“The First 100 Days of the Biden Administration: An American Recovery?”

Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 7 p.m. (Innsbruck), 2 p.m. (CDT)
Where: Zoom-Link

 Image: The White House

with:

Günter Bischof (New Orleans),
Cornelia Klecker (Innsbruck),
and Heike Paul (Erlangen-Nuremberg)

Moderator: Noam Zadoff (Innsbruck)
When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated on January 20, 2021, they knew they would have to face a great number of (nearly) unprecedented challenges: a raging pandemic with yet no concerted federal response, the related worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and a sharp rise in white supremacist, anti-democratic, and authoritarian forces among the American populace. On the international stage, the main two challenges are reviving the Iran Nuclear Deal and restoring trust in the relationships with international allies. April 30, 2021, marks the 100th day of this new administration, a benchmark that has often been used to determine the tone and efficacy of a presidency in past decades. The aim of this virtual roundtable is to review the first 100 days of Biden’s presidential term and, among other questions, discuss whether he has managed to live up to his call for unity amidst ongoing Republican opposition, at times amounting to obstructionism.

Prof. Günter Bischof is the Marshall Plan Professor at the University of New Orleans and Director of the Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies at the University of New Orleans;

Dr. Cornelia Klecker is Assistant Professor and Deputy Chair of the Department of American Studies at the University of Innsbruck;

Prof. Heike Paul is Chair of the Department of American Studies at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, she is director of the Bavarian American Academy in Munich and a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities;

Dr. Noam Zadoff is Assistant Professor in the Department of Contemporary History at the University of Innsbruck. Between 2014-2018 he was Assistant Professor in Israel Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington.


Contact:
Noam Zadoff
E-Mail: Noam.Zadoff@uibk.ac.at

Organizers:
Department of Contemporary History, University of Innsbruck; Department of American Studies, University of Innsbruck; Center Austria:
The Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies, University of New Orleans.

Sustainability and Renewable Energy in the Alps: 2021 Transatlantic Conversations Series

29. April 2021, 10:00 AM Pacific Time - Hosted by the University of California, Berkeley

DESCRIPTION:

Spanning eight countries, the Alps are widely recognized as one of the world's most iconic, idyllic destinations. Less known is their important role as a source of clean power for Europe throughout the twentieth century. This panel discussion focuses on the history of renewable energy production in the Alps and the lessons these mountains hold for a sustainable future.

SPEAKERS:

Marc Landry is an environmental historian of modern Europe, with a regional focus on Central Europe. His research interests center on the environmental history of 19th and 20th-century Europe, particularly the environmental contexts of industrialization and the two world wars. As Associate Director of Center Austria, he co-edits the annual journal series Contemporary Austrian Studies.

Patrick Kupper is Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Innsbruck. His main fields of interest are the history of environment, technology, and knowledge in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He received his PhD from the University of Zurich in 2003 and his Habilitation from ETH Zurich in 2011. He has published on the history of conservation, environmentalism, nuclear energy, natural sciences, and higher education.

Anna-Katharina von Krauland is a PhD student in the Atmosphere/Energy Program of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Stanford University. Her research focuses on optimizing and expediting the process of wind farm siting. She has helped lead the Energy Policy Community of the Stanford Energy Club, allowing students to gain exposure to the policy side of the energy industry, and currently also leads the Stanford Austria Club.

 Text and Image https://www.centeraustria.org/

Archaeological Site at Trautson Castle

At the end of the Second World War, Trautson Castle in Matrei am Brenner was almost completely destroyed in a bomb attack. Archaeologists from Innsbruck University are currently excavating there. They want to better understand the historical building and life within. The University of New Orleans is also involved in coming to terms with the story.

Article in Tiroler Tageszeitung (October 11, 2020)

Article in meinbezirk.at (August 3, 2020)

Image: Instagram University of Innsbruck

Faculty and Students Search for Remains of a Missing American World War II Pilot

REAGENT: a nine-meter-high “test tube” is presented

 The cityscape of Innsbruck has been made richer by a work of art: The South Tyrolean architect Stefan Hitthaler created a nine-meter-high art object in the form of an oversized test tube on the forecourt of the Geiwi tower on the Innrain. The name REAGENT stands for the interaction of the test tube and "agent" in the sense of people as actors in scientific research, who are the contents of the test tube. The work of art thus shows the interaction between man and science, and at this special location also the interaction between the natural sciences and the humanities.

The idea for realizing the REAGENT was born on the occasion of the 40-year partnership between the University of Innsbruck and the University of New Orleans and the 20th anniversary of the city partnership between Innsbruck and New Orleans, which was celebrated in 2015. The REAGENT symbolizes the university as a place in which new things are created every day - comparable to the processes in a test tube.

  The REAGENT is the condensation of university discourses that are made             available on the university forecourt. In line with the Greek agora, the idea of ​​   public disputation, science is made visible in public space. The University itself      is positioned in the urban space and can be experienced in the sculpture. Art   offers a suitable opportunity to relate science and the public to one another, to   draw their attention to one another, and to have an effect on both. The idea of ​​   realizing a work of art at this location arose in the context of the “Cities and   Landscapes. Considering New Orleans and Innsbruck as Multiple Landscapes ”   (June 24-26, 2015).

The sculpture stands for the relationship between the human spirit (culture) and matter (nature) and the interaction of the natural sciences with the humanities. The world consists of both poles and can only be experienced together from these. This tension becomes visible in the naked bodies and the artificial, limited space of the test tube that surrounds them. The lid keeps the container closed. What happens when it is opened? What reaction can be expected?

The city is also a container, a laboratory of the social. At the same time it is a multiple and open formation. Different social groups mix in it and their identities are interwoven with the urban materiality. The city itself is the body in all its facets. The tension between openness and limitation, between the chance to create something new or remain in a blockage, remains unresolved. The final reference that decides this is each individual in their naked vulnerability.

Wissenschaftliches Kuratorium:

Christina Antenhofer (Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften und Europäische Ethnologie)

Ulrich Leitner (Institut für Erziehungswissenschaften)

Forschungsfeld „Politische Ästhetik“ (FSP: Kulturelle Begegnungen – Kulturelle Konflikte)

Sponsors of REAGENT:       

The work of art is entirely financed through sponsorship. 2/3 of the sponsors come from South Tyrol. 1/3 is financed by Tyrolean sponsors.

Kammerer Tankbau • Elektro Ewald • Lanz Metall • Moling Srl • Riadruck • Synthesa • Stauder Schuchter Kempf • Notariat Schwarz • Tilmann Märk  • Tyrol Equity • Rechtsanwalt Stefan Warbek

Further Information an Articles on the Art project REAGENT:

"Human Bodies and the City: Art as a Medium to Explore Urban Landscapes" – Ulrich Leitner

REAGENT von Architekt Stefan Hitthaler

Campusradio - Sendung vom 23.06.2015

Videobeitrag zum Kunstobjekt REAGENT am Campus Innrain