Search

Despite the exact numbers being unknown, the Buraku people (Burakumin) are the largest minority group in Japan. Although the Burakumin are racially and ethnically Japanese, they have long endured discrimination due to their ancestral associations with “unclean” occupations during Japan’s feudal era. Discrimination against the Burakumin has profoundly impacted their lives in various ways. It has led to social exclusion, limited employment opportunities, and restricted access to housing and education. As a result, to address systematic discrimination and promote societal equality, Dōwa education was implemented in 1969. The system of Dōwa education provided support and resources to decrease the educational gap between Buraku communities and the wider Japanese society. Furthermore, as these initiatives required schools to teach about the Buraku problem, it fostered understanding and promoted equality. Currently, the Dōwa education has been considered pivotal in advocating for the rights and social integration of marginalized communities, particularly the Burakumin. However, the persistence of discrimination against the Buraku communities highlights the need for a deeper evaluation of Dōwa education initiatives in its role of eradicating discriminatory attitudes. This paper analyzes the educational value and the effect of Dōwa education implementation within schools. With the complex nature of Dōwa education and its multifaceted implementation, assessing its impact on Buraku discrimination is difficult and requires a nuanced approach that considers various factors.

Despite the exact numbers being unknown, the Buraku people (Burakumin) are the largest minority group in Japan. Although the Burakumin are racially and ethnically Japanese, they have long endured discrimination due to their ancestral associations with “unclean” occupations during Japan’s feudal era. Discrimination against the Burakumin has profoundly impacted their lives in various ways. It has led to social exclusion, limited employment opportunities, and restricted access to housing and education. As a result, to address systematic discrimination and promote societal equality, Dōwa education was implemented in 1969. The system of Dōwa education provided support and resources to decrease the educational gap between Buraku communities and the wider Japanese society. Furthermore, as these initiatives required schools to teach about the Buraku problem, it fostered understanding and promoted equality. Currently, the Dōwa education has been considered pivotal in advocating for the rights and social integration of marginalized communities, particularly the Burakumin. However, the persistence of discrimination against the Buraku communities highlights the need for a deeper evaluation of Dōwa education initiatives in its role of eradicating discriminatory attitudes. This paper analyzes the educational value and the effect of Dōwa education implementation within schools. With the complex nature of Dōwa education and its multifaceted implementation, assessing its impact on Buraku discrimination is difficult and requires a nuanced approach that considers various factors.

As the immediate connection grows between us and the Holocaust, society must seek solutions to the consequences of time in order to maintain a living and visceral connection to it, ensuring its enduring impact. This practicum project examines how the medium of the museum can be formulated to halt the descent of memory into history. Utilizing a combination of traditional Jewish mourning, healing and remembrance practices; memory theories and the architectural and spatial connections to memory, this project establishes how memories can be triggered, created and maintained through exhibition space. My research and following conclusions are informed by theorists including Alison Landsberg, Juhani Pallasmaa, Daniel Libeskind, Stephan Jaeger, David Dernie and Graeme Brooker. The combination and application of these theorists develop a case for an experiential museum space that utilizes specific and personal narratives to educate and connect visitors to the Holocaust, providing a means to continue its memory through the spatialization of memory theories. Some of the key theories that inform these decisions are that of prosthetic memory production through space; the implementation of mise-en-scene elements to enable strong sensory engagement and emotional affect; and the use of fragments and reflective space enabling visitors to embed and develop their own understanding of the exhibition’s narrative. These theories are implemented through elements including lighting, architectural form, transmedia, circulation, experientiality, narrative and exhibition tactics. The combination of research methods including a literary analysis, site and building analysis, precedent studies of relevant architectural projects and program analysis combine to inform the design proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Vancouver Unitarian Church. The use of an existing building and implementation of adaptive reuse practices further add to the palimpsest of memory engrained in this project, acting as

As the immediate connection grows between us and the Holocaust, society must seek solutions to the consequences of time in order to maintain a living and visceral connection to it, ensuring its enduring impact. This practicum project examines how the medium of the museum can be formulated to halt the descent of memory into history. Utilizing a combination of traditional Jewish mourning, healing and remembrance practices; memory theories and the architectural and spatial connections to memory, this project establishes how memories can be triggered, created and maintained through exhibition space. My research and following conclusions are informed by theorists including Alison Landsberg, Juhani Pallasmaa, Daniel Libeskind, Stephan Jaeger, David Dernie and Graeme Brooker. The combination and application of these theorists develop a case for an experiential museum space that utilizes specific and personal narratives to educate and connect visitors to the Holocaust, providing a means to continue its memory through the spatialization of memory theories. Some of the key theories that inform these decisions are that of prosthetic memory production through space; the implementation of mise-en-scene elements to enable strong sensory engagement and emotional affect; and the use of fragments and reflective space enabling visitors to embed and develop their own understanding of the exhibition’s narrative. These theories are implemented through elements including lighting, architectural form, transmedia, circulation, experientiality, narrative and exhibition tactics. The combination of research methods including a literary analysis, site and building analysis, precedent studies of relevant architectural projects and program analysis combine to inform the design proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Vancouver Unitarian Church. The use of an existing building and implementation of adaptive reuse practices further add to the palimpsest of memory engrained in this project, acting as

Carlos Sosa, a member of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) and the principal investigator in the MLPD Oral History Project, stated in a 2021 oral history interview that “it’s absolutely critical that we understand history, but we also learn from history to come up with a way forward where our most vulnerable are considered” (Sosa, 2021). Through this statement Sosa demonstrates the way that human rights and oral history intersect while highlighting the impact that research occurring at this intersection can have on human lives. During my Master of Human Rights (MHR) practicum placement at the Oral History Centre (OHC), I was able to interview Sosa as well as immerse myself in the theoretical and practical aspects of the production of oral history archives. Working at the intersection of human rights and oral history, I realized that although I previously felt that there was no space for someone with my backgrounds, interests, and experience in the field of human rights studies, there was in fact a gap between the oral history and human rights offering me an opportunity to insert myself and my competencies into an academic field that I am passionate about. I entered a Master of Human Rights program and the discipline of human rights studies anticipating being able to make use of my historical training. While this has occurred to some extent, I do not feel historical theory, specifically theory that informs the practice of oral history, has had its potential fully realized in the discipline of human rights. While at the OHC I witnessed the way that human rights are present in the collection, production, and accessibility of oral histories. This experience at the OHC reinforced my perceptions of the necessary relationship between oral history and human rights, even as it also showed me that the two approaches have not yet fully realized the potential arising from their intersection.

German authors of the nineteenth century wrote numerous fictional stories about the Indigenous Peoples of the so-called new world. Much research has been published concerning the depiction of these Indigenous Peoples by these German authors. Very little has been written, however, specifically about the depiction of female Indigenous Peoples in these stories. Indigenous women themselves believe they have been forgotten when it comes to the revelation of racism and sexism that applies specifically to them. The purpose of this study is to examine how nineteenth-century German authors depicted Indigenous women. Systematic racism and sexism is revealed by showing that it is the German authors’ Eurocentric cultural belief system that makes their intention to depict positive Indigenous heroines impossible. The methodology used in this study is to start by identifying problematic stereotypes that refer specifically to one notable fictional Indigenous woman, Nscho-tschi, from Karl May’s Winnetou I. Then these stereotypes are used as a basis for studying other Indianerinnen in German stories, to see if these same stereotypes reveal themselves repeatedly. The result of the first part of the study is that Nscho-tschi has many of the characteristics of Pocahontas, the main character in a settler myth of the seventeenth century that is still well known today. The fact that Pocahontas is looked upon as a positive role model is perplexing to Indigenous women. Her image is one that gives the impression that Indigenous women welcomed the European invaders to their land. This concept is referred to as “The Pocahontas Perplex,” as defined by Indigenous activist Rayna Green. Some depicted Indianerinnen in the works evaluated can be put into the “Pocahontas” category. Others behave with enough independence to disqualify them from an association with Pocahontas. The final conclusion is that though the goal of German writers to present a positive picture of the Indigenous women of Turtle I

Carlos Sosa, a member of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) and the principal investigator in the MLPD Oral History Project, stated in a 2021 oral history interview that “it’s absolutely critical that we understand history, but we also learn from history to come up with a way forward where our most vulnerable are considered” (Sosa, 2021). Through this statement Sosa demonstrates the way that human rights and oral history intersect while highlighting the impact that research occurring at this intersection can have on human lives. During my Master of Human Rights (MHR) practicum placement at the Oral History Centre (OHC), I was able to interview Sosa as well as immerse myself in the theoretical and practical aspects of the production of oral history archives. Working at the intersection of human rights and oral history, I realized that although I previously felt that there was no space for someone with my backgrounds, interests, and experience in the field of human rights studies, there was in fact a gap between the oral history and human rights offering me an opportunity to insert myself and my competencies into an academic field that I am passionate about. I entered a Master of Human Rights program and the discipline of human rights studies anticipating being able to make use of my historical training. While this has occurred to some extent, I do not feel historical theory, specifically theory that informs the practice of oral history, has had its potential fully realized in the discipline of human rights. While at the OHC I witnessed the way that human rights are present in the collection, production, and accessibility of oral histories. This experience at the OHC reinforced my perceptions of the necessary relationship between oral history and human rights, even as it also showed me that the two approaches have not yet fully realized the potential arising from their intersection.

German authors of the nineteenth century wrote numerous fictional stories about the Indigenous Peoples of the so-called new world. Much research has been published concerning the depiction of these Indigenous Peoples by these German authors. Very little has been written, however, specifically about the depiction of female Indigenous Peoples in these stories. Indigenous women themselves believe they have been forgotten when it comes to the revelation of racism and sexism that applies specifically to them. The purpose of this study is to examine how nineteenth-century German authors depicted Indigenous women. Systematic racism and sexism is revealed by showing that it is the German authors’ Eurocentric cultural belief system that makes their intention to depict positive Indigenous heroines impossible. The methodology used in this study is to start by identifying problematic stereotypes that refer specifically to one notable fictional Indigenous woman, Nscho-tschi, from Karl May’s Winnetou I. Then these stereotypes are used as a basis for studying other Indianerinnen in German stories, to see if these same stereotypes reveal themselves repeatedly. The result of the first part of the study is that Nscho-tschi has many of the characteristics of Pocahontas, the main character in a settler myth of the seventeenth century that is still well known today. The fact that Pocahontas is looked upon as a positive role model is perplexing to Indigenous women. Her image is one that gives the impression that Indigenous women welcomed the European invaders to their land. This concept is referred to as “The Pocahontas Perplex,” as defined by Indigenous activist Rayna Green. Some depicted Indianerinnen in the works evaluated can be put into the “Pocahontas” category. Others behave with enough independence to disqualify them from an association with Pocahontas. The final conclusion is that though the goal of German writers to present a positive picture of the Indigenous women of Turtle I

Carlos Sosa, a member of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) and the principal investigator in the MLPD Oral History Project, stated in a 2021 oral history interview that “it’s absolutely critical that we understand history, but we also learn from history to come up with a way forward where our most vulnerable are considered” (Sosa, 2021). Through this statement Sosa demonstrates the way that human rights and oral history intersect while highlighting the impact that research occurring at this intersection can have on human lives. During my Master of Human Rights (MHR) practicum placement at the Oral History Centre (OHC), I was able to interview Sosa as well as immerse myself in the theoretical and practical aspects of the production of oral history archives. Working at the intersection of human rights and oral history, I realized that although I previously felt that there was no space for someone with my backgrounds, interests, and experience in the field of human rights studies, there was in fact a gap between the oral history and human rights offering me an opportunity to insert myself and my competencies into an academic field that I am passionate about. I entered a Master of Human Rights program and the discipline of human rights studies anticipating being able to make use of my historical training. While this has occurred to some extent, I do not feel historical theory, specifically theory that informs the practice of oral history, has had its potential fully realized in the discipline of human rights. While at the OHC I witnessed the way that human rights are present in the collection, production, and accessibility of oral histories. This experience at the OHC reinforced my perceptions of the necessary relationship between oral history and human rights, even as it also showed me that the two approaches have not yet fully realized the potential arising from their intersection.

Carlos Sosa, a member of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) and the principal investigator in the MLPD Oral History Project, stated in a 2021 oral history interview that “it’s absolutely critical that we understand history, but we also learn from history to come up with a way forward where our most vulnerable are considered” (Sosa, 2021). Through this statement Sosa demonstrates the way that human rights and oral history intersect while highlighting the impact that research occurring at this intersection can have on human lives. During my Master of Human Rights (MHR) practicum placement at the Oral History Centre (OHC), I was able to interview Sosa as well as immerse myself in the theoretical and practical aspects of the production of oral history archives. Working at the intersection of human rights and oral history, I realized that although I previously felt that there was no space for someone with my backgrounds, interests, and experience in the field of human rights studies, there was in fact a gap between the oral history and human rights offering me an opportunity to insert myself and my competencies into an academic field that I am passionate about. I entered a Master of Human Rights program and the discipline of human rights studies anticipating being able to make use of my historical training. While this has occurred to some extent, I do not feel historical theory, specifically theory that informs the practice of oral history, has had its potential fully realized in the discipline of human rights. While at the OHC I witnessed the way that human rights are present in the collection, production, and accessibility of oral histories. This experience at the OHC reinforced my perceptions of the necessary relationship between oral history and human rights, even as it also showed me that the two approaches have not yet fully realized the potential arising from their intersection.

This project seeks to examine what museal techniques are implemented in memorial sites and documentation centres in contemporary Germany in order to convey historical knowledge about the era of the National Socialism and the Holocaust. A comparative examination of two Bavarian institutions and their exhibitions is conducted: the permanent exhibition of the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism (NS Dokumentationszentrum München, 2015) and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, since 1965). The thesis analyzes how historical-political knowledge can be used to enhance human rights and democracy education today so that historical events remain relevant in the present and future. Based on the theoretical concepts of “empathy” and “distance” as well as “authenticity” and “aura”, this study examines the potential learning opportunities and processes of prototypical German high school students within these museal representations.

This project seeks to examine what museal techniques are implemented in memorial sites and documentation centres in contemporary Germany in order to convey historical knowledge about the era of the National Socialism and the Holocaust. A comparative examination of two Bavarian institutions and their exhibitions is conducted: the permanent exhibition of the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism (NS Dokumentationszentrum München, 2015) and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, since 1965). The thesis analyzes how historical-political knowledge can be used to enhance human rights and democracy education today so that historical events remain relevant in the present and future. Based on the theoretical concepts of “empathy” and “distance” as well as “authenticity” and “aura”, this study examines the potential learning opportunities and processes of prototypical German high school students within these museal representations.

This thesis examines how German and Polish museums employ the social meanings rooted in flight and expulsion visual trauma iconography in their individual narrative, experiential, and spatial structures through the process of Inszenierung (staging). It does so to better understand the ways in which these museums interact with and intervene in national and transnational memory discourses surrounding flight and expulsion. The Landesmuseen and travelling exhibitions under analysis work towards the construction of an ethno-regional diasporic identity for the expellee community, rooted in nostalgia and collective victimhood. Trauma iconography is used to underscore flight and expulsion as the ultimate historical cataclysm. The national and transnational museums under examination only nominally include flight and expulsion in their overall structures. Despite this, they interrupt or reinterpret the previously culturalized content of these trauma icons in order to create cognitive dissonance between the visitor and more traditional mnemonic patterns of flight and expulsion.

This thesis examines how German and Polish museums employ the social meanings rooted in flight and expulsion visual trauma iconography in their individual narrative, experiential, and spatial structures through the process of Inszenierung (staging). It does so to better understand the ways in which these museums interact with and intervene in national and transnational memory discourses surrounding flight and expulsion. The Landesmuseen and travelling exhibitions under analysis work towards the construction of an ethno-regional diasporic identity for the expellee community, rooted in nostalgia and collective victimhood. Trauma iconography is used to underscore flight and expulsion as the ultimate historical cataclysm. The national and transnational museums under examination only nominally include flight and expulsion in their overall structures. Despite this, they interrupt or reinterpret the previously culturalized content of these trauma icons in order to create cognitive dissonance between the visitor and more traditional mnemonic patterns of flight and expulsion.

This thesis analyzes how identity develops within narratively constructed worlds by examining different processes of identity formation in generational narratives Ein unsichtbares Land by Stephan Wackwitz (2003) and Der Schrei der Hyänen by Andrea Paluch and Robert Habeck (2004). The thesis employs a cultural memory perspective with a particular emphasis on the perception of the reader, with the aid of identity and Generationenroman theory. By gaining an understanding of the cultural memory, individual characters in the fictional or semi-fictional primary texts are able to distinguish between those who belong to a group, and those who do not. The frictions between group identities and the ability to distinguish between groups enables the individual to form new concepts of the self; the texts also show how difference can function as a source of negativity that isolates it from change and new identity formation.

This thesis analyzes how identity develops within narratively constructed worlds by examining different processes of identity formation in generational narratives Ein unsichtbares Land by Stephan Wackwitz (2003) and Der Schrei der Hyänen by Andrea Paluch and Robert Habeck (2004). The thesis employs a cultural memory perspective with a particular emphasis on the perception of the reader, with the aid of identity and Generationenroman theory. By gaining an understanding of the cultural memory, individual characters in the fictional or semi-fictional primary texts are able to distinguish between those who belong to a group, and those who do not. The frictions between group identities and the ability to distinguish between groups enables the individual to form new concepts of the self; the texts also show how difference can function as a source of negativity that isolates it from change and new identity formation.

This project seeks to examine the ways in which the media of Holocaust photography and videography are represented in museums in Canada and Germany. Specifically, this project analyzes the Topography of Terror (Berlin), the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg), and the German Military History Museum (Dresden). The media of video- and photography are integral to a comparative examination of the intentional and unintentional effects and knowledge produced by these museums, since both media tend to be seen as more ‘authentic’ than text and remain somewhat outside the control of the museums; photographs and videos are often more than just a mouthpiece for museal goals. In order to adequately compare these representations in each of the three museums, they are analyzed simultaneously through the lens of distance and proximity between visitor and subject, and whether one is able to feel empathy for historical persons (and with whom) or not.

Recently, narrating the experience of the underage soldier in the Second World War has become a major part of the discourses about the Second World War. Particularly, an empathetic approach to the experience of the underage soldier during the war is a new means of understanding the war. This thesis examines this development in two novels comparing and contrasting the German and the African collective memories of the war: Ralf Rothmann’s "Im Frühling Sterben" (2015) and Biyi Bandele’s "Burma Boy" (2006). Whereas, the thesis can show differences in how the child soldier topic contributes to each cultural memory of the war, e.g. it allows for the entry of the West African story of the war into public discourse, the child soldier topic links both discourses by emphasizing universal human tendencies in war, which can be seen in concepts such as sympathy and empathy, guilt and responsibility, as well as multidirectional memory.

This project seeks to examine the ways in which the media of Holocaust photography and videography are represented in museums in Canada and Germany. Specifically, this project analyzes the Topography of Terror (Berlin), the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg), and the German Military History Museum (Dresden). The media of video- and photography are integral to a comparative examination of the intentional and unintentional effects and knowledge produced by these museums, since both media tend to be seen as more ‘authentic’ than text and remain somewhat outside the control of the museums; photographs and videos are often more than just a mouthpiece for museal goals. In order to adequately compare these representations in each of the three museums, they are analyzed simultaneously through the lens of distance and proximity between visitor and subject, and whether one is able to feel empathy for historical persons (and with whom) or not.

This project seeks to examine the ways in which the media of Holocaust photography and videography are represented in museums in Canada and Germany. Specifically, this project analyzes the Topography of Terror (Berlin), the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg), and the German Military History Museum (Dresden). The media of video- and photography are integral to a comparative examination of the intentional and unintentional effects and knowledge produced by these museums, since both media tend to be seen as more ‘authentic’ than text and remain somewhat outside the control of the museums; photographs and videos are often more than just a mouthpiece for museal goals. In order to adequately compare these representations in each of the three museums, they are analyzed simultaneously through the lens of distance and proximity between visitor and subject, and whether one is able to feel empathy for historical persons (and with whom) or not.

Recently, narrating the experience of the underage soldier in the Second World War has become a major part of the discourses about the Second World War. Particularly, an empathetic approach to the experience of the underage soldier during the war is a new means of understanding the war. This thesis examines this development in two novels comparing and contrasting the German and the African collective memories of the war: Ralf Rothmann’s "Im Frühling Sterben" (2015) and Biyi Bandele’s "Burma Boy" (2006). Whereas, the thesis can show differences in how the child soldier topic contributes to each cultural memory of the war, e.g. it allows for the entry of the West African story of the war into public discourse, the child soldier topic links both discourses by emphasizing universal human tendencies in war, which can be seen in concepts such as sympathy and empathy, guilt and responsibility, as well as multidirectional memory.

This project seeks to examine the ways in which the media of Holocaust photography and videography are represented in museums in Canada and Germany. Specifically, this project analyzes the Topography of Terror (Berlin), the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg), and the German Military History Museum (Dresden). The media of video- and photography are integral to a comparative examination of the intentional and unintentional effects and knowledge produced by these museums, since both media tend to be seen as more ‘authentic’ than text and remain somewhat outside the control of the museums; photographs and videos are often more than just a mouthpiece for museal goals. In order to adequately compare these representations in each of the three museums, they are analyzed simultaneously through the lens of distance and proximity between visitor and subject, and whether one is able to feel empathy for historical persons (and with whom) or not.

One of the major analytical shortcomings regularly made by EU and NATO experts today lies with exclusively seeing the European defence project as a post-World War II (WWII) phenomenon and the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as mainly a post-Cold War product. No analyst has so far seriously explored the idea of European defence predating WWII and the 20th century. Instead, since 1999 one frequently reads and hears about the ‘anomalous,’ ‘elusive’ CSDP suddenly complicating transatlantic relations. But the CSDP is hardly an oddity or aberration, and it is certainly not as mysterious as some might suggest. Drawing extensively from primary sources and predicated on an overarching evolutionist approach, this thesis shows that the present CSDP is an ephemeral security and defence concept, only the latest of its kind and full of potential. Drawing its deepest ideational roots from the (pre-)Enlightenment era, the CSDP leads to a pan-European defence almost irreversibly. A common defence for Europe is quite possible and, due to the growing impact of the exogenous (multipolar) momentum, can be realized sooner rather than later even without a full-fledged European federation.

This thesis deals with the question of whether the Canadian government was a partner or an onlooker in the diplomatic process of German unification at the end of the Cold War. Rather than focusing on the major powers that were directly involved in determining the external aspects of German unity, Canada’s involvement as a middle power is explored. Canadian participation in ending the Cold War can be traced back to Trudeau’s efforts to further détente. Canada facilitated the international relaxing of tensions until the election of the Mulroney government. The shift in foreign policy revealed the reluctance of the new government to soften hostilities. As a result, the Mulroney government endorsed the American and West German agenda for German unification since it positioned a united Germany as a security and economic partner in the western alliance against the Soviet Union and strengthened Canadian security in the post-Cold War period.

This thesis deals with the question of whether the Canadian government was a partner or an onlooker in the diplomatic process of German unification at the end of the Cold War. Rather than focusing on the major powers that were directly involved in determining the external aspects of German unity, Canada’s involvement as a middle power is explored. Canadian participation in ending the Cold War can be traced back to Trudeau’s efforts to further détente. Canada facilitated the international relaxing of tensions until the election of the Mulroney government. The shift in foreign policy revealed the reluctance of the new government to soften hostilities. As a result, the Mulroney government endorsed the American and West German agenda for German unification since it positioned a united Germany as a security and economic partner in the western alliance against the Soviet Union and strengthened Canadian security in the post-Cold War period.

This thesis analyzes the connection between film and body memory. Christian Schwochow’s Novemberkind (2008), Johannes Schmid's Wintertochter (2011) and Christian Petzold's Barbara (2012) are post-unification films that represent the past through the senses of sight, sound and touch. Communicative memory conveys the past to future generations, and different material objects, such as photographs, carry the past into the future. These films offer different perspectives and generations, as well as different sense memories of the German past.

This thesis analyzes the connection between film and body memory. Christian Schwochow’s Novemberkind (2008), Johannes Schmid's Wintertochter (2011) and Christian Petzold's Barbara (2012) are post-unification films that represent the past through the senses of sight, sound and touch. Communicative memory conveys the past to future generations, and different material objects, such as photographs, carry the past into the future. These films offer different perspectives and generations, as well as different sense memories of the German past.

Is it probable that a reader can have an empathetic and learning experience of an historical event facilitated through text? Research in neuroscience indicates that the form of a text can trigger mirror neurons, enhancing empathy with the events and characters portrayed and enabling introspective learning through stimulation of the default state network in a reading brain. Narrative elements in historical and fictional literature are analyzed for their potential in facilitating the stimulation of these states. The historical fiction novel Morenga by Uwe Timm is analyzed in order to deduce what a reader neurologically experiences in relation to the text and the historical event portrayed in the novel during the reading process. The probability of the reader experiencing empathy and learning through text so that their perspectives on inter-textual and extra-textual similar events are affected is then developed.

Is it probable that a reader can have an empathetic and learning experience of an historical event facilitated through text? Research in neuroscience indicates that the form of a text can trigger mirror neurons, enhancing empathy with the events and characters portrayed and enabling introspective learning through stimulation of the default state network in a reading brain. Narrative elements in historical and fictional literature are analyzed for their potential in facilitating the stimulation of these states. The historical fiction novel Morenga by Uwe Timm is analyzed in order to deduce what a reader neurologically experiences in relation to the text and the historical event portrayed in the novel during the reading process. The probability of the reader experiencing empathy and learning through text so that their perspectives on inter-textual and extra-textual similar events are affected is then developed.

Die zum Fremdsprachenerwerb wesentliche Vermittlung interkultureller Kommunikationskompetenzen wird in den verfügbaren Lehrplänen in Manitoba für Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorausgesetzt. Eine Umfrage unter den Deutschlehrern sowie repräsentative Interviews zeigen, dass interkulturelle Kommunikationskompetenzen in der Praxis oft nicht ihrem Wichtigkeitsgrad entsprechend in den Unterricht integriert werden. Der Erfolg des DaF-Programms in Manitoba hängt dementsprechend von der Sensibilisierung der Lehrer sowie einer Reform und Modernisierung von erforderlichen Prüfungsmöglichkeiten und Qualitätssicherung der Vermittlungsinhalte ab.

Die zum Fremdsprachenerwerb wesentliche Vermittlung interkultureller Kommunikationskompetenzen wird in den verfügbaren Lehrplänen in Manitoba für Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorausgesetzt. Eine Umfrage unter den Deutschlehrern sowie repräsentative Interviews zeigen, dass interkulturelle Kommunikationskompetenzen in der Praxis oft nicht ihrem Wichtigkeitsgrad entsprechend in den Unterricht integriert werden. Der Erfolg des DaF-Programms in Manitoba hängt dementsprechend von der Sensibilisierung der Lehrer sowie einer Reform und Modernisierung von erforderlichen Prüfungsmöglichkeiten und Qualitätssicherung der Vermittlungsinhalte ab.