The Department of German  
 
presents  
 
"Walls in Our Heads--Political Divisions and Cultural Imaginaries Conference"  
 
October 22-24, 2009  
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.  
Humanities Gateway 1010 and 1002  
 
In conjunction with the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin  
Wall in November, 2009, the German department at the University of  
California, Irvine, will be hosting an interdisciplinary conference that  
explores the relationship between cultural images (broadly conceived)  
and the maintenance or breakdown of political divisions. Walls are not  
just physical entities; they also rely on and propagate segregationist  
forms of knowing and depicting "the other." This means that alternative  
representations are necessary if walls are to be replaced by new social  
unities. Keynote lectures by Ngugi wa Thiong'o (English and Comparative  
Literature, UCI) and Christina von Braun (Cultural and Gender Studies,  
Humboldt University, Berlin).  
 
The department will also be presenting a traveling exhibition sponsored  
by the Goethe Institute San Francisco, "Ikonen einer Grenzanlage - Icons  
of a Border Installation," which displays images that capture the  
remnants of the Wall in unified Berlin.This show will be on display at  
the Student center from September 28 to November 2, 2009. Official  
opening and reception, October 1, 2009, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.  
 
Sponsors:  
Goethe Institute Los Angeles (GILA)  
Department of German, UCI  
Humanities Research Institute, UCI  
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)