information on Leilah Nadir please visit http://www.leilahnadir.com/

For more information on the Brisbane Writers Festival visit:

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/

IUEU Visiting Research Fellow Dr. Hervé Glevarec will be at Griffith University in September for several events.  Dr. Glevarec is a Senior Researcher with CNRS (Centre national del la recherche scientifique).

Professor Khosrokhavar's visit to Australia is an initiative of, and coordinated by, the Monash European and EU Centre at Monash University. His lecture series in Australia is co-hosted by Islam Node, ARC APFRN, the National Europe Centre, the Innovative Universities Europe Centre and the International Asia Pacific Institute at Flinders University.

The events he will take part in while in Australia are as follows (further details will be posted as they are advised):

20 August, 6-8pm: Public Lecture at State Library, Melbourne
21 August: Seminar hosted by the University of Melbourne
26 August: Lecture at Flinders University, Adelaide
28 / 29 August (TBC): Lecture hosted National Europe Centre and the Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Canberra
2 September, 3-4pm: Seminar at Macquarie University
2 September, 7-9pm: Public Lecture at Macquarie University
3 September, 5-6pm: Guest Lecture for EUL101 at Macquarie University

For more detail on his public events, see the links beside the events listed above...

This was a month-long event including a conference, Higher Degree Research student colloquium, exhibition and concert components held at Macquarie University (City and North Ryde campuses) between March 20th – April 19th 2008. Event Co-ordinator and Conference Chair: Professor Philip Hayward

• "Transitions: Aspects of European Island and Regional Cultures" The exhibition, held at the Macquarie University Art Gallery, captured the experiences and perceptions of a number of artists concerned with European island and regional cultures since the 1950s and with the experiences of migrants from these locations to Australia. Artists: Effy Alexakis, Angela Cavalieri, Nathalie Hartog-Gautier, Axel Poignant, Fernando Gil Pereira Resendes, Claudia Terstappen, Jeremy Welsh, and Salvatore Zofrea.
• FMTR Postgraduate student and supervisor colloquium (18 April, Macquarie City College). The colloquium comprised a number of presentations around the theme of ‘International aspects and opportunities for Australian Higher Degree Researchers’ by Australian and European academics
• "Social and cultural policy in European sub-national regions' ( 18 April, Macquarie City College) Keynote: Associate Professor Stephen Royle (Queens University Belfast) 'Culture and heritage in the survival of the Irish islands'
• "Music culture in European sub-national regions' ( 19 April, Macquarie City College) Keynote: Professor Girolamo Garofalo (University of Palermo, Italy) 'The music culture of Sicily's Albian minority'.
• Concert for conference attendees: The Sydney Calabrian Ensemble - Supported by an Irish music ensemble led by Helen O'Shea
  19 April, 7.30pm - 9.30 pm, Macquarie City College.

Jane Boyd is a leading Amsterdam based English artist who has worked on concrete (the Pantheon, La Défense in Paris and UCL London), Jane’s current project is ongoing:
“Temporal Human Behaviour in Public Places”. Jane Boyd held several presentation during her stay in Australia, these included:

• "Seeing the Past through the Present: the Pantheon through the lens of a contemporary artist " Jane Boyd, artist in residence at Regents Court
  7 April, 2008, 7pm, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
• "Time After Time, an Odyssey in Vertical Space " Jane Boyd, artist in residence at Regents Court
  17 April 2008, 6pm. Macquarie City College, Sydney, Australia
• "Sensing the Past through the Present" Jane Boyd, artist in residence at Regents Court
  28 April 2008, 6.30pm. La Trobe University, Glenn College Lecture Theatre, Bundoora VIC
  

For more information on her visit ...