German Culture, Digitally

Online German-related activities for this time of social distancing

During these strange and trying times, the Waterloo Centre for German Studies will continue to support research into all aspects of the German-speaking world. Further, we remain committed to supporting German-related cultural programming for the university and our wider communities. To this end, we have gathered a listing of different online activities, events, and courses that may be of interest to those curious about German culture and language.

We may from time to time update this list. The date of the latest update will be noted here: 14 September 2020.

Live Events

The Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis University is organizing a number of live events. Visit and bookmark their website for the most up-to-date information: https://www.brandeis.edu/cges/news-events/index.html

Let us know if there is a live event we should advertise!

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Museums and Galleries

Not cancelled East South: https://www.notcancelled.art/eastsouth (starts May 12)
Lehnbachnaus München: https://www.lenbachhaus.de/entdecken/sammlung-online
Hamburger Kunsthalle: https://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/sammlung-online
David Hockney Die Tate Zu Gast: https://digital-erleben.buceriuskunstforum.de/?mobile=1
Altes Museum Berlin: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/altes-museum-staatliche-museen-zu-berlin?hl=en
Städel Museum Frankfurt: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/stadel-museum?hl=en
Museum Folkwang Essen: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/partner/museum-folkwang?hl=de
Galerie Neue Meister Dresden: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/galerie-neue-meister-new-masters-gallery?hl=en
Das Belvedere Wien: https://www.belvedere.at/digital
Deutsches Museum: http://www.deutsches-museum.de/kids/insel/online-entdecken/
Haus der Geschichte Österriech: www.hdgoe.at
Literatur H aus Graz: www.literaturhaus-graz.at/die-corona-tagebuecher-1
Kunst Historiches Museum Wien: www.khm.at/objektdb
Welt Museum Wien: www.weltmuseumwien.at/onlinesammlung
Wien Museum: www.wien.info/de/sightseeing/sehenswuerdigkeiten/wien-virtuell-bewundern
Albertina: www.albertina.at/home (Opens May 27)
Naturhistorisches Museum: www.nhm-wien.ac.at/museum/online_sammlung
Das Technische Museum Wien: www.technischesmuseum.at/das-digitale-museum
Museum für angewandte Kunst (MAK): www.mak.at/sammlung/mak-sammlung_online

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Podcasts

Language Revolution Podcast with Cate Hamilton, discussing a number of issues such as transitioning to higher education, inspiring language learners from early years through to further and higher education, studying languages, and particularly German, at university, outreach projects and cross-sector collaborations, and the potential of linguistics in language teaching: https://thelanguagerevolution.co.uk/2020/09/06/languages-at-university/

https://thelanguagerevolution.co.uk/2020/09/06/languages-at-university/
German Beats Podcast: The Dartmouth University German Department's podcasts feature conversations between German Studies faculty and students (with music) as well as guest speaker interviews and sound pieces relating to German language, literature and culture from their course offerings. Have a listen: https://dartmouthgermanbeats.podbean.com/
Deutschlandfunk Kultur "Hörspiel und Feature": List of pre-recorded audio programs, check them out: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/dlfkultur-hoerspiel.3177.de.html
Germany: Memories of a Nation: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04dwbwz/episodes/download
Interview with WCGS Book Prize 2018 winner Michael O'Sullivan: https://newbooksnetwork.com/michael-osullivan-disruptive-power-catholic-women-miracles-and-politics-in-modern-germany-1918-1965-u-toronto-press-2018/
The Connecting Memories Podcast - Episode with guest speaker Prof Bill Niven available now: Bill discusses Holocaust memorials in Germany and the question of relevance in a talk called 'Reigniting Relevance: Recent Approaches to Memorial Heritage.' The first two episodes (along with a series preview) are available to stream at https://anchor.fm/connectingmemories as well as on Spotify (here) and Apple podcasts (here). Links to the podcast on Breaker, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic and Google podcasts can all be found here.
Literature in Lockdown: Liechtenstein Podcast feat. Benjamin Quaderer - https://acflondon.org/events/literature-lockdown-liechtenstein-podcast-feat-benjamin-quaderer/
Babble on, Berlin: A Podcast to talk about Berlin and the movies, literature, and culture surrounding the metropolis - https://babbleonberlinpodcast.wordpress.com/
Switzerland and the Art of Shutdown: The British cultural critic Seán Williams, acclaimed Swiss novelist Tabea Steiner, and former Swiss-Mobility student and teacher Raphael Zimmermann come together with readings and reflections on culture and coronavirus, Switzerland and the art of shutdown. At the centre of this creative soundscape are paradoxes of the pandemic. Take a listen: https://www.swissculturalfund.org.uk/events/view/sean-williams-tabea-steiner-raphael-zimmermann-switzerland-and-the-art-of-shutdown

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Theatre

Rimini Protokoll, Berlin: https://www.rimini-protokoll.de/website/de/

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Courses

So German!: The staff at So German have curated a list of online resources for learning German in this time of social-distancing http://sogerman.ca/story/learn-german/
Laurier Lifelong Learning at Home: A free weekly series with pre-recorded lectures from some well-known Laurier faculty and community experts. Videos are posted weekly on Tuesdays at noon from May 12 to June 30.
- Check out the lecture by WCGS Director James Skidmore on May 26: Good Art. Bad Artists: Admiring the Work of Artists We Despise - Is it right to admire works created by artists we despise? In this lecture, James Skidmore explores whether it’s possible to separate art from the artists. Using three case studies from German culture – Leni Riefenstahl (filmmaker), Emil Nolde (painter), and Peter Handke (writer) – Skidmore will discuss the thorny issues surrounding the appreciation and study of creative works by creators whose political or social views we find abhorrent. To find out more about James' lecture and the other lectures in the series visit the Laurier Lifelong Learning at Home website: https://wlu.ca/professional-development/lall/lall-at-home.html
Goethe-Institut (Canada) - Webinar series for German teachers: How can we make our virtual teaching even more learner-centric, motivating and activating? This is an important and urgent question for all teachers in the current situation. This webinar series will show you how you can plan, conduct and follow up on exciting lessons with added value even in times of Corona. Dates and registration can be found here: https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/en/spr/unt/for/gia/web.html?wt_sc=canada_webinars

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Film

Radio-Frauen aus dem Regenwald|Mit Mikro und Rekorder gegen Ausbeutung: Documentary about indigenous ecofeminist protests against drilling for oil in Ecuador’s rainforest: https://www.zdf.de/dokumentation/planet-e/planet-e-radio-frauen-aus-dem-regenwald-100.html (German ZDF, August 2, 2020). Plus you can listen to an interview with the director of the film, Siegmund Thies, and the fight of the indigenous women against the military in Sarayaku (die Entwaffnung der Soldaten durch die Frauen aus Sarayaku) (summary by Dorothee Ostmeier): https://wdrmedien-a.akamaihd.net/medp/podcast/weltweit/fsk0/221/2218825/wdr5scala_2020-07-29_wdr5scalaganzesendung_wdr5.mp3
German Screen Studies list of virtual cinema offerings: http://germanscreenstudies.eu/events
Filmmuseum - https://www.filmmuseum.at/sammlungen/film_online
Goethe Institut and Filmgalerie 451: Online streaming program Goethe on Demand (until 30 June 2020)
Deutsches Filminstitut Filmmuseum: Find a number of links to online films, exhibitions, and videos curated by DFF staff https://www.dff.film/en/coronavirus/

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Miscellaneous

Goethe Institut Toronto: Benita Bailey: #Yellit - Conversations with Black Artists The Goethe-Institut is collaborating with artist Benita Bailey (Berlin/Toronto) on four special editions of her social interview series Yellit, featuring German and Canadian Black artists. From September to December, you will encounter two Canadian and two German black arts leaders. For the dates and more information: https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/en/ver.cfm?fuseaction=events.detail&event_id=21937945
Goethe Institut USA: Queer as German Folk has now been converted into a compact, digital experience. This new format allows visitors to experience the queer movement past and present from anywhere in the world – furthering the project’s goals of maximum accessibility. Audiovisual, moving, and interactive forms of presentation provide visitors with an exciting, structureless experience that is simple to navigate and is accessible across a range of devices in both English and German. The exhibition will be accessible on queerexhibition.org starting August 9th, 2020. Learn more here.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Speech on March 18, 2020: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/merkel-rede-109.html
Lori Wolf-Heffner (Kitchener-Waterloo author): https://loriwolfheffner.com/index.php/events/
Virtual Research in Germany (DAAD Canada): https://www.research-in-germany.org/en/infoservice/videos/virtual-reality.html
Goethe Toronto Virtual Library: https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/en/kul/ser/onl.html?wt_sc=canada_elibrary
Institute for Modern Languages Research at the University of London: List of open access resources for modern languages researchers https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/about-us/online-resources/open-access-resources-modern-languages
Rear Windowflick: Berlin's DIY film screenings – in pictures: https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2020/may/07/windowflick-berlin-screenings-in-pictures?CMP=share_btn_tw

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