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On October 25, we held our 7th annual Jacob-&-Wilhelm-Grimm Lecture. Our speaker was James Retallack, University of Toronto professor of History. His research interests (1830-1918) include German regional history, nationalism, anti-semitism, electoral politics, and historiography. He has edited or authored 14 books, and his 15th is currently in the works. In November 2011 Retallack was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

German author Christopher Kloeble spoke with UÀ¶Ý®ÊÓƵ professor James Skidmore about the differences between English and German, the challenges of having his novel translated into English, dealing with dark topics, and on being a German/Bavarian writer.

So grab a coffee, sit back, and have a listen as James on language, books, and culture.

The À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Centre for German Studies has now switched to its fall hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8:30 - 11:30 and 12:00 - 2:00. If you have any questions, just get in touch!

The Globe and Mail published an in-depth article on the Berlin/Kitchener name change of 1916. "" discusses not only the inconsistencies of the name change but also how it differed from renaming York to Toronto or Bytown to Ottawa.

Our summer hours begin this week. The office is open Mondays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:30 and 12:00-2:00. We'll return to four days a week in September.

Have a wonderful summer!

Today is the day that, as the headline reads, 346 people voted to . The name change itself took place on September 1, 1916.

To learn more about the topic, mark September 15th @ 7:00 p.m. on your calendar. We're co-hosting with the Kitchener Public Library a panel discussion on the Berlin/Kitchener name change.

Today's the day citizens of then Berlin voted to do away with the name. Thereafter, a committee of 99 men was formed and charged with creating a shortlist of names for the city. Apparently, even a name from the artificial language Esperanto was one of several ideas they proposed. to find out more, or visit our page on the Berlin name change for a few more resources.

Even though you don’t know him, you may already feel a type of familiarity with author Marc Degens: he writes with a self-deprecating humour common in Canada, and he would also fit right in with our local startup culture.

An accomplished writer, Degens has published four novels, numerous other books, and had regular columns in the Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungÌý(°Õ³ó±ðÌýNew York Times of the German-speaking world).

The À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Centre for German Studies is once again offering travel grants to students from any faculty who will be travelling to Germany, Austria, or German-speaking Switzerland for study between May 1, 2016 and April 30, 2017. Deadline is very soon: February 1st. Grant amounts vary from $500-$1,500 each year.

Students who are considering applying for an exchange but have not yet done so are still encouraged to apply for the scholarship, since funds are not transferred until we’ve received confirmation that the student has been accepted to the program.

The À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Centre for German Studies and the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies are hosting a reading by German author Michael Götting. He'll read from his premier novel, Contrapunctus (English: Counterpoint). The reading will take place on January 26 at 4:00 p.m.