Aarhus University Seal

1968 between Heroization and Historization. Lecture by Aleida Assmann

Uses of the past has the honour of announcing a guest lecture December 5 2018 by world famous memory scholar, Professor Aleida Assmann.

Info about event

Time

Wednesday 5 December 2018,  at 14:00 - 16:00

Location

Nobelparken 1485-226

Prof. Aleida Assmann's work on cultural memory has had tremendous and long lasting influence on Memory Studies. With her husband Prof. Jan Assmann, she has recently (2018) been awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade because their work has promoted "sustainable peace and understanding among the peoples of the world." December 5 2018 Aleida Assmann will give a lecture at Aarhus University hosted by the research program Uses of the Past.

Lecture theme

Born between 1940 and 1950, Generation ‘68 is marked in Germany by the Second World War and its aftermath. The members of this generation were born into a country in dissolution but equipped with a strong desire for renewal, return to normalcy, and a settled life. They also grew up at a time of bold technical innovation, economic prosperity, and modernization. Their movement towards self-liberation was a distinctly European and Western phenomenon, propelled by American pop culture, visions of flower power, and the dreams of Hippies. In the German context, these ideals passed through different stages: from its origins grounded in shifts of culture and lifestyle, the movement turned political, and parts of it even became terroristic. The historical contribution of the 68ers is not limited to what happened in the 1960s and 70s. A second revolt in the 1980s has been equally formative in the emergence of a new Europe. The lecture will focus on both revolutionary moments and how they have changed Europe.

Program

14:00: Welcome

14:15: Prof. Aleida Assmann, University of Konstanz: "1968 between Heroization and Historization"

15:00: Discussion

15:30: Drinks and snacks