Program Highlights

Program Dates

May 18 – June 15, 2024

Faculty Director

Jeff Spinner-Halev, Department of Political Science

Program Highlights

Starting in the United Kingdom offers us several pedagogical opportunities. London is filled with nationalist symbols and icons, and we will take advantage of seeing some of them. We will tour the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the nearby war monuments, all iconic British symbols. We will visit the Imperial War Museum, to see how Britain portrays itself and Germany in WWI. We learn about the role of the empire in both world wars and about immigration into the UK from its now former colonies. Finally, London is also one of the most diverse cities in the West, and we will take some time to explore that diversity. We will take a tour of London’s East End, the home of many immigrant communities over the centuries, and one of the most diverse places in London today. We will take a walking tour of Brixton to understand how immigrants from the Caribbean helped shape London. These experiences will help us think through the interplay between national identity, immigration and diversity.

While in Berlin, we will examine how Germany wrestles with its national identity in the aftermath of both world wars, how reunification affects German identity, and then how immigration has challenged and changed German identity, all in comparison with Britain. Beyond visiting some of the iconic Berlin sites (the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate), we will visit Checkpoint Charlie to learn about the division between East and West Germany. We will visit the German historical museum and the Jewish museum to see how Germany portrays its past. We will take a walking tour of the Neukölln neighborhood, one of the more diverse in Berlin. We will also take a trip to a small town in East Germany, to examine the attitudes of citizens there toward national identity, in comparison to those in the more cosmopolitan Berlin.

 

Highlights from Germany and London