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The LSE SU German Society is a student society at the London School of Economics and Political Science. With an annual membership of approximately 500 members, it is one of the largest student associations outside of Germany and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Through organising various social and cultural events, the LSESU German Society promotes an interest in German culture, politics, business and language. Its flagship event is the annual German Symposium. Welcoming speakers from Germany's business, political and cultural spheres, the German Symposium has grown to become one of the most high-profile student-organized lecture series in London.
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Governance Structure
The 2016-2017 Executive Committee members are the following:
German Symposium
The German Symposium, an annual series of roughly 20 lectures and discussions, has been organised on the campus of the London School of Economics by the LSE German Society for the past 15 years. In recent years it has attracted renowned German personalities of cultural (Charlotte Knobloch, Berthold Kohler, Robert Zollitsch), political (Angela Merkel, Gerhard Schröder, Wolfgang Schäuble, Peer Steinbrück,), sports (Jens Lehmann) and business (Alexander Dibelius, Jürgen Großmann, August Oetker) spheres.
Initiated in 1998 by German LSE students, the German Symposium has become an important date in the university’s annual event calendar. Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to the United Kingdom, declared that the Symposium played a „key role in the strategic dialogue between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom“. The Symposium consists of several public speeches and discussion panels examining current issues relevant to Germany and his role in the global arena. Its aim is to promote an intercultural exchange by raising interest in German politics, business and culture. The cosmopolitan environment of the London School of Economics and Political Science renders the German Symposium unique: Roughly 9000 exceptional students of more than 150 nationalities facilitate an intellectual debate which follows the university’s motto: “Rerum Cognoscere Causas” - to know the causes of things.
German Symposium 2017
The Symposium’s new guiding motto for 2017, “Risking Transition”, will serve as a springboard to launch into detailed discussions on a variety of current affairs. Transition in the political, business and cultural landscape is the all-pervasive feature of our time. The kind of transition we witness today is faster than ever before. Countless opportunities await. However, transition also involves risk - changing the status quo is always a leap into the unknown.
The concepts of ‘transition’ and ‘risk’ will allow us to explore the many current events shaping Europe, ranging from the new Anglo-German relationship in a post-Brexit environment, Germany’s role in Europe and the global economy, as well as the impact of disruptive technologies on various European markets.
German Symposium 2016
The 2016 German Symposium was held from the 29th of February to the 4th of March under the guiding question "Poor old Germany - too big for Europe, too small for the world?". The LSE German Society has proudly confirmed that again more than 30 renown leaders of both the political and industrial domain will attend the event. Among others, these include:
German Symposium 2015
The 2015 German Symposium was held from the 9th to the 13th of March. The German Society announced that it will welcome over 30 renowned speakers, including
German Symposium 2014
In 2014, the German Symposium focused on topics such as European politics, war ethics and Germany as business location to women in leadership, media & whistle-blower and education. The German Society welcomed a range of high-profile speakers, including
German Symposium 2013
At the 12th annual German Symposium in 2013 a large variety of topics ranging from politics & media, euro-crisis, consulting, and foreign policy, to art, ethics, and democracy were discussed by
German Symposium 2012
In 2012 the German Symposium hosted
and others. Moreover, the German Society invited Philipp Rösler, Federal Minister of Economy, to give a speech at the LSE.
German Symposium 2011
Participants of the 2011 German Symposium included politicians (Federal Minister Peter Ramsauer, the former Federal Minister of Finance Hans Eichel and Ole von Beust), academics (Wolfgang Franz), media representatives (Christoph Keese, Harald Ehren and Mercedes Bunz) and business leaders (Eckhard Cordes and Alexander Dibelius). The integration debate with Henryk M. Broder, Jan Fleischhauer, Hellmuth Karasek, Ali Kizilkaya and Thilo Sarrazin was covered extensively by German, British and Israeli newspapers because the head of the university cancelled the debate with a one-hour notice. The LSE German Society moved the debate to a nearby hotel on the same evening.
Partnerships and Sponsoring
The Society meets regularly with its counterparts at Oxford University (Oxford University German Society) and Cambridge University. It also cooperates with the German Embassy in London.
Current sponsors of the Society are Credit Suisse, McKinsey & Company, Rothschild & Co, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Bertelsmann, The Boston Consulting Group, PWC, Bain & Company, Deloitte, Alpha Sights, Merck and BMW