As part of the Multicultural Germany undergraduate seminar at UC Berkeley, students reviewed recent German films relating in various ways to topics of migration, multiculturalism, and contemporary German identity. Tanja Mehlo reviewed the 1999 film “Geboren in Absurdistan” (Born in Absurdistan):  Geboren in Absurdistan, a 1999 Austrian drama film directed by Houchang and Tom-Dariusch Allahyari and […]

Der Teenager Felix Laub (Robert Höller) stammt aus wohlhabendem Hause und hat zum türkischstämmigen Can (Oktay Özdemir) ein zwiespältiges Verhältnis: Obwohl Felix von Can und seiner Gang drangsaliert wird, kauft er ihm gelegentlich eine Portion Marihana ab. Eines Tages geht Felix mit neuen Turnschuhen auf die Straße, die ihm prompt von Cans Bande ausgezogen werden. […]

As part of their work for the Multicultural Germany undergraduate seminar at UC Berkeley, students in the course have reviewed recent German books relating in various ways to topics of migration, multiculturalism, and contemporary German identity. Teddy Lee reviewed Klaus Geiger’s 2007 collection of short stories, Bekannte Fremde: Geschichten aus dem interkulturellen Alltag: Das Buch von Klaus […]

Book Review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Teddy Lee:  Das Buch von Klaus F. Geiger, Bekannte Fremde: Geschichten aus dem interkulturellen Alltag gibt einen Überblick über die kulturellen unterschiede zwischen den Deutschen und den Türken. Alle Formen von Diskriminierungen gegen lebenden Türkischen Staatsbürger im Alltag Deutschlands werden hier auch sichtbar gemacht.  Das Buch ist 2007 in […]

This post is part of a series in which students reflect on their discussions in the UC Berkeley undergraduate seminar “Multicultural Germany.” This week’s summary is by Victoria Brinkerhoff: This week’s Multicultural Germany class readings and discussions delved into religious variation, contention, and representation within Germany today. We focused on questions and debates surrounding secularism, […]

French mayor René Vandierendonck protested against his local Quick outlet by filing charges against the fast food chain, claiming that its decision to replace its bacon burgers with halal burgers is prejudicial religious catering that discriminates against non-Muslim customers. Though he says “yes to diversity,” he also says “no to exclusion,” emphasizing that “[Quick] goes too […]

It is interesting to note that there are quite a few recent articles about discrimination in Germany, particularly if the victim is a member of a demographic minority in Germany. However in my opinion, it does not say that due to this high occurrence of similar discrimination cases that Germany is unwelcoming to foreign workers, […]