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
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Life’s too Short to Learn German, But I’m Going to do it Anyways
After about four months of classes and 5 months in Germany, I find myself in German A2, well aware that German — with its random articles and various cases, not to mention the seemingly impossible sound that lingers in the gap between ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ — is a difficult language to learn. But there
Stumbling Through: First Impressions from my First Month in Berlin
I arrived in Berlin from South Africa on the 8th of August – a day that was very memorably the kind of hot that had sweat droplets budding from one’s pores seemingly instantly after they were wiped away – in the same fashion I believe most Euro virgins do: unbathed, unslept, unattractive, and excited. Ignoring
Can We Debunk the Myth of Material Prosperity? Round Table on Higher Education at Bard College Berlin
The Round Table on Higher Education was inaugurated in 2010 by representatives of German and U.S. educational institutions in order to define and advance the role of liberal arts in the higher educational practices of Europe. Both countries have a unique approach to higher education, whereby American universities cultivate exposure to an assortment of disciplines
The Aquatic Warbler and the conservation of Germany’s species
While its name sounds like a creature Luna Lovegood might have made up, this small bird is in fact real, and in need of our help. To date, the Aquatic Warbler is the rarest migratory songbird in Europe and may be the first species to become extinct since the 1900s in Germany. Throughout Europe, the
The Little Bits of Green That Make the Tree Beautiful
There are many ways to study the world around you: through science, mathematics, literature, anthropology, philosophy etc. Environmental Science is one of those ways–a way to study the earth’s past, its present, its future, and our relation to it. When I originally thought of Environmental Science, I imagined a lot of graphs and statistics depicting
Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage!
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and yet most difficult tragedies to perform. The reason for this difficulty is the complexity of Hamlet’s character. Often the actors choose one or more idiosyncrasies of character and focus on this, while ignoring the humor and cunning of Hamlet. I once watched a Hamlet who constantly desired