On December 17, 2018 faculty and Associate Dean Prof. Dr. Kerry Bystrom and guest faculty Dr. Ramona Mosse gave a guest lecture at the University of Potsdam. 

Their lecture was entitled "Virtual Reality and Humanitarian Campaigning: Childhood, Empathy and Immersion in Clouds Over Sidra" and was part of the series “Children Crossing Borders” co-organized by Bystrom with Dr. Suncica Klass and Dr. Carly McLaughlin from the Institute for English and American Studies, University of Potsdam.

On January 8, 2019 faculty Michael Weinman will give a talk entitled “Hannah Arendt and the Authority of Tradition Today” at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, Paderborn University. 

Read more about this talk on the organizer’s website>>
 

Professor of Politics Boris Vormann contributed the chapter “City Limits: Sustainable Urban Governance in Planetary Infrastructural Regimes” to the volume The Globalisation of Urban Governance edited by Helmut Philipp Aust (Freie Universität Berlin) and Anél du Plessis (North-West University, South Africa) and published by Routledge (2019).

From the volume’s description:
The Globalisation of Urban Governance makes an important scholarly contribution by linking the narrative on globalisation of good urban governance in various social sciences with legal discourse. It considers global governance and connects the existing debate about cities and their place in global governance with some of the most pertinent questions that lawyers face today.

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Bard College Berlin is pleased to announce the winner of the DAAD Award. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has enabled Bard College Berlin to select one excellent international student with an impressive record of academic achievement and civic engagement.

The DAAD Award is a monetary award of €1000 that is part of DAAD funding in the STIBET program. It honors outstanding international students in Germany with an exceptional record of engagement for social, political, cultural or humanitarian causes.

Following the review of many qualified applications, the DAAD Award was offered to senior student Margarethe Hattingh (BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought). The committee was impressed not only with Margarethe’s excellent academic and civic engagement record, but also with the recommendations she received from BCB faculty.

Margarethe Hattingh is currently an editor and writer for Bard College Berlin’s student blog “Die Bärliner,” a member of the organizing team of the upcoming Liberal Education Student Conference, as well as a math tutor for her BCB peers. She previously worked as an assistant in BCB’s Civic Engagement Office, as a teacher of English to sixth-graders at a school in Berlin, and interned with the Berlin-based NGO Office for the Implementation of Equal Treatment.

“What this award means is that somewhere out there someone cares about the engagement of students in not just academics, but in the society around them; it means that this sort of engagement is valued, and that non-German students are also seen as valuable to Germany,” stated Marga upon receiving the award, noting that “the deserving [students] are too many to count”. She added that “the award means I can feel optimistic about the value I have contributed in my time here, and that I can continue to do more meaningful and impactful work with the money I have received.”

Florian Becker, BCB’s Managing Director, awarded the DAAD certificate to Margarethe during the traditional end-of-year celebration held on December 17, 2018 and open to the entire campus community.

Photo (left to right): BCB's Director of Public Affairs and Development Bendetta Roux, senior student and DAAD Award recipient Margarethe Hattingh, and Managing Director Florian Becker

The article “Long waves of urban reform” co-authored by Professor of Politics Boris Vormann with Hillary Angelo (University of California - Santa Cruz) was recently published in the journal CITY - analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action.

The article puts forth a view of urban reform movements as “‘long waves’: consistently patterned technological and economic cycles that repeat over time.” The two authors examine the case of the United States to show that their proposed view reveals similarities in different historical contexts. “We use this analytic to historicize the contemporary ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’ city, arguing that it is only the latest in a series of beauty and efficiency solutions to urban problems, and its promises should be taken with more than a grain of salt.”

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