The Haifa Center for German and European Studies (HCGES) is a joint project of the University of Haifa and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The Center was founded in 2007 and opened in June 2008 by the Federal Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier.[1] It is part of the [ Research Authority of the University of Haifa [2] cooperating with the faculties of humanities, social sciences and law.[3] The founding idea of the Center is to provide students, research, academics and the general public with information about modern Germany and Europe. Therefore the Center is holding public events as well as academic conferences and workshops. It also conducts its own interdisciplinary research with a focus on social, political, legal, economic and cultural developments in Germany and Europe after 1945.[4] The HCGES is part of the global network of DAAD Centers for German and European Studies.[5]
The Center was first run by Prof. Gilad Margalit together with Prof. Benjamin Bental. In 2015 Prof. Eli Salzberger was appointed director. Since March 2020, Prof. Stefan Ihrig has headed the Center. Among the senior lecturers and Research Fellows are Prof. Fania Oz-Salzberger and Dr. Ayelet Banai[6]
Academic and public events are an essential pillar of the Center's work. On an annual basis the Center hosts the Annual Europe Day Celebration[7][8] together with the[clarification needed] [9]
In December 2018 the Center hosted a book launch on "The German Political Foundations' Work between Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ramallah - A Kaleidoskope of different perspectives".[10][11] In summer 2019 the Center opened a summer school on "Populism" together with the Ludwig Maximilans University of Munich and the University of Wroclaw. In November 2019 the Center organized together with the Heinrich Böll Foundation Israel an international conference on "Decarbonization Strategies in Israel and Germany".[12][13] Other cooperation partners are the Bucerius Institute, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Israel, the School of History at the University of Haifa, and the Embassy of Germany in Tel Aviv.[14]
The Center offers an English speaking MA Program in "Modern German and European Studies"[15] and a PhD Program. The Master can be accomplished within one or two years. It is an interdisciplinary Master offering courses in German History, European Politics, German Economy, German Culture, European and German Foreign Policy and many others. Besides the academic core courses the students are fully integrated in the Centers activities on campus.[16]
Another pillar of the Centers work is the German language teaching. The Center offers language courses for university students as well as for the broader public.[17] Courses are offered on all levels and conduct in groups of up to 15 people.[18]
