On December 7, the students in the Berlin: Experiment in Modernity course visited the Käthe Kollwitz Museum as part of their then on-going class discussion about social democracy, through the lens of Europe’s workers’ movement in the 19th and 20th century. Situated in Berlin’s elegant Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf neighborhood, the museum is actually a modified 19th century
TagMuseums
Evening at the Museum: Dr. Thomas Y. Levin and the Phonograph
Every once in a while, a forgotten piece of history gets the unique chance to be remembered and to resurface in the public sphere. As it happened, on December 4 a lost piece of media history got its moment: the phonograph. I learned about the lecture through ECLA of Bard’s weekly newsletter on activities in
Two Capitals: A Trip from Berlin to Dresden
In the first weekend of December, two small groups from ECLA of Bard left the German capital to visit Dresden. The first group, lead by Prof. Florian Becker and Prof. Aya Soika, visited the city as part of their Berlin: Experiment in Modernity, starting on Friday, November 31st. The second group, initiated by ECLA of
Leipzig: Where the Magic and Music Happened
If you have ever wondered where the beautiful music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann came from, the answer would be this one: Leipzig. Located 200 km south of Berlin, the magical (and musical) town of Leipzig found its artistic height in the 18th and 19th centuries, as it became one of
Impressions from the Jewish Museum
Have you ever been lost? Really lost, that is, in a space such as a maze or labyrinth? No matter whether you have or haven’t, the Jewish Museum in Berlin might be the perfect place to get lost in. Earlier this month, the students in Laura Scuriatti’s class on Museums, Collections, and Literature – a
A Trip to the South Seas
When venturing to the Ethnologisches Museum on October 20th, many of the students in Laura Scuriatti’s Museums, Literature and Collections class were in the midst of writing midterm papers due that evening. As the group was waiting for the tour to start and the stragglers to join the rest, you could find students sleeping on
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,
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.