Center for German and European Studies

March 29, 2026

CGES In-Person Event

CGES invites you to attend: In the Game / Ich gehe jetzt rein
Director:Aysun Bademsoy, Germany, 2008 (75 min)
A Documentary Film About Women’s Soccer ,
German and Turkish with English Subtitles

Aysun Bademsoy’ documentaries Girls On The Pitch (Mädchen am Ball, 1995) and After the Game (Nach dem Spiel, 1997) followed five young Turkish girls from Berlin-Kreuzberg, who belonged to the successful Turkish football team “BSC Agrispor”. Thirteen years later, in 2008, she revisits Safiye, Arzu, Türkan, Nalan, and Nazan and their dreams to become professionals.

April 14, 2026

CGES In-Person Event

Haunting and unforgettable, THIS ORDINARY THING tells the story of non-Jews who helped save Jewish people across Europe during The Holocaust. The film combines never-before-seen archival footage with the testimonies of over forty different people who, working independently and at great risk to themselves and their families, saved thousands of Jewish strangers from almost certain death. Narrated by an all-star cast, including Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons, the film is a timely reminder of the pockets of goodness that can rise in a sea of evil: everyday people helping others who were "different" from them.

Notably, none of the people featured in the film thought of themselves as heroes. And yet the film, with immense contemporary resonance, causes each of us to ask ourselves “What would I have done?”

April 15, 2026

CGES Hybrid Event

The cold war was dominated by the notion that nuclear deterrence would keep the peace. Yet, many wars were fought in its shadow – though not in Europe, Russia or the United States. Since 1990, nuclear deterrence had largely been absent from public discourse, and yet it is slowly moving center stage again. With nine countries now in possession of nuclear weapons and several nuclear powers at war, is nuclear deterrence (still) working? How secure are the nuclear arsenals? Is nuclear war a likely possibility in the near future? What happens if the United States decides to close their nuclear umbrella over their European NATO allies?

April 17, 2026

CGES Hybrid Event

March 25, 2026

CGES Hybrid Event

The aftermath of the Holocaust has been long and wide-reaching. It has impacted every area of political and cultural life in many countries since 1945. What is the state of aftermath studies for the Holocaust? How do we periodize the post-Holocaust landscape? How, when and where has the Holocaust been globalized? How has it come to serve as a global cultural touchstone for evaluating mass violence?  In what areas did the Holocaust generate a fundamental rethinking of human relations and state institutions? Join Sarah Cushman, Laura Jockusch, Devin Pendas, and Geffen Rosenthal for a conversation about how the history of the aftermath shapes Holocaust research and education. 

March 17, 2026

CGES Hybrid Event

What do the Nazis' eugenic mass sterilization campaign and the hundredthousandfold "euthanasia" murders have to do with the fantasy that the Germans would become a Volk that is strong, beautiful, and smart - and why did it take so long into the postwar era for the crimes against people with disabilities to be recognized as crimes? Join speaker Dagmar Herzog as she discusses the topic.

March 9, 2026

CGES Online Event

Digital systems are not neutral, and neither is design. This webinar explores how power relations and gendered assumptions are reflected in digital design and actively shaped through design decisions. Drawing on examples from digital design practice and research, it shows how interfaces, data and AI can reproduce or challenge existing power structures. The talk argues for a reflective design practice that understands designers as key actors in shaping digital and social realities.

March 3, 2026

CGES In-Person Event

CGES hosted a film screening of the 2025 film, Nuremberg, adapted from author Jack El-Hai's book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist. Jack El-Hai was there in person to host a discussion right after the screening.

February 23, 2026

CGES Online Event

Climate change and the rise of the far right are challenging the future of democracy. What strategies can be observed among the far right with regard to climate change? And how do those whose future is at stake view this issue? The authors of the book „Jugend. Klima. Rechtsextremismus” (“Youth. Climate. Right-wing extremism”) surveyed young people in a Germany-wide study. The results clearly showed that while many young people reject right-wing narratives on climate issues, some right-wing positions also meet with approval. Marleen Hascher and Ann-Katrin Kastberg from the team of authors presented the key findings of their study.

January 30, 2026

CGES Hybrid Event

The Trump Administration continues to claim that Greenland must become part of the US. Danish and European Union leaders seem conflicted about how to respond. What is the strategic importance of Greenland and the Arctic, in general? What does the struggle over Greenland really mean? What role does Greenland play for Denmark, within the EU, and within NATO? What role do fossil fuels and critical minerals play within the Trump Administration’s ambitions for Greenland? Could Greenland simply assert its sovereignty and independence instead? What does taking over Greenland actually mean? CGES hosted a group of experts to learn more about the broader context of this fraught moment in transatlantic relations.

January 29, 2026

CGES In-Person Event

Did you know that the popular board game Catan was created in Germany? CGES hosted a Catan game night with over 20 students that included snacks, learning about upcoming CGES events, and information on Spring 2026 German courses.

January 29, 2026

CGES Online Event

CGES hosted a conversation with two of the German organizers of the planned “Global Women’s Strike: “ENOUGH! GENUG! BASTA!" on Monday, March 9, 2026. 

Listeners learned more about what inspired this multifaceted initiative, how it is being organized, and what the “artistic intervention” hopes to achieve.