This article originally appeared on The Point and has been republished here with their kind permission. David Kretz is a German-born Austrian and a BA 2016 alumnus. The most compelling political performance artists in Germany do not like to be called “artists.” Nor do they prefer the label of “activists”—a term they reserve for gradualists,
Author: David Kretz
How A Conservative Rural Country Defeated A Far-Right Presidential Candidate
This article originally appeared on Public Seminar and has been republished here with their kind permission. David Kretz is a German-born Austrian and a BA 2016 alumnus. December 4, 2016, was a fateful day for Europe, and the world. The Italians held a referendum about constitutional amendments and their No vote brought down the government. Though any
Passing Through
Passing through, passing through. Sometimes happy, sometimes blue, glad that I ran into you. Tell the people that you saw me passing through. –– D. Blakeslee, 1948. One year ago I was finishing a blog article about the 2015 graduation. I had just come back from my time abroad and was glad about the chance
Welcome to a new semester!
Dear all, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new semester for all of us and we at Die Bärliner feel more than just good about accompanying you also on the next episode of Bard College Berlin life. We hope you’ll savor on our pages its distinctive blend of effervescent craziness, deep conversations, playful idleness,
There and Back Again
As I write these lines, the urban landscape of Berlin slowly gives way to a haze of green as the ICE train passes along a seemingly endless stream of fields, meadows, and forests on its way to Austria. It’s been a short homecoming for me this time. Returning from Paris, where I lived during my
Rethinking Economics
A spectre is haunting economics – or maybe several even. Which ones exactly––the field is not quite agreed on, but it seems to have reached the conclusion that, really, it can’t go on like this. New approaches are called for, new ideas are sought after. To this end, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET),
Heidegger and the Jews
The importance of Martin Heidegger’s work for 20th century philosophy can hardly be overstated. Sartre’s existentialism, Derrida’s deconstruction, Levinas’ ethics, and the political thought of Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, and Herbert Marcuse – Heidegger exercised a formative influence on all of them. All the same, Heidegger’s engagement with Nazism in the early 1930s casts
Why would anyone spend 15 hours on the S-Bahn?
Riding the Berlin S-Bahn seems to have become a thing among Bard College Berlin students. Some travel the Ringbahn for one hour to visit all 27 stations. Others go for the complete S-Bahn network in one go: 15 lines, 166 stations, 332 kilometres. Some even do it twice. Among them yours truly, who shall try