Mohamed Amjahid and Max Czollek will engage in a conversation with guests in the U.S. about strategies for a more open, diverse and just society in Germany and the U.S. Thomas Mann Fellow and author Mohamed Amjahid and poet and publicist Max Czollek talk about political activism and diversity. In their work, they discuss the politics of history in the discourse on integration in both countries and raise the question: How is social diversity expressed in politics and art in both countries? What are counter-concepts to white, hegemonic culture?

The guests in the second episode in Houston are author Corinne Kaszner, artist Joy Harris and curator Ashley DeHoyos.

Participants

Max Czollek was born in Berlin in 1987, where he still lives and works today. In 2012, he received a degree in political science from the Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin). In 2016, he completed his doctorate studies at the Center for Research on Antisemitism (Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung, ZfA), also at the same Technical University. Since 2009, Czollek has been a member of poetry collective G13, which has published books and organized lectures.

Ashley DeHoyos is a cultural producer and educator born and raised in Baytown, TX. They received a BFA from Sam Houston State University (2013) and MFA in Curatorial Practice from Maryland Institute College of Art (2016). As of 2018, they have served as the Curator at DiverseWorks in Houston, TX, where they have organized a full range of visual, performing, and public arts programming. Through their curatorial practice, Dehoyos is focused on creating cultural platforms with intersectional perspectives and speculative futures as they relate to history and the environment.

Jeanette “Joy” Harris is a Houston-based artist, writer, and curator interested in performance and politics. She was a scholar in residence at the Hannah Arendt Institute at Bard College and currently serves on the American Philosophical Association’s Committee for Public Philosophy. Joy has shown creative works in the US, UK, and EU and is on the management committee for Experimental Action, Houston’s performance art biennial. Joy is pursuing a PhD in Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought at European Graduate School.

Corinne Kaszner is a political scientist and sociologist, whose focus lies within the fields of political philosophy, social justice and diversity, gender theory and politics. She has been a trainer for Social Justice and Diversity since 2013, the book Praxishandbuch Social Justice und Diversity was published in 2019. Corinne is currently working as research associate in the project "Heidegger and Postmodernity" based at University of Cologne and pursuing a PhD in history of philosophy and political thought at Technical University of Darmstadt.

Live online stream on September 16, 2020, 12 PM (PST).