From its first days, deep intellectual and institutional ties with Germany have been a defining feature of CES. The Center continues to bring talented new generations of young German scholars to Harvard through our long- standing John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship program and our commitment to maintaining a high level of activity related to German themes is evident in the range and quality of the programming. CES is also developing new forms of institutional cooperation that will continue to strengthen scholarly collaboration, research and outreach in both Germany and the US.

In 2009, CES formalized a partnership with the WZB (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung) that includes public events in Berlin highlighting the current work of Harvard faculty members and the WZB research community and provides opportunities for pre and post- doctoral exchange. The public lecture series, known as the CES-WZB Berlin Dialogues, was inaugurated in February with a talk by former CES director and Krupp Professor of Political Economy, Peter Hall, who was followed in June by economics professor, Richard Freeman. In October, CES faculty affiliate and associate professor of government, Daniel Ziblatt will discuss what history tells us about democratization. These talks, which draw former fellows, alumni, academics, journalists, and the general public, are a successor to CES’s Berlin Dialogues program.

On this side of the Atlantic, CES is pleased to be working with the American Council on Germany, an independent organization that promotes dialogue among leaders from business, government, and the media in the United States and Europe. They have chapters in fifteen US cities that are intended to create a discussion among local leaders and professionals about transatlantic political and economic affairs. A number of the Center’s German visitors will travel to the Warburg chapters around the country to give talks meant for a broad audience based on their academic and policy research.

In addition to the numerous visiting scholars from Germany who will be in residence in the 2009–2010 academic year, CES is very fortunate to be able to contribute to the intellectual life and teaching mission of the university by hosting several world-renown academics from Germany. Two outstanding political sociologists, Claus Offe and Hans-Jürgen Puhle, will both be visiting faculty members during the spring term and will teach courses in the department of government. In March, CES will also welcome short term fellow, Michael Zürn, Dean of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, who will give public lectures and small master classes for students.

CES is anticipating the completion of its project this year on the history of the German Kennedy Fellows program. Several generations of young German academics have spent a year at CES carrying out research on Germany, Europe, and transatlantic issues. The project, overseen by former Center associate director Abby Collins, includes the voices of many of the former fellows and traces their experiences in their own careers and contextualizes those against the broader backdrop of international scholarly exchanges and changes in the landscape of American and German academia. Because the German Studies Program at CES sees its mission in part as nurturing its community of students, scholars and professionals and developing long-lasting networks among them, the Center regularly undertakes to update their biographical and contact information. This information is produced in our German directories. Most recently updated in the summer of 2008, they are now available on the CES website (see below).