Coexistence - CLA Partners

"You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization. And when do you get organization? In a war. Peace is one big waste of equipment. Anything goes, no one gives a damn … I've been in places where they haven't had a war for seventy years and you know what? The people haven't even been given names. They don't know who they are! It takes a war to fix that. In a war, everyone registers."

Bertold Brecht

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About the Partners

College of Liberal Arts At the heart of every great university is a college encompassing the basic disciplines of knowledge. That college at the University of Minnesota is the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). CLA's mission is to encourage habits of creative and critical thinking, develop analytical skills, and enable undergraduates to study with researchers at the forefront of defining their fields of study. A liberal arts education provides an excellent foundation for graduates entering the ever-changing world of work. The social sciences, humanities, and fine arts are housed in CLA. Study and research opportunities are available in more than 60 major areas. In addition to strong programs in disciplines, CLA offers interdisciplinary majors such as women's studies, film studies, and urban studies that draw on the strengths of disciplines and integrate them in new and exciting ways.

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is designed to assist in the development of Holocaust education around the state of Minnesota and neighboring states. It also provides resources regarding the phenomenon of genocide in earlier as well as more recent history. The Center coordinates projects with the Center for Austrian Studies, the Center for German and European Studies, the Center for Bioethics, the Departments of History and Sociology, the School of Law, the Minnesota International Center, and the Center for Victims of Torture, as well as providing outreach to the media, curatorial consultation to museums, and curriculum development for local schools.

Center for German and European Studies (CGES) a joint venture of the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities and the University of Wisconsin/Madison, was established in 1998 with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The Center supports interdisciplinary research, teaching, outreach and education in areas related to Germany and the New Europe. Toward this goal, CGES organizes conferences, symposia, workshops, and colloquia, and supports visiting scholars. Devoted to the development of the next generation of scholars and the production of new knowledge relating to Germany and the New Europe, the Center supports research, teaching, and outreach in a broad range of fields and disciplines. At the heart of the Center's activities is a unique series of research collaboratives that focus on contemporary Germany and Europe from a Trans-Atlantic perspective and involve faculty, graduate students, and visiting scholars.

Institute for Global Studies (IGS). Founded in 1998, IGS fosters interdisciplinary faculty and graduate student research on global/international themes, organizes interdisciplinary faculty seminars, serves as coordinating unit for a range of campus centers and programs focused on global issues, and houses an undergraduate Global Studies major. IGS examines political, economic, cultural, and social structures which impact many different actors, from local communities to nation-states to transnational and global businesses and social movements. It also examines how these entities have unfolded historically and geographically and how they continue to shape societies, politics and individual livelihoods in the twenty-first century.

Center for Jewish Studies The Center for Jewish Studies concerns itself with the academic study of the historical, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, geographic, and religious diversity of the full range of peoples who identify themselves as Jewish. The vision of the Center is that academic Jewish Studies provides an important way of fulfilling the educational mission of the liberal arts: to promote critical thought, reflection on values, and analysis of sources. The Center seeks to foster research, to encourage intellectual and creative engagement, and to stimulate professional growth for its faculty and students. As a degree-granting unit, the Center currently offers an undergraduate major and minor in Jewish Studies.

European Studies Consortium The European Studies Consortium (ESC), a federally-funded national resource center for Western European Area Studies, brings together a variety of European studies centers within the University in order to enhance the quality and intellectual impact of their programs. The Consortium promotes and supports interdisciplinary inquiry and develops and coordinates initiatives that enrich teaching, research, and outreach related to Europe, including a yearlong Speakers' series, annual European Studies conferences, and an annual Achievement Award in European Studies.

Humanities Institute The University of Minnesota Humanities Institute was founded in 1998 to provide an institutional framework for fostering innovative and collaborative work on significant topics in the arts and humanities as well as pressing issues facing society. Since its founding, the Humanities Institute has played a role in fulfilling the University's public and civic responsibility by examining and promoting the role of the arts and humanities in the public sphere in conjunction with local arts, cultural, and community institutions.

The Institute works in three different but interrelated areas: initiatives conceived, developed, and launched by the Institute; core programs: research groups, graduate and faculty fellowships, and visiting fellowships supported by the Institute on an annual basis; and special projects: collaborations with others in the community and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) in coordinating and organizing conferences, speakers-series, debates, film festivals, web pages, international exchanges, and other events.