“Freedom Without Walls” To Build Replica Of Berlin Wall
Events take place November 2-8
BUFFALO, NY – Canisius College will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of Communism with “Freedom Without Walls,” a program of events from Monday, November 2-Sunday, November 8. The government of the Federal Republic of Germany selected Canisius as one of 28 colleges from across the United States to participate in the program, which is designed to raise awareness of the ‘Peaceful Revolution’ in Eastern Central Europe during the second half of 1989.
A 56-foot long, eight-foot high sheetrock replica of the Berlin Wall will be built in the college’s main Quadrangle behind the Old Main Building. As part of the observance, Canisius College students will create “wall art” on its panels reminiscent of the original Berlin Wall and compete in an artwork contest. The general public is welcome to come to campus and view the wall. Free parking is available in the college’s ramp located on Jefferson Avenue.
All events are free and open to the public:
Sponsors for Canisius College’s Freedom Without Walls program include the German Information Center, the Mulroy Family Foundation, the Canisius College Office of Admissions, the Department of International Relations, the Frank Walter Fund, the Fitzpatrick Foundation and the Canisius College Undergraduate Association (USA). For more information, contact Peter Böhm, PhD, associate professor of modern languages, at (716) 888-2327 or send an E-mail to boehmp@canisius.edu.
Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
A 56-foot long, eight-foot high sheetrock replica of the Berlin Wall will be built in the college’s main Quadrangle behind the Old Main Building. As part of the observance, Canisius College students will create “wall art” on its panels reminiscent of the original Berlin Wall and compete in an artwork contest. The general public is welcome to come to campus and view the wall. Free parking is available in the college’s ramp located on Jefferson Avenue.
All events are free and open to the public:
- Monday, November 2
David Shribman (pictured), Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and executive editor of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, will give a lecture entitled “Why History Never Ends” at 2:30 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge on the second floor of the Richard E. Winter ’42 Student Center.- The Rabbit is Me (1965), a film created to encourage discussion of the democratization of East German society, will be shown at 7 p.m. in Lyons Hall room 418.
- Tuesday, November 3
Andreas Daum (pictured), associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of history at the State University of New York at Buffalo, will speak on “Berlin in the American Century” at 4:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge.- Das Land hinter dem Regenbogen (The Land Beyond the Rainbow, 1991), a harsh yet poetic critique of Stalinism in East German, will be screened at 7 p.m. in Lyons Hall room 418.
- Wednesday, November 4
John Occhipinti, PhD (pictured), professor of political science and director of European Studies at Canisius College, will discuss “What Belongs Together is Now Growing Together: German Unity in the Context of European Integration” on at 3:45 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. - Jan and Jana, a 1992 film which depicts the tumultuous love affair between two teenage inmates at a German Democratic Republic center for juvenile delinquents, will be shown at 7 p.m. in Lyons Hall room 418.
- Thursday, November 5
- Hundreds of students from 15 local high schools will visit the college from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Students will view the wall and participate in a variety of interactive stations staffed by Canisius College German majors. Students will learn about Germany during the fall of Communism as well as German culture.
Horst Freitag (pictured), Consul General Federal Republic of Germany, will give a lecture entitled “Transatlantic Relations - 20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall” at 8 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. - Burning Life (1992) will be screened at 7 p.m. in Lyons Hall room 418. The film is a portrait of contemporary Germany as a land of despair and disillusion, where people seem to have only two options in life - a career in crime or suicide. After the main character, Lisa, sees her father take the second option, she chooses the first.
- Friday, November 6
- “In a Foreign Shoe: A Reporter’s View of the Collapse of Communism” will be the topic of John Tagliabue’s lecture on Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. Tagliabue is a foreign correspondent for The New York Times.
Sponsors for Canisius College’s Freedom Without Walls program include the German Information Center, the Mulroy Family Foundation, the Canisius College Office of Admissions, the Department of International Relations, the Frank Walter Fund, the Fitzpatrick Foundation and the Canisius College Undergraduate Association (USA). For more information, contact Peter Böhm, PhD, associate professor of modern languages, at (716) 888-2327 or send an E-mail to boehmp@canisius.edu.
Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
Date released: 10/22/2009
