Encouraging Civil Society in the Transatlantic Space

Originally from Sweden, Annika Frieberg studied Modern and Central European History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She teaches courses in 19th and 20th century European and East European history at San Diego State University. Her research and teaching interests center on war and genocide, gender, conflict resolution, media, national, and transnational questions in Central Europe. She has published several articles, including “Reconciliation Remembered. Early Activists and the Polish-German Relations” in Re-Mapping Polish-German Memory, which was published by Indiana University Press in 2011. She is the co-editor of Reconciling with the Past: Resources and Obstacles in a Global Perspective, published by Routledge in 2017. She is the author of Peace at All Costs: Catholic Intellectuals, Journalists, and Media in Postwar Polish-German Reconciliation, published by Berghahn Books in 2019.

She is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Dr. Christiane Wienand is a historian and works at the University of Heidelberg (Universität Heidelberg), Germany. She is Executive Director (Geschäftsführerin) of the Heidelberg School of Education (HSE), the joint institution for teacher training of the University of Heidelberg and the University of Education Heidelberg. Prior to this, Christiane worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the interdisciplinary research group “Reverberations of War” (directed by Professor Mary Fulbrook and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council) at University College London (UCL), UK.

Christiane has published widely on post-1945 European history, particularly on questions relating to reconciliation, youth culture, identity and memory. Her publications include: “Reverberations of a Disturbing Past: Reconciliation Activities of Young West Germans in the 1960s and 1970s,” In: Stephanie Bird, Mary Fulbrook, Julia Wagner und Christiane Wienand (eds.), Reverberations of Nazi Violence in Germany and Beyond. Disturbing Pasts, S. 215–232. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016, and her monograph “Returning Memories. Former Prisoners of War in Divided and Reunited Germany.” Rochester/NY: Camden House, 2015.

She is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Felix Berenskötter was a Visiting Fellow at AICGS in June 2019. He is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Relations at SOAS, University of London. He specializes in international theory; concepts of friendship, identity, power, security, peace, space, and time; European security; and transatlantic relations. Following undergraduate studies in Hamburg, Felix received a Masters Degree from Rutgers University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He authored a number of journal articles and, most recently, edited “Concepts in World Politics” (Sage, 2016). From 2017-2019 he received funding from the Leverhulme Trust for a project on friendship and estrangement in international relations.

He was a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Julie Hamann is research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Her areas of focus are Franco-German relations, German and French foreign policy, and labor unions and social movements in France. She manages the Franco-German Future Dialogue. She studied political science and sociology at the Technische Universität Dresden and at the Institut d’Études Politiques in Lyon, and earned her MA in political science and international security from the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris and the Freie Universität Berlin.

She is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Lukas Welz is chairman of AMCHA Germany, an institution that supports the psychosocial aid for Holocaust survivors in Israel. Within this volunteer position he developed the PresentPast dialogue forum on trauma that brings together practitioners and scientists. He currently serves as policy advisor in the German Bundestag and works for a NGO in the field of political education for the German multicultural society. Lukas Welz studied political sciences and history in Heidelberg and conflict, development and governance at Cranfield University/Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He was head of the Working Group “Conflicts in Europe” of the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research and researched on Transitional Justice in Cambodia. Lukas Welz has been involved in German-Israeli relations since his civil service with the German NGO Action Reconciliation Service for Peace in Jerusalem, Israel. From 2008 to 2015 he has been chairman of the German-Israeli Young Forum and member of the executive board of the German-Israeli Friendship Association.

He is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Matthew Rojansky is Director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. An expert on U.S. relations with the states of the former Soviet Union, especially Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, he has advised governments, intergovernmental organizations, and major private actors on conflict resolution and efforts to enhance shared security throughout the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian region. Rojansky previously served as Deputy Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as Executive Director of the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA). He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and serves as U.S. Executive Secretary for the Dartmouth Conference, a track-two U.S.-Russian conflict resolution initiative begun in 1960.

He is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Rachel Seavey works as part of the management team at the MIT Senseable City Lab, where she assists a variety of international students and scholars, while managing the Lab’s admissions process, communications, and internal operations. As part of her role, she is responsible for helping coordinate the Lab’s annual Forum on Future Cities conference, which was cohosted by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and Mahindra in 2016. Rachel is a member of the Council of the German American Conference at Harvard e.V. and served as a CoChair for the German American Conference at Harvard in 2017. She also has experience working with U.S. and international students in the field of Student Affairs with offices of First Year Experience, Study Abroad, and Service-Learning. Before coming to MIT, Rachel oversaw 151 students studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia as an Assistant Site Director for Northeastern University’s N.U. in Program. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Classics and a Master’s degree in Higher Education in Student Affairs.

She is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).

Yangmo Ku is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Peace and War Center at Norwich University. He received a BA in German Language and Literature from Sogang University in Seoul, and earned a MA in International Affairs and a PhD in Political Science from George Washington University. He previously taught in the School of International Service at American University. Dr. Ku’s research focuses on Korean politics, East Asian security, U.S. foreign policy, and the politics of memory and reconciliation in East Asia and Europe. His coauthored book, titled Politics in North and South Korea: Political Development, Economy, and Foreign Relations, will be published at Routledge in December 2017. His previous research has also appeared in numerous journals, including the Journal of East Asian Studies, Asian Perspective, Pacific Focus, Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, and the Yale Journal of International Affairs, as well as in two edited volumes on memory and reconciliation and North Korean nuclear issues.

He is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ project “A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation: Global Responsibility, Joint Engagement,” sponsored by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi).