"Evangelicals in U.S. Politics & Muslims in Europe" September 17, 2008

THE GOETHE-INSTITUT NEW YORK CONTINUES ITS CONTROVERSIAL SERIES: “WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE”

Experts to discuss hot-button religious, political and social topics at new location: Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, Brooklyn

NEW YORK (September 5)— The Goethe-Institut New York, a branch of the Federal Republic of Germany’s global cultural institution, is pleased to announce the next event in its new series, “With God on Our Side,” designed to take aim at the heart of societal discourse on multiculturalism and national identity with provocative pairings of intellectuals, policymakers and authors this year.

The popular series returns this fall, on Wednesday, September 17th, at 7:30pm -- please note new location: Galapagos Art Space, now located at 16 Main Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn; www.galapagosartspace.com -- with a conversation betweeen Marcia Pally and Jörg Lau on “Evangelicals in U.S. Politics & Muslims in Europe.” Admission is free, and no reservations are required.

Evangelicalism was a progressive force and America’s dominant religion from the colonial era till WWI. Marcia Pally will discuss evangelicalism’s contribution to U.S. pluralism, church-state separation, and foreign policy. How is evangelicalism, only recently conservative, evolving? Jörg Lau will discuss religion in Germany and how its growing Muslim population challenges the concept of secularism.

Marcia Pally (www.marciapally.com) teaches at New York University in Multilingual Multicultural Studies and is a permanent Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. The Religion, Values and Foreign Policy of the Country with the Biggest Guns was published this spring; her last book concerning the links between critical thinking and democracy, Critique Abandoned: The Ceding of Democracy was published in 2003 (2005 second edition). Pally was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2007; her research interests include the intersection among culture, religion, and US politics, and the influences of culture on language use and learning. In addition to her academic work, Prof. Pally has been a cultural and political columnist in the U.S. and Europe for the past 20 years, and is the author of two books on censorship and freedom of expression, Sex & Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and The Will to Censor (1994) and Sense & Censorship: The Vanity of Bonfires (1991). She has written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Nation, Internationale Politik (German Council on Foreign Relations), Film Comment, Cinéaste, Index on Censorship, Z Papers, die Zeit, Suedduetsche Zeitung, Merkur, die Tageszeitung, Berliner Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, Frankfurter Rundschau, Cicero magazine and Weltwoche. Pally has lectured widely at universities and professional associations, among, them Harvard, Columbia, The University of Chicago, Humboldt University (Berlin), The University of Zurich, The Cato Institute, and the Aspen Institute-Berlin. She is past vice president of The Freedom to Read Foundation, and served on The Media and Communications Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Jörg Lau is editor of Die Zeit, the most widely read German weekly newspaper, and based in Berlin. He writes about integration and immigration issues and recently has been focusing on cultural debates about the role of religion and the dialogue between the West and Islam. Prior to his current role at Die Zeit, he was in charge of the literary desk at Die Tageszeitung, a Berlin-based daily paper. His biography of the noted German poet and essayist Magnus Enzensberger was published by Suhrkamp in 2000.

"Hot or cold conflicts between cultures, religions, lifestyles and value systems are a signature of the 21st century," notes Dr. Stephan Wackwitz, Program Director of the Goethe-Institut New York. 'With God on Our Side' aims at bringing together thinkers, politicians, activists from Europe and America to discuss these common concerns and to link our traditions of political thought as well as look towards the future."

“With God on Our Side: The Crisis of the Secular” brings together scholars and politicians from both sides of the Atlantic for cutting-edge discussions of religion and multiculturalism. Past speakers include Paul Berman, Ian Buruma, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, David Reimers, Paul Scheffer and Thomas Schmidt.

The Goethe-Institut New York is a branch of the Federal Republic of Germany’s global cultural institute, established to promote the study of German and German culture abroad, encourage international cultural exchange, and provide information on Germany’s culture, society, and politics. For details on upcoming events and to join the mailing list, visit: goethe.de/newyork.

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Official Website: http://www.goethe.de/newyork