Although one of the cheapest cities in Germany, Berlin of course, like everywhere else, requires financial resources from those who want to fully experience the city in its dazzling diversity. No wonder that from the very first months at ECLA of Bard many students start trying to find part-time jobs for English speakers in Berlin,
Matsukaze: An Evocative Merger of Theatrical Traditions
In blending together the traditions of Japanese Noh Theatre with the venerable institution of Western opera, the Staatsoper’s showing of Matsukaze provides for a hauntingly pleasurable experience. Translated from Sino-Japanese as ‘skill’, Noh theatre represents a conflation of the Japanese musical theatre tradition (dating back to the 14th century) and its 16th European counterpart. Taken
Finding my Genius
The trip to Weimar was literally one of the ‘Aha’ moments in my life. This is how Weimar happened; a day before we actually had to leave, I spent the whole day reading Galileo for a class. With my head drowned in my books I wondered to myself if I would ever get to spend
Berlin’s Other Film Festival
For the cinephile living in Berlin, February means attending as many Berlinale screenings as possible. The still-intact Friedrichstrasse Christmas decorations add a sense of cheer to the festival, and with the arrival of movie stars – be it yesteryear’s goddess Catherine Deneuve or sex-appeal induced James Franco – comes the hope of a glimpse of
Martin Scorsese Exhibition at The Museum of Film and Television (Museum für Film und Fernsehen)
Every year Professor Matthias Hurst takes the students of ECLA of Bard for a walk around Marlene Dietrich Platz (where Berlin’s international annual film festival takes place), stopping at the Museum of Film and Television, located in the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz. Beyond being of particular interest for students – like myself – taking
The Anti-War Museum
On April 16th Irit Dekel, instructor of the Past in the Present: Collective Memory, Politics and Culture class, led a trip to the Anti-Kriegs-Museum (Anti-War Museum) in Berlin. Opened by Ernst Friedrich in the 1920s in the working class district of Wedding, the museum was closed for many years before it was re-opened by Friedrich’s
An Die Bärliner’s Journal: Italy on the Bare Minimal
By approximately the fourth week into my first semester of ECLA’s Academy Year Program, I had decided that the coming seasons should constitute a “European experience” for me. Though in hindsight I only vaguely knew what that meant, I still vainly pronounced my “European Year,” at the very least aiming for it to be upheld
Museum Wars: Turkey Battles for History
As ECLA of Bard students, we are relatively familiar with one of Berlin’s most amazing treasures—the Pergamon Altar. Not only do we visit it annually in an almost festive fashion as First Years, but it also decorates our homepage. I would even dare to say that if ECLA of Bard were to establish a formal