The second weekend of July marked the official beginning of ECLA’s International Summer University. It was a weekend abounding in novelties with new students trying to get to know each other and going on two trips to kick-start the international summer university on Prussia: Philosophy, Rebellion and the State. What follows is an account of
CategoryDays in Berlin
The Brillo Box Of History
The beginning never ended. Here we stand now and from here we move on. History has shattered. I was brooding on this, when together with other ISU students, I went on a tour of the Berlin Museum of German History—a journey spanning over two thousand years of history, the living ashes of the Phoenix of
“Autobiographiction”: Month of Performance Art in Berlin
If someone had told me a year ago that I could participate in a performance art event, I would have been at least skeptical. I had always looked at avant-garde phenomena with a strange fascination, but this very feeling set boundaries. After having recently attended some of the events of the Month of Performance Art
Think Aloud Or Debate
The art of speaking is hard to master. I began my debating career almost three years ago in Pakistan. Slowly and gradually I climbed the ladder of public speaking. It was right after I had achieved a big break in debating that I came to Berlin and found myself in one of ECLA’s seminars, dumbfounded
“God Is Dead.” Long Live God? The “Future of an Illusion” Foretold
On good authority, I know that many of the people who came to attend Julia Kristeva’s lecture (“The forces of monotheism confronting the need to believe”) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt on March 8th, did so me more for the speaker than for the subject as such. And how could you not get excited?
Howling and Howlers of Theatre
David Levine’s class visited two extremely different and unique plays in Berlin. The first one was Nach Moskou and the other one was Othello. Both the visits were arranged as a part of the class “Acting and Authenticity.” The actors/students were to study the acting skills and discuss what exactly they understood by acting. Questions
Digitally Divine
Pope John Paul II introduced the world to the “Pope-mobile.” Pope Benedict XVI’s Church of the new millennium gives “mobile” new meaning. Released only a few weeks ago, the app Confession: A Roman Catholic App, available for iPhones, iPods, and iPads, allows those who are equally devout to their smartphone as to their faith to
A Trip to Berlinale and Back
Making “small steps” as the long queue at International Kino meandered, I had the feeling that they were “giant leaps”! And indeed, wasn’t Berlinale a kind of lunar expedition for me, both into cinema (since all my life I had stubbornly passed it by) and into Berlin itself (in other words, Berlinale as Berlin-aller)? What’s