Michael Naumann, minister of
state for culture and the media in the Federal Republic of Germany,
will deliver a lecture on Germany's "return to Europe" on Tuesday,
April 18, at 7:30 pm in Mary Woolley Hall's New York Room. Naumann's
talk, "Toward the Berlin Republic," will focus on integrating Germans
into Europe, both politically and economically, and will address such
issues as the meaning of republic, nationhood, and nationalism, as
well as the relationship between human rights and social equality
within a market economy. Appointed by Chancellor
Gerhard Schroder in 1998, Naumann is a key player in Germany's
liberal Social Democratic Party/Greens government. "This government
is not only serious about having Berlin rejoin the ranks of the world
capital," says Gabriele Wittig Davis, professor and chair of German
studies at MHC, "but also about confronting its past," as evidenced
by recent discussions regarding the building of a national Holocaust
monument in Berlin. Building a safe environment and providing
dignified living conditions for all are also part of the coalition
government's progressive agenda. "Germany's new citizenship policy
aims at recognizing the essential cultural and economic contributions
immigrants are making to Germany and Europe," says Davis. The minister assumed his
government post after a substantial career in publishing. He served
as president and publisher of Henry Holt and Company, New York City;
president and publisher of Metropolitan Books, New York City; and
publisher of Rowohlt Company in Reinbek/Hamburg and Berlin. From 1983
to 1985, Naumann was editor of the foreign affairs section of Der
Spiegel, the influential news magazine published in Hamburg. He
has also taught as a professor of political science at Ruhr
University, Bochum, Germany. Davis characterizes Minister
Naumann as "an articulate, stimulating speaker, who is known for
voicing his opinions frankly, and will gladly engage in a lively
dialogue with students and faculty." His MHC talk, the 1999 - 2000
Edeltraut P. Barrett Memorial Lecture, is sponsored by the Department
of German studies, the Five-College Faculty Seminar in German
Studies, and the Smith College Center for Foreign Languages and
Cultures. 
Michael
Naumann, minister of state for culture and the media in the Federal
Republic of Germany, will deliver a lecture on Germany's "return to
Europe" on Tuesday, April 18, at 7:30 pm in Mary Woolley Hall's New
York Room.
![[Index]](../index3.gif){kind=small}