Funnel 40/2, Inhalt - Fulbright-Kommission

From left to right: Karsten Voigt, Coordinator
for German-American Cooperation in the
German Federal Foreign Office,
Prof. Riesenhuber, and John Cloud,
Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S.
Embassy Berlin, in conversation following
the opening ceremony
In this year of European Union expansion,
it is fitting that Berlin again acted as
host to the event, a point hinted at by the
title of the program, “Berlin Seminar 2004:
Where Continents Meet.” In May, Berlin
shifted from the European Union’s eastern
border to its geographical heart. Indeed,
nearly 15 years after the Wall came crashing
down, the city has become a living laboratory
to observe in a microcosm efforts
at merging many different societies.
This theme, in fact, was addressed in a
number of the program’s events, including
a talk given by Governing Mayor of Berlin
Klaus Wowereit. On Wednesday, March
24th, Wowereit addressed Fulbright conference
attendees in the Rotes Rathaus,
Berlin’s city hall. Speaking in fluent English,
Wowereit highlighted Berlin’s experience
in overcoming division, and pointed
out its geographically central position in
Europe, both of which he believes will be
of crucial advantage as the EU expands eastward.
“There is no better city for a discussion
of a Europe growing bigger,” he said.
Following his brief remarks, the Mayor
took about an hour of audience questions,
which spanned topics from the recent cutbacks
in education spending to the problem
of dog droppings on the city streets. The poor
state of the city’s finances was a recurring
theme throughout the questions. “It’s difficult
to have a vision for a city with large financial
problems,” he responded to a question
about how he would like Berlin to develop.
But Berlin’s fiscal difficulties didn’t deter him
from burnishing his role as the capital’s
cheerleader-in-chief. “Berlin is poor, but
sexy,” he said, to laughter and applause.
Prof. Dr. Julius Schoeps, Director of the Moses
Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies,
discusses the past 10 years of German-Jewish
history in Berlin at the Rotes Rathaus.
TITLE TOPIC 15
Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit answers
questions after an address at the Rotes Rathaus.
From left to right: Panelists Prof. Dr. Dietmar Herz of the University of Erfurt, Charlotte Securius-
Carr, Chief of the German Program Unit of the Fulbright Commission, Fulbright Distinguished Chair
Dr. Debra Minkoff currently at Humboldt University Berlin, and Fulbright Leipzig Chair Dr. Crister
Garrett continue the discussion of elite universities in Germany after Monday’s panel.
THE FUNNEL • VOLUME 40 • NUMBER 2 • SUMMER 2004