The German Studies Seminar 2010 invites fourteen U.S. scholars from fields as varied as political science, geography, sociology, history, Germanics, and modern languages to explore the demographic developments in Germany, and how they challenge the social security system, the employment market, and the political system with more than one-third of the voters now being retirees.

How has German reunification effected the "Sozialstaat"? Do the expectations in the system differ in East and West Germany? What role do changing values play for the future of the social welfare system and how important are family and education for societal coherence in Germany? What relevance has life-long education in an aging German society? Will the long-time generations’ contract turn into an explosive generations’ conflict? As health care reform is being debated in the U.S. it will be exciting for the American visitors to witness the controversies about the “Sozialstaat” in Germany - if only for a brief period.