“The Butterfly Effect: Why Do We Feel Empathy with the Victims of War, Hunger, Terror, & Natural Disasters?” at the German American Heritage Center -- June 9.
Sunday, June 9, 2 p.m.
German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport IA
In the latest program in the German American Heritage Center's popular "Kaffee & Kuchen" series, Dr. Danuta Hutchins will refer to her book Torn Out Memories while sharing her experiences as a child living under the Nazi occupation of Poland and during the Warsaw Uprising, with June 9's The Butterfly Effect: Why Do We Feel Empathy with the Victims of War, Hunger, Terror, & Natural Disasters? finding Hutchins relating her personal trauma to the terrors suffered by the victims of 9/11 attacks.
Danuta Zamojska Hutchins, of Storm Lake, Iowa, was born in Warsaw, Poland, and experienced the ravages of Nazi occupation, their reprisals for the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and Poland’s fall to communism after its liberation by the Soviet Army. Dr. Hutchins left Poland in 1962 to study American literature and language at the University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. in Modern Languages, Education, and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and Dr. Hutchins has taught Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Buena Vista College (now University) at Storm Lake, Iowa; Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana; Iowa State University at Ames, Iowa and Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio.
She has also taught courses in German Language, Literature, and History, as well as Russian Language and Literature at Teikyo-Westmar University and Westmar University at Le Mars, Iowa, from which she retired at its closure in 1995. In addition, Butterfly Effect program presenter Dr. Hutchins has authored many papers and book chapters in her field and has written four books of general interest. Her early retirement enabled her to devote her time to her artwork, resulting in several successful group and solo exhibits of paintings, etchings and sculpture.
Before and after the June 9 program, Heritage Center attendees are invited to view the Davenport venue's newest exhibition Immigration Then and Now: Finding Refuge in the Quad Cities. This exhibit explores the Quad Cities’ history of welcoming immigrants from Europe in the past centuries and its current role as a sanctuary for immigrants and refugees from around the world. This shared history creates a global connection through the universal experience of starting anew in a foreign land, and the exhibit is presented in partnership with World Relief Quad Cities and supported by the Moline Regional Community Foundation.
The Butterfly Effect: Why Do We Feel Empathy with the Victims of War, Hunger, Terror, & Natural Disasters? will be presented at the German American Heritage Center on June 9, with the 2 p.m. “Kaffee und Kuchen” program preceded by coffee and cake at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free for Heritage Center members and $5 for non-members, and more information and reservations are available by calling (563)322-8844 and visiting GAHC.org.
