Saturday the 28th of April was Berlin’s fourth annual Lange Nacht der Opern und Theater: the ‘long night of opera and theatre’. With 57 venues putting on over 150 performances within a single five-hour window, the event seemed to scream “Look at me, I’m cultural” so loudly that no self-respecting Berliner-hipster (or Liberal Arts student) could
Discovering Milan and Michelangelo
This year’s trip to Italy, as part of the core course The Florentine Renaissance and its Values, offered an additional excursion to ECLA Academy Year and BA First Year students: a day in Milan.In the course’s history, where students spend several days in Florence at the beginning of the spring term, brief visits to other
The Laurentian Library: experiencing the Renaissance through Michelangelo’s architecture
The Laurentian Library is an official symbol of the growth of power and wealth of the Medici family in Florence. Commissioned in 1523, Michelangelo designed and began working on the building in 1525. In 1535, Michelangelo left Florence and his work was finished, based on his designs, by Ammannati, Basari and Tribolo. The Library remains
Frank Ruda on Hegel and Marx – From Abstraction to Alienation to Universalism
The BA2 Core Course for the spring term, on the topic of ‘Property’, co-taught by faculty members Catherine Toal and Michael Weinman, commenced on the 16th of April with two guest seminars from Frank Ruda, Visiting Lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy, Scientific Research Centre in Ljubljana, Research Associate in Philosophy at the Free University
Revealing What’s Hidden
It was quickly decided by public decree that Leonardo would be given some beautiful work to paint, and Leonardo was thus commissioned to do the hall.” – Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists All over the world, art historians’ minds are divided concerning a recent discovery in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. The main hall, covered in
The Encased World
Spring has finally arrived after a seemingly interminable winter, and people are out and about enjoying the sun and the sights of Berlin. Different parts of the city offer their respective attractions like the tour favourite Museuminsel, or Prenzlauer Berg with its hip, bohemian atmosphere. Dahlem – the district that is home to Freie Universität,
Die Zauberflöte
It was quite a sight to behold so many eager children and teens at the opera before the show even started; the theatre was already buzzing with excitement. Deutsche Oper’s most recent staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute delivered a vibrant performance with a healthy dose of hilarity, romance, extravagance and of course, magic. The Magic Flute tells
Visit to Jewish Museum of Berlin: New Experiences of Remembering
I had heard much of Daniel Liebeskind’s deconstructive architecture of Berlin’s Jewish Museum before visiting, so was therefore surprised by the presence of a romance-style building at the museum’s location.My visit was shared by a collective of ECLA students and guided by faculty art historian Professor Aya Soika and winter term guest professor Dr. Irit Dekel.