Thomas Mann House Events Archive
October 2019
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — Washington D.C.
Washington DC
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
Library of Congress
Washington D.C.
October 1, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
"Asynchronocities": Workshop with Armen Avanessian
New York
The complexity of today’s social organization, in which algorithms and big data supersede the primacy of human agency and experience, obliterated our traditional notion of the present as the structuring condition of time. Current speculative concepts such as derivative trading, financial speculation, as well as preemptive politics and personalities suggest that the present is already predetermined by the future. But what does it mean to live and think in a speculative present, ethically but also academically, let’s say as a literary theorist? And how does a non-linear conception of time affect our present-day semantics and politics? Exploring the implications of an asynchronous temporality towards a modern understanding of poetics, ontology and metaphysics, in this open seminar, excerpts from Armen Avanessian’s works on temporality will be discussed.
Armen Avanessian studied philosophy and political science in Vienna and Paris. After completing his dissertation in literature, he worked at the Free University Berlin from 2007–2014. He has previously been a Visiting Fellow in the German Department at Columbia University and the German Department at Yale University as well as Visiting Professor at various art academies in Europe and the US. In Berlin, Avanessian is the editor at large at Merve Verlag and in charge of the theory program at the internationally acclaimed theatre Volksbühne. He is a co-founder of the bilingual research platform Spekulative Poetik (www.spekulative-poetik.de), conducting a series of events, translations and publications.
Location
NYU German Department
19 University Place
New York, NY 10022
1st floor, Great Room
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 5:00pm
To RSVP, please email asynchronocities.nyu@gmail.com
An event in cooperation with New York University.
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — Portland
Portland
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
German Studies Association Annual Conference
Portland
October 4, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Seminar with Stefan Keppler-Tasaki: “How Goethe became Japanese”
Portland
The annual conferences of the German Studies Association bring together over one thousand scholars in the areas of German history, literature, culture, and politics. Thomas Mann House Fellow Stefan Keppler-Tasaki will present and discuss his book “How Goethe became Japanese: Scenes of Transnational Contact with a National Purpose” at the 43rd German Studies Association conference in Portland, Oregon.
In 1818, Goethe wrote to his prince, Duke Carl August: “Japan is anywhere that one knows how to create it.” This meant the creation of gardening conditions that would be agreeable to the Japanese plants, which Goethe successfully grew in Weimar. Nearly everything what Europeans believed to know about Japan in the days of Goethe changed fundamentally through the Japanese nation building process during the late 19th and early 20th century. In this process, Goethe’s saying became true also insofar as Japan proved to be ‘created’ or ‘re-created,’ especially in Japan itself. The ‘know-how’ for this creation came not the least from Goethe’s life and work. Japanese intellectuals from Mori Ōgai, a founding figure of modern Japan, to Osamu Tezuka, the very creator of the Manga genre, drew intensively from Goethe to establish somewhat a Japanese identity—for national self-esteem as well as for harsh criticism on Japan. Given the prominent suicide motifs in Werther and Faust, Goethe became a kind of national author particularly to the so called ‘suicide nation’ Japan. Death testimonies of Japanese individuals from the 1890s until the peak of Kamikaze tactics in 1944/45 provide evidence of that.
In the meantime, the close conjunction of Goethe and Japan was facilitated by European intellectuals such as Thomas Mann and Gottfried Benn, whose 1932 essays on Goethe refer to Japan (Mann) resp. to Buddhism (Benn). Mann, whose brother-in-law lived in Japan since 1931, remodeled Goethe in his essay To the Japanese Youth, a Goethe Study (An die japanische Jugend. Eine Goethe-Studie) according to the image of modern Japan. Benn in his essay Goethe and the Natural Sciences (Goethe und die Naturwissenschaften) commented on the frequent reclamation of Goethe’s world view, particularly of his late poetry, for Buddhist thought. Both essays were textbook pieces in the national colleges of Japan in the 1930s and read by the very youth which was made sacrifice their live in the Pacific War.
The above-mentioned scenes of transnational contact with a national purpose deserve a closer look in the framework of Asian German Studies.
Location:
43rd Annual German Studies Association, October 3-6, 2019
Portland, Oregon
Accredited members of GSA only.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Michael Kleeberg: Heimat—A German Mythos: Literature, Politics, and Cultural Plurality in Times of Migration and Nationalism
Los Angeles
The award-winning German writer and translator Michael Kleeberg will reflect on his father's childhood experiences in postwar Frankfurt to ruminate on the myth of belonging in times of migration. How do we cope with the experience of abandoning our home?
Michael Kleeberg, born 1959 in Stuttgart, studied political sciences and history. After Rome and Amsterdam, he lived in Paris from 1986 to 1999. He now works as an author and translator in Berlin. He has been awarded multiple times for his work, including as Mainzer Stadtschreiber in 2008. His novel "Das Amerikanische Hospital", published 2010, was nominated for the German Book Prize and received the Evangelical Book Prize in 2011. His novel "Vaterjahre" was awarded the Friedrich Hölderlin Prize of the city of Bad Homburg. In 2016, Michael Kleeberg received the Literature Prize of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for his life's work.
Location
UCLA
Royce Hall 236
October 7, 2019
12:00 PM
For more information, please contact Professor David D. Kim at dkim@humnet.ucla.edu.
An event in cooperation with UCLA Department of Germanic Languages.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Goethe’s Homecoming: Thomas Mann’s complete works of Goethe donated to the Thomas Mann House
Los Angeles
No other author had as strong an impact on Thomas Mann and his works as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. For his 200th birthday anniversary, Thomas Mann wrote: “He was more than a poet: a sage, a ruler, the last representative and intellectual arbiter of Europe, a grand human.” Thomas Mann interprets Goethe as a democratic pragmatist, as a supporter of a liberal America, whose victory of justice and freedom Goethe called "a relief for humanity."
The Thomas Mann House will accept, in the presence of German Consul General of Los Angeles Stefan Schneider, Thomas Mann’s Weimar edition of Goethe’s works. The volumes return to their original location in Thomas Mann’s former house and are donated by Frederic C. and Sally Tubach. Michaela Ullmann (University of Southern California) will engage Prof. Frederic Tubach (UC Berkeley) in conversation with author and psychologist Prof. Frido Mann and Thomas Mann Fellow Stefan Keppler-Tasaki (University of Tokyo).
Location:
Thomas Mann House
1550 N San Remo Drive
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
By invitation only.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — Long Beach
Long Beach
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
October 9, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — Berkeley
Berkeley
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
University of California, Berkeley
Institute of European Studies
Berkeley, CA
October 10, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — San Francisco
San Francisco
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
Litquake Festival
San Francisco
October 12, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Worlds of Homelessness
Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, where the phrase „Homelessness is just a paycheck away“ is all too well known, the divide between the „haves and have-nots“ is ever-present. While the city is best known for its Hollywood image, it is estimated that more than 60,000 individuals experience homelessness in LA County on any given night. Among these are also students and working-class individuals, who have to live in their cars because they cannot afford to pay rent.
Worlds of Homelessness is a project of the Goethe-Institut that offers an interdisciplinary engagement with the issue of homelessness and its many related themes such as the gap between rich and poor, participation, inequality, gentrification, racism, and migration. Worlds of Homelessness seeks to bring together local and international artists, architects, scholars, and others in an effort to create a platform to share ideas, thoughts and to present their work, as well as examining different ways of engagement with the many questions related to the topic.
The project is developed in cooperation with the Los Angeles Poverty Department, who, for decades has worked with Skid Row artists, the Thomas Mann House, the architecture and design school SCI-Arc, the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin as well as other partners.
The event series including discussions, music performances, and film screenings takes place from October 22 – 27, 2019 in Los Angeles at the Skid Row Museum, Navel, and SCI-Arc, and culminates with the Festival for All Skid Row Artists from October 26. – 27. 2019 in Skid Row.
PROGRAM
Framing the Issue: Homelessness and its many related themes
|
5:30 pm |
Opening Remarks: Goethe-Institut and LA Poverty Department
|
| 6:00 - 9:00 pm |
Discussion with
Ananya Roy, Los Angeles, UCLA
Michele Lancione, Sheffield, UK Crushow Herring, Los Angeles, USA Barbara Schönig, Weimar, Germany Moderator: Catherine Wagley, Los Angeles, USA |
| 9:00 pm |
Reception & Music Performance by The LA Playmakers
|
Location:
Skid Row Museum & Archive
250 S. Broadway
Los Angeles CA 90012
How can artists engage with homelessness in a meaningful way?
|
3:00 - 5:00 pm |
|
| 5:00 - 6:00 pm |
Reception
|
| 6:00 - 9:00 pm |
Discussion: |
Location:
NAVEL
1611 S. Hope St,
Los Angeles CA 90015
How can design engage with housing insecurity and homelessness and nurture thoughtful processes with communities?
|
4:00 - 7:00 pm |
Discussion:
Opening Remarks by Goethe-Institut and SCI-Arc
Michael Maltzan, Los Angeles, USA
Alexander Hagner, Vienna, Austria
Thorsten Deckler and Anne Graupner, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ana Elvira Velez, Medellin, Colombia
Moderator: Carlos Zedillo, Mexico City, Mexico
|
| 6:00 - 7:00 pm |
Reception |
Location:
SCI-ARC
960 East 3rd Street
Los Angeles CA 90013
Knowledge Production and Ways Forward
|
3:00 - 6:00 pm |
Discussion:
Jutta Allmendinger, Berlin, Germany Hilary Silver, Washington D.C., USA Cristina Cielo, Quito, Ecuador Charles Porter, Los Angeles, USA Moderator: Catherine Wagley, Los Angeles, USA |
| 6:00 - 7:00 pm |
Reception |
| 7:00 pm |
Film Screening “The Advocates” by Remi Kessler.
|
Location:
Skid Row Museum & Archive
250 S. Broadway
Los Angeles CA 90012
The 10th Festival for all Skid Row Artists
1:00 - 5:0 pm
Presented by Los Angeles Poverty Department, the annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists has become one of the most anticipated grassroots cultural events in the area. Since 2010, the weekend-long Festival has encouraged the artistry of known neighborhood artists, while also identifying and engaging art-makers who are unknown even in their own Skid Row neighborhood. LAPD documents the artists’ work and keeps a registry of Skid Row artists, which now numbers more than 800.
Location:
GLADYS PARK
808 E 6th Street
Los Angeles CA 90021
An event by Goethe-Institut Los Angeles in cooperation with Thomas Mann House, the Los Angeles Poverty Department, Sci-Arch and the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin as well as other partners.
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
55 Voices for Democracy: Francis Fukuyama
Los Angeles
Political scientist Francis Fukuyama will give a talk at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles on October 22 at 12.30 PM as the first speaker in the series “55 Voices for Democracy.”
“55 Voices for Democracy” expands the 55 BBC radio messages Thomas Mann sent from his house in California to thousands of listeners from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and occupied Netherlands and Czechia. In his monthly radio speeches between October 1940 and November 1945 Mann spoke out against fascist ideas and became the most significant German voice in exile.
As the political crisis in Europe and the US deepens, the time demands a strong response for the preservation of social and liberal values, for the renewal of our political vocabulary, and for overcoming political separation and manipulation. Thomas Mann’s belief that the “social renewal of democracy is both condition and warrant for its victory” rings true more than ever before.
“55 Voices for Democracy” brings together internationally esteemed intellectuals, scientists, and artists to present ideas for the renewal of democracy. Like Thomas Mann, they will deliver short “radio” talks combined with public events. Renowned intellectuals like Orhan Pamuk, Bruce Ackerman, Timothy Snyder, Seyla Benhabib and Larry Diamond have already confirmed their participation. Political Scientist Francis Fukuyama launches the series. The event is moderated by philosopher Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow).
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He has previously taught at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and at the George Mason University School of Public Policy. Fukuyama was a researcher at the RAND Corporation and served as the deputy director for the State Department’s policy planning staff. He is the author of books like „Identity. The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment“, „The End of History and the Last Man“, and „America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy“.
Location
Thomas Mann House
1550 San Remo Drive
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Participation by invitation only.
Media partners for the series are Deutschlandfunk, Los Angeles Review of Books and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Conference: Pocket Democracy
Seattle and Berlin
“Pocket Democracy” is a two day workshop and conference between Berlin and Seattle to investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions.
Since their introduction roughly twelve years ago, smartphones have fundamentally altered the political and media landscape. Mobile devices have penetrated almost all fields of life. At the same time, false information, manipulated images and videos, as well as new surveillance practices are posing the question how political dangers of communication technologies might be hedged in the future.
The project “Pocket Democracy“ wants to focus on ideas and agents who see the dangers but who also investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions. These concern algorithms that recognize false information or manipulated images and videos, that make visible discriminatory malpractice or that digitally enable free and secret elections. “Pocket Democracy“ begins with a day-long workshop to explore current developments in the field of digital democracy and to work on solutions for new forms of political engagement.
Keynote: Opal Tometi (co-founder Black Lives Matter, executive director Black Alliance for Just Immigration)
Participants: Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow), Lance Bennett (University of Washington), Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington), Christoph Bieber (University of Duisburg-Essen), Damian Borth (Thomas Mann Fellow / University of St. Gallen), Toby Crittenden, Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum / Berlin), Adriana Groh (Prototype Fund / Berlin), Philipp Hübl (Philosopher / Berlin), Sarah Lohmann (Johns Hopkins University), Alexander Peterhaensel (Berlin University of the Arts / Berlin), Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA), Alexander Sängerlaub (Stiftung Neue Verantwortung / Berlin), Max Senges (Google / Berlin), Niko Switek (University of Washington), Kristina Weissenbach (University of Washington / University Duisburg-Essen), Mellina White-Cusack (Blogger), et al.
I. PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION
Political parties mobilize voters, and offer a platform for deliberation, aggregating and articulating preferences of their members. They are often deemed essential for democratic systems, but this position is not unchallenged. New movements resort to new ways of organizing, rallying around new topics and using new (online) tools and techniques to garner support. In some cases, individual politicians implement digital tools for strengthening their position within party structures and may use this dynamic for creating their own personalized platform. Concepts like liquid democracy and liquid feedback as well as tiny forms of participation offer alternatives to established forms of intraparty decision making. This challenges the overall layout of representative political institutions, advancing renewed calls for direct democracy. Parties did react and incorporate electronic platforms to mobilize and include their members into decision-making or extend their presence on third-party platforms. Do they reinvent themselves integrating new technologies or do they became obsolete as dinosaurs of a pre-digital era?
II. CYBERSECURITY AND DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
What applications are being used to track disinformation, and what kind of solutions still need to be developed to increase accountability in the political sphere? This workshop will give an overview of the threats faced by the US and Germany/the EU during recent elections coming from both cybersecurity attacks on infrastructure as well as disinformation campaigns targeted at specific groups and profiles of voters. It will inform students about what online, technical and political solutions are being used to prevent such interventions, and encourage students to come up with solutions to cybersecurity and information vulnerabilities that remain.
|
9:30 am |
Introductory Remarks |
| 10:00 am |
Workshops Round I Track I: PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION with Niko Switek (University of Washington) Christoph Bieber (University Duisburg-Essen) and Kristina Weissenbach (University of Washington / University Duisburg-Essen) Track II: CYBERSECURITY AND DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS with Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington) and Sarah Lohmann (Johns Hopkins University) |
| 11:30 am |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 am |
Workshops Round II |
| 1:00 pm |
Lunch |
|
2:00 - 3:00 pm |
Wrap up |
Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
Bios
Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital.
Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).
Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics.
Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022)
EVENING EVENT
| 6:00 pm |
Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA): Beyond the Valley In his new, provocative book Beyond the Valley, Ramesh Srinivasan describes the internet as both an enabler of frictionless efficiency and a dirty tangle of politics, economics, and other inefficient, inharmonious human activities. Srinivasan focuses on the disconnection he sees between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us. The recent Cambridge Analytica and Russian misinformation scandals exemplify the imbalance of a digital world that puts profits before inclusivity and democracy. In search of a more democratic internet, Srinivasan takes us to the mountains of Oaxaca, East and West Africa, China, Scandinavia, North America, and elsewhere, visiting the “design labs” of rural, low-income, and indigenous people around the world. He talks to a range of high-profile public figures—including Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Lessig, and the founders of Reddit, as well as community organizers, labor leaders, and human rights activists. To make a better internet, Srinivasan says, we need a new ethic of diversity, openness, and inclusivity, empowering those now excluded from decisions about how technologies are designed, who profits from them, and who are surveilled and exploited by them. |
| 7:00 pm | Drinks and get together |
The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Bios
Ramesh Srinivasan is Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts at UCLA. He is author of the books “Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow” (MIT Press 2019) and “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Impacts Our World” with NYU Press. Ramesh makes regular appearances on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, and Public Radio International, and his writings have been published in the Washington Post, Quartz, Huffington Post, CNN, and elsewhere.
Mellina White-Cusack is a Seattle resident who writes about how politics and culture impact our society. She blogs at The Seattle Conservative and has contributed her thoughts locally on The Evergrey and KUOW. She is curious about why our country has grown more and more divided in recent years, and how the lack of data-driven news and information has contributed to this national divide. In the past, Mellina has also contributed to DapperQ, a queer fashion site, and most recently served as Campaign Director for Christopher Rufo for City Council.
|
9:00 am |
Introductory remarks |
| 9:05 am |
Keynote (video stream to Berlin) Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Moderation: Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow) |
| 10:15 am |
Session I: Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism (Video stream to Berlin) Lance Bennett (University of Washington) Moderation: Toby Crittenden |
|
11:30 am |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 am |
Session II: Cybersecurity and Democratic Elections Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington) Moderation: Niko Switek (University of Washington) |
| 1:00 pm | End |
The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
Bios
Armen Avanessian (*1973 in Vienna) is an Austrian philosopher, literary theorist, and political theorist. He has taught at the Free University of Berlin, among other institutions, and held fellowships in the German departments of Columbia University and Yale University. His work on Speculative realism and Accelerationism in art and philosophy has found a wide audience beyond academia. Amongst his recent publications: Miamification (Merve, 2017) and Future Metaphysics (Polity, 2019). In 2019, Armen Avanessian is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles.
Lance Bennett is Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle USA and Senior Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, Berlin. He is founding director of the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, which focuses on how communication can enhance citizen engagement with society, politics, and global affairs.
Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital.
Damian Borth is Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of St. Gallen. Before he served as the Director of the Deep Learning Competence Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern and founding co-director of Sociovestix Labs, a social enterprise in the area of financial data science. He actively promotes the use of multimedia opinion mining for social good following the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the AI-for-Good initiative. In 2019, he is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles.
Toby Crittenden was born and raised in Seattle. He is the former Executive Director of the Washington Bus, the Evergreen State's political voice for the rising generation. He currently works with non-profit organizations to improve their culture and systems.
Adriana Groh is interested in the intersections of technology, policy and society. She works as program manager for the Prototype Fund, a funding program by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research for software development in the field of Public Interest Tech, and co-founded wepublic, an app designed for digital dialogue between citizens and politicians. Adriana is a fellow of Launchbase, a pre-incubation program by the Maastricht Centre for Entrepreneurship, and the Social Impact Lab. She previously studied political science and European public policy and governance, with a focus on democratic innovations and participation.
Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).
Alexander Sängerlaub leads the project Disinformation in the digital Public Sphere at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV). The project looks at the phenomenon based on an interdisciplinary approach. One major aim is to understand and explain the scope and effects of disinformation – together with experts from the US election campaign and the election. He is a fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London. Alexander studied Journalism & Communication Sciences and Psychology, as well as „Media and Political Communication“ at the Freie Universität Berlin.
Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics.
Opal Tometi is a globally recognized human rights advocate, strategist and writer of Nigerian-American descent. She has been active in social movements for over 15 years, and is widely known for her role as a co-founder of Black Lives Matter and for her years of service as the Executive Director of the United States first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent – the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). Opal addressed the United Nations General Assembly and appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BET and her writings have been published in outlets such as TIME, Seventeen and the Huffington Post.
Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022)
Facilitated by Linnea Riensberg and Merlin Münch
|
8:30 am |
Registration: DISINFORMATION (Only few spots remaining) |
| 9:00 am |
Workshop Philip Hübl (Philosopher) |
| 11:30 am |
Registration: PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 12:00 noon |
Workshop Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum) |
| 2:30 pm |
Registration: DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 3:00 pm |
Workshop Alexander Peterhaensel (Media artist and lecturer)
|
State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin
|
5:30 pm |
Registration |
|
5:50 pm |
Opening Remarks |
|
6:00 pm |
Keynote Lecture via live stream from Seattle: Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Q&A with Thomas Mann Fellow Armen Avanessian and audiences in Berlin and Seattle |
| 7:15 pm |
Panel discussion by live stream Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism w/ Christoph Bieber (University Duisburg-Essen) |
| 8:30 pm |
Drinks and Get-together |
For participants in Seattle
Location
Oct 24 | Workshops | Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the workshops.
Oct 24 | Evening | The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the evening event.
Oct 25 | Conference | The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the conference.
For participants in Berlin
Location
Oct 25 | Workshops and evening event | State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin
Register for the workshops.
An event in cooperation with
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Conference: Pocket Democracy
Seattle and Berlin
“Pocket Democracy” is a two day workshop and conference between Berlin and Seattle to investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions.
Since their introduction roughly twelve years ago, smartphones have fundamentally altered the political and media landscape. Mobile devices have penetrated almost all fields of life. At the same time, false information, manipulated images and videos, as well as new surveillance practices are posing the question how political dangers of communication technologies might be hedged in the future.
The project “Pocket Democracy“ wants to focus on ideas and agents who see the dangers but who also investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions. These concern algorithms that recognize false information or manipulated images and videos, that make visible discriminatory malpractice or that digitally enable free and secret elections. “Pocket Democracy“ begins with a day-long workshop to explore current developments in the field of digital democracy and to work on solutions for new forms of political engagement.
Keynote: Opal Tometi (co-founder Black Lives Matter, executive director Black Alliance for Just Immigration)
Participants: Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow), Lance Bennett (University of Washington), Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington), Christoph Bieber (University of Duisburg-Essen), Damian Borth (Thomas Mann Fellow / University of St. Gallen), Toby Crittenden, Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum / Berlin), Adriana Groh (Prototype Fund / Berlin), Philipp Hübl (Philosopher / Berlin), Sarah Lohmann (Johns Hopkins University), Alexander Peterhaensel (Berlin University of the Arts / Berlin), Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA), Alexander Sängerlaub (Stiftung Neue Verantwortung / Berlin), Max Senges (Google / Berlin), Niko Switek (University of Washington), Kristina Weissenbach (University of Washington / University Duisburg-Essen), Mellina White-Cusack (Blogger), et al.
I. PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION
Political parties mobilize voters, and offer a platform for deliberation, aggregating and articulating preferences of their members. They are often deemed essential for democratic systems, but this position is not unchallenged. New movements resort to new ways of organizing, rallying around new topics and using new (online) tools and techniques to garner support. In some cases, individual politicians implement digital tools for strengthening their position within party structures and may use this dynamic for creating their own personalized platform. Concepts like liquid democracy and liquid feedback as well as tiny forms of participation offer alternatives to established forms of intraparty decision making. This challenges the overall layout of representative political institutions, advancing renewed calls for direct democracy. Parties did react and incorporate electronic platforms to mobilize and include their members into decision-making or extend their presence on third-party platforms. Do they reinvent themselves integrating new technologies or do they became obsolete as dinosaurs of a pre-digital era?
II. CYBERSECURITY AND DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
What applications are being used to track disinformation, and what kind of solutions still need to be developed to increase accountability in the political sphere? This workshop will give an overview of the threats faced by the US and Germany/the EU during recent elections coming from both cybersecurity attacks on infrastructure as well as disinformation campaigns targeted at specific groups and profiles of voters. It will inform students about what online, technical and political solutions are being used to prevent such interventions, and encourage students to come up with solutions to cybersecurity and information vulnerabilities that remain.
|
9:30 am |
Introductory Remarks |
| 10:00 am |
Workshops Round I Track I: PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION with Niko Switek (University of Washington) Christoph Bieber (University Duisburg-Essen) and Kristina Weissenbach (University of Washington / University Duisburg-Essen) Track II: CYBERSECURITY AND DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS with Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington) and Sarah Lohmann (Johns Hopkins University) |
| 11:30 am |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 am |
Workshops Round II |
| 1:00 pm |
Lunch |
|
2:00 - 3:00 pm |
Wrap up |
Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
Bios
Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital.
Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).
Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics.
Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022)
EVENING EVENT
| 6:00 pm |
Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA): Beyond the Valley In his new, provocative book Beyond the Valley, Ramesh Srinivasan describes the internet as both an enabler of frictionless efficiency and a dirty tangle of politics, economics, and other inefficient, inharmonious human activities. Srinivasan focuses on the disconnection he sees between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us. The recent Cambridge Analytica and Russian misinformation scandals exemplify the imbalance of a digital world that puts profits before inclusivity and democracy. In search of a more democratic internet, Srinivasan takes us to the mountains of Oaxaca, East and West Africa, China, Scandinavia, North America, and elsewhere, visiting the “design labs” of rural, low-income, and indigenous people around the world. He talks to a range of high-profile public figures—including Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Lessig, and the founders of Reddit, as well as community organizers, labor leaders, and human rights activists. To make a better internet, Srinivasan says, we need a new ethic of diversity, openness, and inclusivity, empowering those now excluded from decisions about how technologies are designed, who profits from them, and who are surveilled and exploited by them. |
| 7:00 pm | Drinks and get together |
The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Bios
Ramesh Srinivasan is Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts at UCLA. He is author of the books “Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow” (MIT Press 2019) and “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Impacts Our World” with NYU Press. Ramesh makes regular appearances on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, and Public Radio International, and his writings have been published in the Washington Post, Quartz, Huffington Post, CNN, and elsewhere.
Mellina White-Cusack is a Seattle resident who writes about how politics and culture impact our society. She blogs at The Seattle Conservative and has contributed her thoughts locally on The Evergrey and KUOW. She is curious about why our country has grown more and more divided in recent years, and how the lack of data-driven news and information has contributed to this national divide. In the past, Mellina has also contributed to DapperQ, a queer fashion site, and most recently served as Campaign Director for Christopher Rufo for City Council.
|
9:00 am |
Introductory remarks |
| 9:05 am |
Keynote (video stream to Berlin) Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Moderation: Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow) |
| 10:15 am |
Session I: Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism (Video stream to Berlin) Lance Bennett (University of Washington) Moderation: Toby Crittenden |
|
11:30 am |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 am |
Session II: Cybersecurity and Democratic Elections Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington) Moderation: Niko Switek (University of Washington) |
| 1:00 pm | End |
The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
Bios
Armen Avanessian (*1973 in Vienna) is an Austrian philosopher, literary theorist, and political theorist. He has taught at the Free University of Berlin, among other institutions, and held fellowships in the German departments of Columbia University and Yale University. His work on Speculative realism and Accelerationism in art and philosophy has found a wide audience beyond academia. Amongst his recent publications: Miamification (Merve, 2017) and Future Metaphysics (Polity, 2019). In 2019, Armen Avanessian is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles.
Lance Bennett is Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle USA and Senior Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, Berlin. He is founding director of the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, which focuses on how communication can enhance citizen engagement with society, politics, and global affairs.
Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital.
Damian Borth is Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of St. Gallen. Before he served as the Director of the Deep Learning Competence Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern and founding co-director of Sociovestix Labs, a social enterprise in the area of financial data science. He actively promotes the use of multimedia opinion mining for social good following the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the AI-for-Good initiative. In 2019, he is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles.
Toby Crittenden was born and raised in Seattle. He is the former Executive Director of the Washington Bus, the Evergreen State's political voice for the rising generation. He currently works with non-profit organizations to improve their culture and systems.
Adriana Groh is interested in the intersections of technology, policy and society. She works as program manager for the Prototype Fund, a funding program by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research for software development in the field of Public Interest Tech, and co-founded wepublic, an app designed for digital dialogue between citizens and politicians. Adriana is a fellow of Launchbase, a pre-incubation program by the Maastricht Centre for Entrepreneurship, and the Social Impact Lab. She previously studied political science and European public policy and governance, with a focus on democratic innovations and participation.
Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).
Alexander Sängerlaub leads the project Disinformation in the digital Public Sphere at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV). The project looks at the phenomenon based on an interdisciplinary approach. One major aim is to understand and explain the scope and effects of disinformation – together with experts from the US election campaign and the election. He is a fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London. Alexander studied Journalism & Communication Sciences and Psychology, as well as „Media and Political Communication“ at the Freie Universität Berlin.
Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics.
Opal Tometi is a globally recognized human rights advocate, strategist and writer of Nigerian-American descent. She has been active in social movements for over 15 years, and is widely known for her role as a co-founder of Black Lives Matter and for her years of service as the Executive Director of the United States first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent – the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). Opal addressed the United Nations General Assembly and appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BET and her writings have been published in outlets such as TIME, Seventeen and the Huffington Post.
Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022)
Facilitated by Linnea Riensberg and Merlin Münch, the workshops will be held in German
|
8:30 am |
Registration: DISINFORMATION (Only few spots remaining) |
| 9:00 am |
Workshop Philip Hübl (Philosopher) |
| 11:30 am |
Registration: PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 12:00 noon |
Workshop Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum) |
| 2:30 pm |
Registration: DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 3:00 pm |
Workshop Alexander Peterhaensel (Media artist and lecturer)
|
|
5:30 pm |
Registration (the evening event will be held in English) |
|
5:50 pm |
Opening Remarks |
|
6:00 pm |
Keynote Lecture via live stream from Seattle: Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Q&A with Thomas Mann Fellow Armen Avanessian and audiences in Berlin and Seattle |
| 7:00 pm |
Short intermission |
| 7:15 pm |
Panel discussion by live stream Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism w/ Christoph Bieber (University Duisburg-Essen) |
| 8:30 pm |
Drinks and Get-together |
For participants in Seattle
Location
Oct 24 | Workshops | Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the workshops.
Oct 24 | Evening | The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the evening event.
Oct 25 | Conference | The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the conference.
For participants in Berlin
Location
Oct 25 | Workshops and evening event | State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin
Register for the workshops.
An event in cooperation with
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Workshop: Pocket Democracy
Seattle and Berlin
“Pocket Democracy” is a two day workshop and conference between Berlin and Seattle to investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions.
Since their introduction roughly twelve years ago, smartphones have fundamentally altered the political and media landscape. Mobile devices have penetrated almost all fields of life. At the same time, false information, manipulated images and videos, as well as new surveillance practices are posing the question how political dangers of communication technologies might be hedged in the future.
The project “Pocket Democracy“ wants to focus on ideas and agents who see the dangers but who also investigate how digital technologies can be used for alternative political solutions. These concern algorithms that recognize false information or manipulated images and videos, that make visible discriminatory malpractice or that digitally enable free and secret elections. “Pocket Democracy“ begins with a day-long workshop to explore current developments in the field of digital democracy and to work on solutions for new forms of political engagement.
Keynote: Opal Tometi (co-founder Black Lives Matter)
Participants: Armen Avanessian (Thomas Mann Fellow), Lance Bennett (University of Washington), Jessica L. Beyer (University of Washington), Christoph Bieber (Universität Duisburg-Essen), Damian Borth (Thomas Mann Fellow / Universität St. Gallen), Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum / Berlin), Adriana Groh (Prototype Fund / Berlin), Philipp Hübl (Philosoph / Berlin), Sarah Lohmann (Johns Hopkins University), Alexander Peterhaensel (Universität der Künste Berlin / Berlin), Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA), Alexander Sängerlaub (Stiftung Neue Verantwortung / Berlin), Max Senges (Google / Berlin, tbc), Niko Switek (University of Washington), Mellina White-Cusack (Blogger), et al.
|
9:30 am |
Introductory Remarks |
| 10:00 am |
Workshops Round I |
| 11:30 am |
Coffe Break |
| 11:45 am |
Workshops Round II |
| 12:00 pm |
Lunch |
| 1:30 pm |
Workshops Round III |
| 3:00 pm |
Coffee Break |
| 3:15 pm |
Wrap up |
Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
| 6:00 pm |
Ramesh Srinivasan: Beyond the Valley How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow |
| 7:00 pm | Drinks and get together |
| 9:00 am | Introductory remarks |
| 9:05 am |
Keynote (video stream to Berlin) Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Moderation: Armen Avanessian |
| 10:00 am | Coffee Break |
| 10:15 am |
Session I: Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism (Video stream to Berlin) |
| 11:30 am | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 am | Session II: Cybersecurity and Democratic Elections |
| 1:00 pm |
Lunch Round-table talks with experts and audience |
| END |
The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
Facilitated by Linnea Riensberg and Merlin Münch, the workshops will be held in German
|
8:30 am |
Registration: DISINFORMATION (Only few spots remaining) |
| 9:00 am |
Workshop Philip Hübl (Philosopher) |
| 11:30 am |
Registration: PARTY POLITICS AND DIGITAL OPPOSITION (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 12:00 noon |
Workshop Paulina Fröhlich (Das Progressive Zentrum) |
| 2:30 pm |
Registration: DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS (completely booked / Waiting list) |
| 3:00 pm |
Workshop Alexander Peterhaensel (Media artist and lecturer)
|
|
5:30 pm |
Registration (the evening event will be held in English) |
|
5:50 pm |
Opening Remarks |
|
6:00 pm |
Keynote Lecture via live stream from Seattle: Opal Tometi (Co-founder Black Lives Matter) Q&A with Thomas Mann Fellow Armen Avanessian and audiences in Berlin and Seattle |
| 7:00 pm |
Short intermission |
| 7:15 pm |
Panel discussion by live stream Digital Media and New Forms of Political Activism w/ Christoph Bieber (University Duisburg-Essen) |
| 8:30 pm |
Drinks and Get-together |
For participants in Berlin
Location
Oct 25 | Workshops and evening event | State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin
Register for the workshops here.
For participants in Seattle
Location
Oct 24 | Workshops | Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the workshops.
Oct 24 | Evening | The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the evening event.
Oct 25 | Conference | The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98122
Register for the conference.
An event in cooperation with
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."
Lecture Tour Frido Mann: "Democracy Will Win" — Toronto
Toronto
Born in the United States, Frido Mann sensed the democratic creed of his parents and grandparents from childhood on. They had managed to leave Europe for the U.S. before the outbreak of WWII. During his extended lecture tours, Thomas Mann, Frido's grandfather, addressed his American audiences with his speech “The Coming Victory of Democracy” warning of the dangers of fascism for a liberal democracy: “The social renewal of democracy is the presupposition and the guarantee of its victory.”
Following in his grandfather's tracks, Frido Mann is going to give lectures in numerous places in the United States and Canada. He will address the current crisis in the American and European democracies and the need for their restoration, on the basis of transatlantic dialogue.
Frido Mann was born in 1940 in Monterey/California. He studied music, catholic theology, and psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist in in Münster, Leipzig and Prague. Frido Mann was the executive director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the University of Münster. He now lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer. His recent publications are "An die Musik. Ein autobiographischer Essay" (Ode to Music: An Autobiographical Essay) and — together with Christine Mann — "Es werde Licht. Die Einheit von Geist und Materie in der Quantenphysik" (Let there be Light: The Union of Spirit and Matter in Quantum Physics). He is 2019 Honorary Fellow at Thomas Mann House. In August 2018, S. Fischer published "Das Weiße Haus des Exils" (The White House of Exile) about the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
Location
Toronto International Festival of Authors
Toronto, Canada
October 26 and 27, 2019
This event is part of a Lecture Tour of Professor Mann. It is made possible by the support of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
- September 20: New York City
- September 23 and 24: Brandeis University
- September 26: Denver
- September 27: Kansas City
- October 1: Washington DC
- October 4: Portland
- October 8: Los Angeles
- October 9: Long Beach
- October 10: Berkeley
- October 12: San Francisco
- October 15–25: Dartmouth College
- October 29: Toronto
A part of "Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S."