I had met Aya Ibrahim (2015 BA alumna) before but was only properly introduced to her work earlier this year when she sat down with a group of current students to talk about transitioning from our liberal arts Pankow campus to the sometimes turbulent world of broadcast journalism. Confident, well articulated and clear-headed, she sat
CategoryRefugee Crisis
A Look Back at the Smolny Student Conference (podcast)
St. Petersburg is home to many beautiful things, including (debatably) the world’s most beautiful metro system, delicious Slavic food, and, of course, the Smolny Faculty of Liberal Arts at the University of St. Petersburg. This past April 19th to the 21st, Smolny generously hosted the sixth annual Student Conference in St. Petersburg. Representatives from all
#7: Staging Theater in an Unexpected Place (a conversation with Veronika Rišňovská)
IKEA recently sponsored a performance piece staged by the theater troupe led by BCB second-year Veronika Rišňovská (HAST). The challenge? Create an engaging, interactive performance — in a shopping mall. How to go about such a project, in a site like a shopping mall, where interactions with strangers are typically minimal and people arrive to
The Impossible Order – Panel VII: Crafting New Narratives
Organized by the Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam in co-operation with numerous esteemed institutions including our very own Bard College Berlin, the three-day conference titled The Impossible Order: Europe, Power, and the Search for a New Migration Regime brought together researchers, artists, historians, academics activists, journalists and students from all over the globe to reflect,
Baynetna Means ‘Between Us’: How the emerging Arabic library is creating new intellectual and cultural opportunities in Berlin
When I was asked to write a piece on Baynetna, the only existing Arabic library in Berlin, I was immediately interested. I have always found deep reserves of empathy and solace within the texts of others. I believe literature is one of the most radical mediums of communication that humans possess, as it allows conditions
Wafa Mustafa: The Story Behind The Name
Wafa was arrested in 2011. The protests against the Assad regime had begun to heighten in frequency and intensity, with riots regularly breaking out in different Syrian cities. The Syrian authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on protesting in an effort to quell the rising dissent against the government, arresting many civilians. Amongst these were students
An Interview with a Clown
Veronika Rišnovská leads a civic engagement project at BCB descriptively entitled “Clowning!”. She holds weekly workshops where she trains students to interact with kids from difficult social backgrounds through improvisation and play. Once trained, the clowns, complete with red noses, visit refugee camps, hospitals, and special needs classrooms. I recently interviewed Veronika and asked her
BCB and PIESC in the Context of Migration and Integration in Germany
In the Fall semester of 2016, Bard College Berlin officially launched the Program in International Education and Social Change. PIESC aims at supporting students coming from areas of economic and political crisis who intend to take advantage of their liberal arts education to serve the public good. PIESC follows in the footsteps of PIE, the