W.E.B. Du Bois, who is one of the crucial American political thinkers of the twentieth century, gained important insights from time he spent in Berlin at several junctures in his life. He was a graduate student in Kaiser Wilhelm’s capital in the 1890s; he visited the Weimar Republic’s capital in the 1920s; he conducted research here during Hitler’s dictatorship in the 1930s; and he was an honored guest of the German Democratic Republic in the 1950s. What did Germany mean to him, and what role did experiences in Berlin play in his thought?

In an early essay, he spoke of the “genius” – the distinctive spirit – of the German nation. The talk by Michael Saman (Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA) will take the idea of national spirit as a starting point for consideration of his relationship with Germany.

The talk will be held in English.