This hybrid seminar is a collaboration between UCLA's Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies and the Thomas Mann Hosue. The course, which is open to undergraduate and graduate students, examines the long history of exchange between Los Angeles and Europe. It begins with an overview of transatlantic cultural, literary, and historical studies going as far back as the colonial era (New Spain, Mexican California). Then, it examines the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples in southern California by Anglo-Americans and European settlers during the nineteenth century, followed by a targeted investigation of transatlantic relations between Angelenos and German immigrants during the twentieth century.

Students apply their newly acquired knowledge to current transatlantic debates in culture, politics, and society. By integrating these lessons into community-engaged interviews with four Thomas Mann Fellows, they explore on a weekly basis concrete, praxis-oriented approaches to transatlantic European studies. Part of the class will be the Thomas Mann Fellows Sunhild Kleingärtner, Christine Landfried, Andreas Nitsche, and Claus Pias. Students go back and forth between Professor David Kim’s seminar on campus and a community-engaged project. In addition, they participate in an interview workshop led by Lynell George, a renowned journalist and essayist. Last but not least, they work with Jimmy Zavala at the UCLA Library Special Collections and with Michaela Ullmann at the USC Libraries Special Collections. The outcome of their individual and collaborative work is a set of public-facing projects shared with communities near and far and during a presentation at the Thomas Mann House in June.

The seminar is led by David D. Kim, Professor at the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles in collaboration with Nikolai Blaumer, Program Director, and Benno Herz, Project and Communications Manager.