Colloquium: Music and Human Rights since World War Two

  • Date: Feb 11, 2020
  • Speaker: Jessica Gienow-Hecht
  • Location: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin
  • Room: Small Conference Room
  • Host: Center for the History of Emotions
  • Contact: sekfrevert@mpib-berlin.mpg.de

The Center for the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, led by Prof. Ute Frevert, cordially invites all interested to attend its winter semester 2019/2020 colloquium:

Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Freie Universität Berlin

Music and Human Rights since World War Two

The purpose of this presentation is to outline two simultaneous developments that marked the immediate postwar era: the rise and popularisation of classical music in North America and the rise of the global human rights discourse. In particular, the talk will explore three themes: 1. The role of actors, prominent conductors, and soloists who formulated universalist visions in order to rally governments and people behind a common cause; 2. the concert stage as a site where performance translated into political meaning; 3. the role of music proper, both as an act of humanization and dehumanization.

Jessica Gienow-Hecht is director of the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Principal Investigator of the Excellence Cluster “Contestations of the Liberal Script,” and editor of the series “Explorations in Culture and International History” (Berghahn Books since 2003). She has taught in Japan, Germany, and North America and has published widely on the history of transatlantic relations, diplomacy, cultural relations, music, and emotions. Her most recent work focuses on competing visions of humanity. Her most recent publication is “Nation Branding: A Useful Category for International History,” in the journal Diplomacy & Statecraft (Volume 30, 2019 - Issue 4, pp. 755-779).

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