The American Council on Germany, the Tennessee World Affairs Council, and the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius will host a discussion and reception on how the United States and Germany are confronting the fraying of the fabric of society and tackling social inequality with Dr. Deborah and James Fallows, Co-Authors of “Our Towns” and Martin Klingst, Author of “Trump’s America” and Political Correspondent for DIE ZEIT; and moderated by David Plazas, Opinion and Engagement Director for The Tennessean.
“Social Disruption: How to Confront the Fraying Social Fabric and Social Inequality in Germany and the U.S.?” is being held under the auspices Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – Year of German-American Friendship, which is funded by German Federal Foreign office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
With thanks to Belmont University for hosting this event.
Dr. Deborah Fallows is a linguist and writer who holds a PhD in theoretical linguistics and is the author of two previous books. She has written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, and The Washington Monthly, and has worked at the Pew Research Center, Oxygen Media, and Georgetown University. She and her husband have two sons and four grandchildren.
James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for more than thirty-five years, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the United States. He is the author of eleven previous books. His work has also appeared in many other magazines and as public-radio commentaries since the 1980s. He has won a National Book Award and a National Magazine Award. For two years he was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter.
Martin Klingst has been with DIE ZEIT for more than 20 years. From 1999 to 2007, he headed the political department of DIE ZEIT. He served as U.S. Coorespondent from 2007 to 2014. Now, he is the Political Correspondent for DIE ZEIT in Berlin . In 2018, he published his new book about the presidency of Donald Trump’s called “Trumps America.”
David Plazas is the Opinion and Engagement Director for the USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee and The Tennessean, where he serves an editorial writer, opinion columnist, op-ed editor and an editorial board member. He also oversees the opinion team for The Tennessean, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, and The Memphis Commercial Appeal. He is an award-winning journalist who wrote a series on affordable housing, “The Costs of Growth in Nashville” (2017), and leads a statewide campaign, “Civility Tennessee” (starting in 2018), to encourage, promote and practice civil discourse. In March 2019, the USA TODAY NETWORK awarded him and fellow editorial board members its annual Journalism Award in the Transformation category for the civility initiative.