OUR EVENTS

Carl Schurz Deutsch-Amerikanischer Club CSDAC invited in cooperation with Bremen United States Center BUSC on November 15th, 2011 to the 2011 Annual Jacobs University Public Lecture at the Jacobs University, Bremen.

Paul Rundquist has given a lecture on "Tea Parties, Protests, and the New American Politics". He said, the level of Tea Party support seems to be declining, but it may be premature to call the Tea Party a dying movement.

Around 700 pupils of the eighth to 13th school grade from all over Bremen visited on Friday 2011-11-4 the seventh U.S. Day of the Bremen United States Center in cooperation with GIZ GmbH. The U.S. Day, organized on a school campus under the slogan: "Experience the American Way of Life", created a very positive response and built at least on that day a bridge across the Atlantic.

The auditorium of the school "Schulzentrum Grenzstraße" was the center of informations sports as well as cultural and artistic programs. Contributions of "Elvis", Swing-, Hip Hop- and Crumping-dancers, the Rollerderby performance of the "Meat Grinders" and the stilt theater telling migration stories found a large audience.

At the same time there were english-speaking workshops offered by 14 mainly native Americans in the classrooms for 26 school classes. The themes were adopted from the Bremen official education program for schools like "The Portrait of the U.S. in American sitcoms and movies," "Ethnic Neighborhoods and Nation-Building in the U.S." or "The Southern United States: Country Music and Southern Culture". These topics were presented and discussed with registered classes . Additional there were also dance workshops like "Hip Hop" and "Lindy Hop" and the the pupils could present their newly acquired skills in front of an audience afterwards.

Numerous information desks and a "Show and Tell" discussion informed about possible student exchanges to the U.S.A.

A special highlight this year was also the "Town Hall Meeting" with the U.S. Consul General Inmi Patterson from Hamburg. The Consul General answered critical questions of the multi-cultural student body to current transatlantic issues and the conduct of America in world affairs.The Iraqi war or the impact of U.S. troops in Afghanistan were subject of discussions as well as the migration background of Ms Patterson herself who was born in Korea.

Looking at the great demand from all sides and the positive response of our visitors we hope to organize U.S. Day 2012 in cooperation with a school again.

Leonie Rinke

On June, the 6th the DIG and the BUSC invited to the town hall of Bremen for the book presentation by W. Michael Blumenthal, followed by a discussion. The invitation was accepted by about 80 participants. Mr. Blumenthal, the director of the Jewish museum in Berlin presented his autobiography „In achtzig Jahren um die Welt. Mein Leben“ and also read aloud some passages. Karoline Linnert, mayor and senator of finances and Martin Foth, managing director of the Bremen United States Center introduced the author and made some initial speeches.

Michael Blumenthal has led an extraordinary and most various life and has experienced many important political events during the 20th century. Born in Berlin during the Weimarer republic, he had to flee the country due to the takeover of the Nazis and found himself on the other end of the world, Shanghai. A few years later he immigrated to the US and pursued an impressing career in politics as well as in economy. Michael Blumenthal has been an advisor to President Kennedy and was minister of finance under President Carter. In 1997 he agreed to come back to Berlin, in order to become director of the Jewish museum.

The lecture gave a very interesting overview concerning the political events of the 20th century and life in the US. In addition Mr. Blumenthal entertained with some personal stories, for example from the time when he was minister of finance. It became very obvious that Mr. Blumenthal is a convinced democrat and believes in the American Dream.

The following discussion was very lively and showed the participants interests in Mr. Blumenthal. altogether the event in the beautiful town hall of Bremen got positive feedback of the guests.

Ole Anderson - Trainee

On November 30th 2010 the annual U.S. Day brought together over 800 pupils, teachers, students and interested visitors in the World Trade Center Bremen. The day offered a diver-sified program with lectures discussing issues like "When the Germans were foreigners" or "From Martin Luther King to Barack Obama". The U.S. day provides as well a space for in-tercultural communication by a "Show and Tell". Americans living in Bremen discussed their impression of differences and similarities between German and American culture. The peak of the day was reached when U.S.-Consul General in Hamburg, Inmi Patterson, held a Town Hall Meeting with over 150 pupils from Bremen and surrounding: She shared her personal experiences with foreign cultures and her opinion on the importance of staying abroad especially for young people. Afterwards the adolescents were free to ask the Consul General questions on political issues, such as the WikiLeaks-Affair and the death penalty, as well on her everyday life and the most likeable things in her work as a diplomatic person. In the entrance hall of the World Trade Center the visitors had the opportunity to seek for in-formation on exchange, English language and the very popular sport Lacrosse. Refreshments were served too: in a little American snack bar the Bremen United States cen-ter offered bagels, cup cakes and the famous Arizona ice tea. Sports and music also played a role: on the one hand a B-Boying-Group presented its break-dance related style and on the other hand a duo played the most famous American ever-greens live - all these activities combined contributed to the great atmosphere of this year's U.S. Day!

Despite abundant sunshine and near-tropic outside temperatures, about 40 guests gathered on June 24 in the Kaminsaal of the Bremer Rathaus to attend a reading with renowned journalist and foreign correspondent Thomas Kausch, who read selections from his book "Dear Americans - Schön, dass wir euch wiederhaben". Martin Günthner, Bremen Senator for Economics and Ports, and Martin Foth, Head of the Regional Center Bremen of InWEnt, opened the event with some introductory remarks.

A long-time connoisseur of the United States, who incidentally began his American career in the early 90's as a writer for the German-language "New Yorker Staatszeitung", Mr. Kausch is fascinated by the air of political and cultural change that seems to surround our American friends ever since the historic election of Barack Obama. Seeking to explore whether that change is actually real and palpable, Kausch embarks on a cross-continental journey through the US, from California and Texas to Chicago to Washington, D.C. and New York. His many interview partners along the road include high-profile leaders of the political, economic and educational world, but also concierges (Kausch divulged an insiders' tip: Concierges are always the first to know the latest news in any given city!), acquaintances on planes and in saunas, hairdressers and cab drivers.

The result of Mr. Kausch's travels and interviews is a discerning, yet entertaining, collection of anecdotes that paint a colorful picture of the enormous cultural and political diversity in the United States. Yes, the change in America is obvious, but no consensus can be reached on the exact nature of that change, even though it is undeniable to everyone. Unity has never been a defining characteristic of the American political landscape, and the various factions remain firmly in place even after the election of the first African-American president. Now more than ever do Americans cling to their political convictions and are ready to articulate and defend them. Which might very well be the essence of America: great internal diversity, barely discernible to an outsider's eye. Our approval or disdain of America seems to be inextricably linked to our view on the incumbent president, as Kausch contends. In other words, we directly translated our disapproval of Bush's foreign policy into undifferentiated suspicion towards the American people as a whole.

Now however, after the inauguration of a president who we view rather favorably, our perception of America changes drastically and a "New America" begins to emerge. It's nice to have you back, dear Americans!

Jan Hübenthal
BUSC intern

The english lecture of Prof. Dr. S. Rundquist organized by the Bremen United States Center aroused broad interest in the public of Bremen. Almost 80 persons found their way to the so called "chimney hall" in the city hall of Bremen to get informed about the newest developments of the political, economical and societal situation in the USA.

After a salutation by the american counsel general of Hamburg, Karen E. Johnson, and a introduction by the BUSC-president Hans E.W. Hoffmann, the owner of a professorship at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle/Wittenberg, Paul Rundquist, took over; the former senior researcher of the US-congress presented a detailed and clear presentation of the political process in the United States, starting with the presidential election campaign of 2008, continuing with the turbulent incidents related to the world economic crisis in the past year and ending with the difficulties Barack Obama is facing right now by implementing his health care reform.

Finally, the audience was called on to ask questions: about the mortgage crisis in the USA, the german-american political future or about the chances and options of the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh, USA.

The evening ended with a reception, where people took refreshing drinks and concluded the event with informal conversations.