Center for German and European Studies

CGES Anti-Racism Plan

“Race” and “Racism” carry different meanings and have different histories in Germany and the United States. For obvious reasons, given Germany’s responsibility for the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, how Germans are confronting antisemitism today has played a particularly important role in our work from the Center’s founding in the wake of German unification in 1998. CGES Brandeis has been focused on the important work of memory and reconciliation in the wake of WWII and the Holocaust and the lessons to be drawn from a long history of racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia that continues to mark and marr German culture and society to this day.

Over the past twenty-five years, our Center has been devoted to dialogue, to bringing people together across differences in support of the promotion of peaceful coexistence. A quarter of the webinars archived since the pandemic are devoted to Confronting Antisemitism, Racism, and Xenophobia. Our work of bridge-building, dialogue, and critical reflection is now more important than ever, and we are fortunate to be on a campus where this is a shared practice.

Over the years, CGES has hosted numerous programs highlighting efforts by Germans and others in Europe who are fighting racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia.

In Spring 2024, CGES Brandeis will host bestselling author and anti-racism activist Tupoka Ogette and her husband, the artist Stephen Lawson for a two-day residence and workshops on anti-racism.

Here are some of the most relevant events CGES has hosted devoted to anti-racism:

For additional webinars, browse through our 100+ recordings in the following categories:

• Confronting Antisemitism, Racism and Xenophobia in Germany
• Germany for Future: Climate Protection between Advocacy, Innovation, and Policy-Making
• Re-imagining Germany: Contemporary Politics, Literature, Culture and Philosophy
• Authors in Conversation