Join us in commemorating the 150th birthday of writer and Nobel-laureate Thomas Mann with a timely exploration of his enduring legacy and its relevance to the challenges facing global democracy, freedom of expression, and the power of literature today. This transatlantic event in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Washington, D.C., the Thomas Mann House Los Angeles, USC Libraries, and the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research takes place at the USC Capital Campus.

This special event will utilize Mann's life and work as a springboard for critical conversations about the present state of our world. In 1941, exiled in the U.S., Mann was appointed Consultant in German Literature at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., delivering powerful annual speeches, such as The War and the Future (1943), Germany and the Germans (1945) and Goethe and Democracy (1949). This event will revisit the historic connection between the U.S. capital and Thomas Mann’s renowned speeches to examine his political and artistic legacy in the context of contemporary challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. The event will feature panel discussions, lectures, a recital, as well as a sound artwork by Grammy-nominated musician Kokayi.