On the part of TU Dortmund University, the American Research studies scholar Prof. Walter Grünzweig is responsible for the joint program– together with Angela Märtin, the city’s science officer. For years, he has conducted research in the Department of Cultural Research Studies on the American poet Walt Whitman, whose words describe democracy as an experiment that is never complete and need to be constantly restored– which is also the basis for the title “Experiment Democracy” of the program of events.
On 4 July 1776, thirteen English nests adopted the American Declaration of Independence, which likewise includes the structures of our understanding of democracy and human rights. “The United States did not present democracy to Germany after 1945, but invited us to continue developing it together,” says TU President Prof. Manfred Bayer. “They inspired and assisted us in constructing a brand-new society in Germany and throughout Europe, and they endured setbacks and crises.”
The university and the city dream to celebrate this in 2026 with their substantial program. This consists of, for example, a joint celebration on 4 July in the city center, lectures and discussions at the Park Academy in Westfalenpark in addition to in the City and State Library, major American voices and well-known orchestras along with Native music on the phase of the Concert Hall, or productions of “Grease” and the “Quiet Movie Concert Charlie Chaplin: The Kid” at the Dortmund Theater, in addition to exhibitions on the comic cowboy Lucky Luke in the Dortmund schauraum.
Concentrate on the U.S.A. at TU Dortmund University
TU Dortmund University preserves exceptional relations with universities in the USA and holds a leading position in this field in North Rhine-Westphalia. For more than twenty years, TU Dortmund University has actually been represented as part of the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr) with a joint intermediary office in New York, which promotes global cooperation in research and mentor. “Our trainee exchange program with the U.S.A., for whose style TU Dortmund University received a national teaching award, is among the biggest in Germany and enables joint learning in between German and US-American students,” states Prof. Bayer.
Scientists and lecturers from US-American universities are frequently guests at TU Dortmund University– for example the “football teacher” Andy Markovits from the University of Michigan. Through cooperation with Jewish-American scholars and authors, consisting of members of the 2nd generation of German-Jewish Holocaust survivors, the university reveals its responsibility for Germany’s past.
Program highlights at TU Dortmund University consist of:
- Task seminar The Power of Stories– Images of “the Others” by Dr Sibylle Klemm from American Researches
- Readings with German and American authors whose books contribute to an understanding of the U.S.A. and its diverse, multi-ethnic culture, in Might and June at the Literaturhaus Dortmund– prepared by trainees of the Department of Cultural Studies
- Presentation of the poetry collection “Beyond This Forest/ Jenseits dieses Waldes” by the US-American poet Elizabeth Rosner with trainee translators on 10 June at the International Meeting Center
- Reading of US-American classics as part of the discussion of the George McGovern Library together with the Dortmund theater ensemble on 18 June in the Emil Figge Library
- Screenings of American movie theater classics and present Hollywood highlights by the university movie club: 6 April– West Side Story (OV with subtitles); 4 May– Armageddon Now (OV with subtitles); 1 June– Little Females (OV with subtitles); 29 June– La Cocina (OV with subtitles)
In addition, the Studierendenwerk Dortmund (Dortmund association for trainee services) will provide a bar quiz on the topic of America and a red wine tasting in April.
Full programm
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