I’m meeting Andrei Poama, a Romanian PhD candidate in Political Theory at Sciences Po in Paris, where he is working on theories of punishment. This fall he co-taught a class on Foundations of Moral and Political Thought, which I attended. He is also an alumnus of Bard College Berlin’s (previously ECLA’s) International Summer University of
TagInternational Summer University
Homage to Heinrich Von Kleist
Reading Kleist’s stories hurts, he stabs a dagger into my heart, I feel the world is wrapped in hopelessness, I feel paralyzed, and I feel something is true. Living can be a difficult task and involves mistakes, and this is brought painfully to life in Kleist’s writings. The uncertainty of life is brought forth in
Music Connecting People
The first few weeks of the ISU pushed us into a whirlwind of new impressions consisting of lots of historical and cultural visits all around Berlin, lectures and seminars on Prussia’s history. In between, there are the small night escapades that all of us made individually. Somewhere in the middle of ISU week two, I
ISU Visit To Reichstag And Sanssouci
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
The Magus Of The North: Johann Georg Hamann
Johann Georg Hamann is arguably the most extraordinary thinker and writer of the late 18th century, and studying his works leads one to wonder why he is so little known. Compared with his contemporaries such as Immanuel Kant who was his friend, (although they were usually in radical disagreement on philosophical matters) and those who
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
ISU 2009 Guest Lecture: Ira Katznelson on Toleration
“However flawed toleration may be, a decent human life would not be possible without it. And it is most needed in situations when it’s difficult to achieve,” Dr. Ira Katznelson said during his lecture at ECLA on July 27. Author of many books and publications, former president of the American Political Science Association and of
ECLA International Summer University 2009
On July 1, students started arriving for this year’s ECLA International Summer University (ISU) devoted to “Montaigne and the Making of the Modern Self.” The quiet residential neighborhood was awakened by the sound of young people talking excitedly, eager to get to know each other and their new summer home. ISU 2009 began even before