The ANUCES  was delighted to welcome back Dr Christian Wicke from the Institute for Social Movements, Ruhr University Bochum. Christian completed his PhD at the Centre in 2011 and he has kept in touch with us since graduation as a Visiting Fellow. We were even happier to be able to have an informal launch of Christian’s book, based on his thesis, Helmut Kohl’s Quest for Normality: His Representation of the Germany Nation and Himself (New York and Oxford, Berghahn, 2015). Among the well wishers at the event were members of his supervision panel, Prof. Paul Pickering, and mentors, Prof. Diana Davis and Dr John Besemesres.

Christian was at the ANU as part of a visit with his new team led by Prof Stefan Berger of Ruhr University Bochum, to present their work “A post-industrial mindscape? The popularisation of industrial heritage in the Ruhr and the representation of its regional identity in comparative perspective”. The seminar was held on 28^th July as a co-sponsored event between ANUCES and the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.