Böhmer calls for Germany to recognize foreign credentials
Integration commissioner Maria Böhmer has called for a concentrated effort to provide the 1.9 million foreigners in Germany who receive welfare with better career prospects. Aside from suggesting that immigrants need to be more willing to integrate she recognizes that many qualified immigrants are not able to work in their professional fields because their degrees […]
The Kite Runner
Based on the novel written by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner beautifully illustrates the Islamic traditions and class customs of Afghanistan along with emphasizing the cultural conflict which can occur when Middle Eastern immigrants migrate to the Western World. Through Marc Forster’s exquisite directing, primarily in his use of normal lens filming, eye-level camera angles, […]
Second-Generation Turkish Immigrants in the United States and Germany: Dilemmas of Cultural Identity in Crossing Over: Comparing Recent Migration in the United States and Europe
Arguing that immigrants’ origin culture is not the main obstacle to integration, Zeynep Kiliç compares the experiences of second-generation Turkish immigrants in America and Germany. She observes high levels of integration in Turks living in New York, proving that Turkish culture is not incompatible with Western values as it appears to be in Germany. The […]
Sleep Dealer
The film Sleep Dealer wonderfully accentuates and mirrors labor realities taking place near the Mexican-American border. The futuristic sense of the film shows the possibilities of how maquilladora labor can be exploited. The journey of the main character to the “node center of Mexico,” Tijuana, shows the harsh reasons why people leave their hometown village […]
Infectious Diseases before and after German Unification: Trends in Mortality and Morbidity
This article examines disease trends in Eastern and Western Germany after their reunification. The patterns of disease proved to be extremely complex, but deep analysis revealed some interesting nuggets of data. The article demonstrates the ways in which the differences in the social structure in East and West Germany ended up affecting the health of […]
Turkey to join the EU?
Full Story Here The discussion of Turkey being included into the EU has generated varying viewpoints about the issue. Proponents of the idea contend that the inclusion of Turkey into the EU would help to restructure and stabilize the country. They also contend that the inclusion of Turkey guarantees the EU a link to Middle […]
Bewerber-Diskriminierung
This was an interesting article in the online addition of Der Spiegel where students sent fictitious resumes to German companies under a Turkish and a German alias. The study proved that discrimination existed in the job market regardless of qualification, though it was also counteracted by things like recommendations. Read the full article here.
Politiken Corrects Danish Paper Settles Muhammad Cartoon Issue
This article deals with the continued tension between certain Muslim groups and the Danish press, and in particular the newspaper Politiken that re-published a caricature of the prophet Muhammad that originally appeared in the Dutch paper Jyllands-Posten. After much public debate concerning the Western notion of free speech versus the possibility of worsening relations with […]