Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Bard College Berlin accepts applications for entry to our BA degree programs and one-year programs in Fall 2026. The Early Action deadline for applying is November 1, 2025, at 23:59 in your time zone. Students who apply by the Early Action deadline can expect to receive their admission and financial aid/scholarship decisions by the end of December.
For more information on eligibility and application requirements, please refer here: How to Apply.
Should you have any questions about your application for admission and/or financial aid at BCB, please do not hesitate to reach out to the BCB Admissions Team at [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your application!
NochMall (Auguste-Viktoria-Allee 99, 13403 Berlin) On 1st November, the BCB Swap Shop invites you to visit NochMall - Berlin's first department store for used goods. With over 2,000 square meters of space, NochMall sells furniture, clothing, electrical appliances, household goods, toys, books, and much more, giving them a second life. It is also an experience center for the circular economy and waste prevention. This trip will also give you the chance to witness / take part in Nochmall's monthly auction, happening at 12pm every first Saturday of the month.
T25 to K30 November 1st is the first campus-wide Choppin’ It Up X RA event! From 1:30 - 5:30, we will be moving from T25 to K30 where we will have large tables for a potluck set up. We encourage all to bring food so that we can eat and enjoy as many different cultures and flavors together!!
You might think, “Dang, that’s a long time!” But look — the time is flexible. What’s not flexible is the food. It’s gonna be good, and it's gonna go fast, so make sure that you are on time
Things to Expect • Delicious food from people you see every day • Some refreshing drinks to get the day moving... courtesy of the RAs • Last but absolutely not least - Live Music from a familiar band!!!!!
Food or a Fiver* - How you can support • We students tryna survive.... and the way that you can support this event and the club members would be by cooking something of your own!
The Factory Celebrate Halloween at BCB this year with an open-mic night and costume party! All students are invited to sign up to perform and share their musical talents with their peers. There will also be a Halloween costume competition, and a prize will be awarded to the best-dressed! You can register to perform using the QR code on the event poster. Performance registration will also be available on the night of the event — so if you are inspired to perform after seeing others do so, you can register then as well!
Even if you are not looking to perform, come enjoy a night full of music, fun, and Halloween spirit!
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Grunewald Do you want to see some fall foliage and unwind in nature? Then join BCB GoGreen club for a hike in Grunewald! We will walk a loop around the Grunewaldsee and have a picnic lunch. You are welcome to register here, but it is not required.
Meet at Kidd Hall (W15) at 10am or at the bus station Königin-Luise-Str./Clayallee at 12PM
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
P98A Lecture Hall On behalf of the Civic Engagement and EOPND Offices, you are all invited to join Dr. Shirin Assa this coming Monday, November 3 at 12:30PM - 1:30PM in the P98A Lecture Hall for a talk and discussion on Islamophobia as racism.
"How are Muslims racialized through religion and culture? In this session, we examine how Islamophobia operates as a form of racism today and how anti-Muslim hate is reinforced in media, politics, security discourses, and everyday encounters. The session also aims to create a safe(r) space to share observations, reflect on experiences, and raise questions together. Students are invited to think about racism as a system of power and to consider what solidarity and anti-racist practice can mean in their own contexts."
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) The BCB Internship Program gives you the opportunity to gain an off-campus workplace experience in a field that interests you. You can work 10-13 hours per week in an internship while also exploring various questions regarding work in the internship seminar taught by Agata Lisiak and Florian Duijsens. While the majority of internships are unpaid, you can earn academic credits through the internship seminar.
If you are a current or upcoming third-year student and curious about BCB’s Internship Program and the opportunity to gain practical experience alongside your studies while interning for an organization or individual in Berlin, please save the date.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Writing Bravely and Originally in an Age of AI, Polarization, and Groupthink: A Talk with Thomas Chatterton Williams
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 12:30–1:45 pm
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) In an age of polarization and intellectual groupthink, and the encroachment of AI, it is more important--and more difficult--than ever to write in a way that challenges convention and accepted wisdom, all the while grounded in scholarship, logic, and fact. Thomas Chatterton Williams, an author, staff writer at The Atlantic, and visiting professor at Bard College Annandale, will speak with Joshua Yaffa, Bard College Berlin's writer-in-residence, about how to write original ideas and iconoclastic, contrarian arguments. That is, how to be both courageous and creative on the page, while not losing sight of intellectual rigor. Chatterton Williams has embodied these traits in his own writing career, and will share his thoughts and ideas with Bard College Berlin students and faculty.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunches.
Student Life & Civic Engagement Housewarming Party
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 12:45–1:45 pm
K24 Ground Floor You are all invited to the Student Life and Civic Engagement Team Housewarming Party! Stop by K24 to say hello, see our new offices, and enjoy some snacks with us as a way of celebrating the new home for Student Life.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
P24 SR8 The Faculty Colloquium is a multidisciplinary forum for discussing faculty work in various stages of progress, from brainstorming new ideas to already published work. Each session will take place over lunchtime and feature a short presentation followed by a discussion. Open to the BCB community.
P24 SR8 The starting point of this talk is a set of relatively unknown remarks, written in 1945, in which Ludwig Wittgenstein responds to what we may now (anachronistically) call genocide. Interlacing biography and philosophy, Gilad Nir examines these remarks in light of broader issues that arise in Wittgenstein's writings, including the question concerning the intelligibility of evil and the problem of theodicy. Ethics, for Wittgenstein is a deeply personal matter; similarly, this presentation will draw on Gilad Nir’s own personal experience to illuminate the issues.
Part of the Faculty Colloquium series. Open to the BCB community.
Gilad Nir received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2017 with a dissertation on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of logic. His current research addresses topics such as the limits of understanding, conceptual revolutions, and the nature of philosophical problems.
P24 Conference Room Cookies and Conversations is a casual opportunity to connect directly with University Leadership and other administrators to share your ideas, ask questions, and voice any concerns in an open, informal setting. Come for the cookies, stay for the conversation. Space is limited to the first 12 students per session. Register here.
Fall 2025 Schedule:
Wednesday, September 10, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday, September 24, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, October 15, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday October 29, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, November 5, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday, November 19, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, December 3, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
From Weaponized Interdependence to Defensive Statecraft: Ukraine’s Balancing Act Between EU Integration and Russian Leverage
Thursday, November 6, 2025 3:45–5:15 pm
W15 Kidd Hall A guest lecture by Dr. Inna Melnykovska from the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, will focus on Ukraine’s experience after 2014 to explore how, despite strong incentives to cut economic ties with Russia, Ukraine remained dependent in some sectors until the full-scale invasion in 2022, while other sectors moved closer to the EU even before formal agreements were in place. This talk highlights how domestic business alignments and bureaucratic coalitions shape strategic choices between EU integration and Russian leverage.
The lecture is a part of the class HI131 “Ukraine since 1986. History of a Post-Communist Transformation“ and is open to the BCB community and interested academics.
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) Your fellow students Ina and Mariia made a podcast episode for Stories from the Beauty Parlor about queer Ukrainians in Europe’s East and what beauty means to them. We will listen to a part of the episode and then continue with a Q&A with Ina, Mariia, Stories from the Beauty Parlor executive Annamaria Olsson moderated by professor Agata Lisiak. Come to listen and discuss!
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Friday, November 7, 2025 – Saturday, November 8, 2025
Lecture Hall and JJKH (W15) Cafe November 7, 6-9 pm November 8, 11 am-3 pm
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Jumana Manna Film Festival, taking place on the 7th and 8th of November 2025. Jumana Manna is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist, based in Jerusalem and Berlin. The event includes a screening of all three of Manna’s award-winning feature-length films. Her 2015 film A Magical Substance Flows into Me will kick off the festival on November 7th at 18:00 in the P98 Lecture Hall, followed by a discussion with BCB faculty Sinem Kılıç. The following day, Foragers and Wild Relatives will be screened in the JJK (W15) Cafe, at 11:00 and 14:00, respectively. In between these screenings, festival goers will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about forgeable plants from around Berlin, and explore the campus plants with BCB’s own Janina Schabig. After this break, Wild Relatives will be shown, and the film festival will close on a discussion with special guest Mikhail Lylov, who facilitates connections between human and ecological communities in the Spore Initiative’s garden. Our discussion will engage in the topic of seed movement throughout Manna’s film, and their movement in Berlin.
We hope to see many of you there, and a huge thank you to Jumana Manna for allowing us to share her work with our community.
*This event is open to all, please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested
Screening times: November 7 at 6pm: A Magical Substance Flows into Me (2015), followed by a discussion with Sinem Kılıç – Lecture Hall November 8 at 11am: Foragers (2022), followed by an exploration of forgeable plants on campus with Janina Schabig - JJK (W15) Cafe November 8 at 2pm: Wild Relatives (2018), followed by a discussion with Mikhail Lylov- JJK (W15) Cafe
Organized and moderated by Zoë Nation, Camas Oxford, and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
Life After BCB: Networking: Professional Friendships, and Connecting
Friday, November 7, 2025 12–1 pm
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) Maybe you have already experienced the tedious slog of scrolling through job listings, painstakingly putting together various application materials, and sending your hard work and effort into the ether, only to receive absolute radio silence in return. While this tactic may of course result in success, it remains that another, better avenue is open to you, and benefits not only your job search, but also your professional life overall: Networking! Whether you have some idea, have already begun to develop your own, or have no clue where to start, this info session will demystify the practice, dispel myths, and help you either to begin or to grow and maintain your network within a German context.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Friday, November 7, 2025 – Saturday, November 8, 2025
Lecture Hall and JJKH (W15) Cafe November 7, 6-9 pm November 8, 11 am-3 pm
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Jumana Manna Film Festival, taking place on the 7th and 8th of November 2025. Jumana Manna is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist, based in Jerusalem and Berlin. The event includes a screening of all three of Manna’s award-winning feature-length films. Her 2015 film A Magical Substance Flows into Me will kick off the festival on November 7th at 18:00 in the P98 Lecture Hall, followed by a discussion with BCB faculty Sinem Kılıç. The following day, Foragers and Wild Relatives will be screened in the JJK (W15) Cafe, at 11:00 and 14:00, respectively. In between these screenings, festival goers will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about forgeable plants from around Berlin, and explore the campus plants with BCB’s own Janina Schabig. After this break, Wild Relatives will be shown, and the film festival will close on a discussion with special guest Mikhail Lylov, who facilitates connections between human and ecological communities in the Spore Initiative’s garden. Our discussion will engage in the topic of seed movement throughout Manna’s film, and their movement in Berlin.
We hope to see many of you there, and a huge thank you to Jumana Manna for allowing us to share her work with our community.
*This event is open to all, please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested
Screening times: November 7 at 6pm: A Magical Substance Flows into Me (2015), followed by a discussion with Sinem Kılıç – Lecture Hall November 8 at 11am: Foragers (2022), followed by an exploration of forgeable plants on campus with Janina Schabig - JJK (W15) Cafe November 8 at 2pm: Wild Relatives (2018), followed by a discussion with Mikhail Lylov- JJK (W15) Cafe
Organized and moderated by Zoë Nation, Camas Oxford, and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
POISONED POLITICS: Truth, Lies, and the Decline of Discourse — and Democracy
Monday, November 10, 2025 7 pm
Hybrid: Online & Amerikahaus Munich (Karolinenplatz 3, 80333 Munich) On November 10th, join Dialogues on Democracy in Munich for an evening with acclaimed authors Renée DiResta, a professor and social media researcher at Georgetown University, and Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at The New Yorker, who will discuss the way the online and offline worlds have collapsed, leading to a new—and altogether darker and more confusing—age in both politics and society. Moderated by Joshua Yaffa, Marantz's colleague at The New Yorker and Bard College Berlin's writer-in-residence.
The event will be in-person and live online. Link for YouTube here.
This event is in cooperation with Bard College Berlin’s and the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s fall event series, “Writing Democracy: Stories, Ideas, and Arguments On and Off the Page.”
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Decoding Autocracy: Democratic Erosion and the Rise of Hybrid Regimes
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 7 pm
Publix (Hermannstraße 90, 12051 Berlin, Germany) Modern-day authoritarianism no longer looks like the authoritarianism of old. If you look hard enough, you might think you're seeing a functioning, if embattled, democracy. But in fact democracy has eroded, leaving in its place what are often called "hybrid" regimes: they borrow from democracy and contain elements of the democratic systems they seek to disrupt and subsume, whether elections and opposition parties or an independent press. Yet what remains of these democratic institutions often lacks influence or power, which is held by a central authority intent on unitary control.
This evening will feature a rare Berlin appearance by one of the premier chroniclers of this phenomenon, Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker, who has written about democratic backsliding in Hungary and the similarities with the second term of Donald Trump in the U.S. In conversation with Joshua Yaffa, his colleague at The New Yorker and the writer-in-residence at Bard College Berlin, Marantz will touch on the main attributes of these systems, and note where and how they have cropped up across the West in recent years—with Trump's America the most pressing case study of the current moment.
In which ways has American democracy already suffered, and where does it remain healthy and vital? What are the moments or markers that societies can seize to restore, revitalize, or even rebuild stronger democracies both within and across borders? This evening will speak to the critical lessons from recent political history, as publics on both sides of the Atlantic face increasing threats to democracy.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Online Student Life invites you to attend our series of programs aimed at supporting students as you make plans for post-graduation life.
You did it, but now what? Come learn about how to wrap up your time at BCB and transition to your next adventure, be that in Berlin or across the globe.
In this session we will cover: How to wrap up your academic time at BCB What bureaucratic paperwork you need to take care of including Um- and Abmeldung, residence permits, etc.
Varieties of Academic Precarity Across (and Beyond) Europe — Anthropology of Labour Network Webinar
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 5–7 pm
Online (Zoom) The webinar, organized by the EASA Anthropology of Labour Network, gathers scholars from across Europe and beyond to discuss the diverse forms of academic precarity and their social, political, and institutional dimensions.
Speakers include: Bhargabi Das (Shiv Nadar University) Martin Fotta (Czech Academy of Sciences) Mariya Ivancheva (University of Strathclyde) Aslı Vatansever (Bard College Berlin)
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) "Abendbrot" is an informal social gathering for all students interested in speaking German. Bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 6:30pm in JJK Cafe (W15). Hosted by your German tutors Sanskriti and Giulio.
Prosecuting the Powerful: Justice at a Tipping Point
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 7–8:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (W15) Genocide is listed as a crime by the International Criminal Court. The atrocities of the Holocaust were largely addressed through the Nuremberg Trials, but what is happening now? Will we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock? Or Benjamin Netanyahu? Are there legal consequences for the perpetrators after Bucha, Gaza, or Aleppo? From the adoption of the first Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg Trials to the current indictments by the International Criminal Court against two of the world's most powerful heads of state: With sharp insight and narrative power, Steve Crawshaw shows in »Vor Gericht« (engl. »Prosecuting the Powerful«) how fragile justice can be and why it is more important than ever to stand up for it.
Steve Crawshaw, born in 1955, has been working on the issue of human rights for decades. After studying in Russia and Germany, he was the London bureau chief for Human Rights Watch, worked for Amnesty International, and advised the United Nations. He was also a foreign correspondent for The Independent and produced a BBC documentary about Germany and its history. Crawshaw lives and works in London.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurelie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets and educators, thereby providing insights both into their creative and intellectual contributions and into the multifaceted Berlin literary scene – a scene that is as precious as it is fragile, thriving and yet coping with economic pressures.
LitFest 2025 at Bard College Berlin: Spectacular Currents
Thursday, November 13, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025 6–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) LitFest is an annual two-day event celebrating the work of writers working across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In accordance with its motto, LitFest explores “SPECTACULAR CURRENTS”, once again celebrating Berlin's literary diversity by highlighting writers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to create meaningful connections. Organized by literature faculty Dr. Andreas Martin Widmann, known for his novel Messias, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature Prof. Dr. Laura Scuriatti, a scholar of Modernist literature. All events take place at Bard College Berlin (Waldstraße 15, Berlin 13156) and are free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 13 6:00pm-7:30pm - Poetry & Zines Without Borders Language: English This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurélie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets, and educators.
Friday, November 14 6:00pm-7:00pm - Bard College Berlin Student Reading Language: English This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
8:00pm-9:30pm - Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation with Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (India/Germany) Language: English, Hindi Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life. Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Die Verbliebenen vom Tempelfeld: Novel Reading & Conversation with Ariel Magnus (LitFest 2025)
Thursday, November 13, 2025 8–9 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) In his novel Die Verbliebenen vom Tempelfeld, the Argentinian-born author Ariel Magnus tells a story of friendship, migration, and the unique atmosphere of Tempelhofer Feld: a place once remembered as the “Hitler Airport” and today reimagined as an urban utopia. At its center is Jamil, a young refugee from Syria who has become stranded in the “Tempohomes.” Together with the Argentinian Santiago, the eccentric gardener Mr. Schwarz, the Israeli pretzel baker Yehonatan, and the freedom fighter Elenya, he discovers a piece of Berlin shaped by freedom, anarchy, and unexpected encounters.
The protagonists drift through their days, plotting a film project, debating migration, urban planning, and social fault lines—while reflecting the contradictory, vibrant spirit of Berlin itself. “I love this novel for its humor, for the deliberately circling motion of its storytelling, for its linguistic originality, and for its composite perspective on the present, local but not strictly German” says Andreas Martin Widmann about the book.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
LitFest 2025 at Bard College Berlin: Spectacular Currents
Thursday, November 13, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025 6–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) LitFest is an annual two-day event celebrating the work of writers working across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In accordance with its motto, LitFest explores “SPECTACULAR CURRENTS”, once again celebrating Berlin's literary diversity by highlighting writers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to create meaningful connections. Organized by literature faculty Dr. Andreas Martin Widmann, known for his novel Messias, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature Prof. Dr. Laura Scuriatti, a scholar of Modernist literature. All events take place at Bard College Berlin (Waldstraße 15, Berlin 13156) and are free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 13 6:00pm-7:30pm - Poetry & Zines Without Borders Language: English This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurélie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets, and educators.
Friday, November 14 6:00pm-7:00pm - Bard College Berlin Student Reading Language: English This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
8:00pm-9:30pm - Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation with Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (India/Germany) Language: English, Hindi Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life. Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Track Changes: Mapping Musical Contrafacta Through the Balkans-Levant Nexus
Friday, November 14, 2025 12:30–1:45 pm
P24 - Seminar Room 8 This seminar explores musical contrafacta -melodies shared across different languages- through the historically intertwined geographies of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. Dr. Firat Erdogmus, a postdoctoral scholar and maker in digital humanities, will present an interactive atlas that traces these musical variations, examining folk songs across languages to unravel the layered histories of cultural diffusion, exchange, and appropriation.
Bard College Berlin Student Reading (LitFest 2025)
Friday, November 14, 2025 6–7 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (LitFest 2025)
Friday, November 14, 2025 8–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life.
Saskya Jain’s Geeta Rahman at Championship Point (2021) tells the story of a young badminton prodigy in 1990s Delhi, coming of age in a rapidly liberalizing nation while grappling with personal grief and the echoes of Partition. With sharp and inventive prose, Jain explores the intimate entanglements of ambition, family, and history.
Geetanjali Shree, winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand and currently fellow of the DAAD Berlin Artists Program, offers in this novel a bold, poetic narrative centered on an 80-year-old widow who rediscovers vitality after loss, befriends a transgender woman, and journeys across the border to confront the wounds of Partition.
Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) In this lecture Anat Kraslavsky introduces critical studies on “new antisemitism” as an emerging field of inquiry that interrogates how “new antisemitism” functions as a racializing, securitizing, and governing assemblage in Europe, with particular attention to Germany. Existing critical scholarship has shown how antisemitism is increasingly depicted as Israel-centered. The “new antisemitism” constructs a perceived global alliance of Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, migrants, leftists, and “bad Jews,” depicting them as threats to Western values such as tolerance and democracy. Kraslavsky argues that this emergent body of work requires clearer definition as a field. Therefore, the marking of the “antisemite” should be studied as a mechanism of knowledge production. Within the politics of state philosemitism, this marking enables repression, surveillance, and securitization under the guise of protecting Jewish life, thereby linking European border regimes with settler colonial logics.
Kraslavsky examines how mobilization of LGBTIQ and feminist discourses on women’s rights, gender equality, and sexual freedom become appropriated to sustain settler sovereignty and European bordering politics. These dynamics are especially visible in the knowledge production surrounding October 7, where discourses of gender and sexuality are weaponized to frame dissent as antisemitism. By defining critical studies on “new antisemitism” as a field, this lecture highlights how scholarship can resist reproducing settler colonial logics in research on antisemitism and instead illuminate the entanglements of antisemitism discourse with racialization, gender, sexuality, and state violence.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Societal Transformation and Resilience: Experiences from Local Communities in Ukraine
Thursday, November 20, 2025 7–9 pm
Lecture Hall (P98a) This event looks into the local level initiatives in Ukraine that emerge in spaces of transformation and resilience during times of aggression.
Dr. Oleksandra Keudel, Associate Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics and an Associate at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, will discuss the role of Ukrainian local communities (hromadas) in societal resilience during the Russo-Ukrainian War in the context of broader societal transformations in Ukraine since 2014
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
P24 S8 In this presentation, Dr. Luis Miguel Isava proposes a working definition of cultural artifacts, distinguishing them from both utensils and “things,” in order to analyze how they operate within and intervene in cultural contexts. This definition and characterization, which includes and expands the traditional notion of the art object, seeks to foreground the theorizing and critical impulse inherent in them.
Part of the Faculty Colloquium series. Open to the BCB community.
Luis Miguel Isava, PhD in Comparative Literature (Emory University) is Full Professor of Language and Literature at the Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas, Venezuela), is currently Guest Researcher at the Freie Universtität Berlin, and Visiting Professor at Bard College Berlin. He has published books on Poetry and Poetic Theory, as well as articles on Poetry, Literary Theory, Visual Arts and Film Studies. The paper proposed for discussion is the first chapter of his most recent book, On the Prolongations of the Human: Cultural Artifacts and Protocols of Experience (Valencia, Spain; Pre-Texts, 2022), in which he analyzes the way in which cultural artifacts intervene in culture.
AARON: Think the Image — AI Art History and the Structure of Creativity
Thursday, November 27, 2025 2–3:30 pm
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) This workshop explores Harold Cohen’s pioneering art program AARON as both a historical case study and a conceptual tool for understanding how creativity operates between humans and machines. We’ll look at how Cohen used AARON to make the logic of image-making explicit. Treating drawing as a kind of structured thought. The session introduces ideas like procedural authorship, distributed creativity, and the image as cognitive feedback, connecting mid-20th-century AI art to today’s AI tools. The second half turns theory into practice with a collaborative exercise followed by a discussion about where creativity actually resides.
This workshop is part of IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar taught by Florian Duijsens and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Runs through Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:30–8 pm
Platanenstraße 24, 13156 Berlin This initiative offers an opportunity to experience university-level courses in an informal, discussion-based setting that is open to everyone. Our goal is to foster a shared learning space where participants from all backgrounds can engage with academic material alongside Bard Berlin students.
This semester’s theme: Origins of Political Economy. Adapted from an undergraduate core course at Bard College Berlin, this class will trace the foundations of modern social and economic thought.
Bard College Berlin accepts applications for entry to our BA degree programs and one-year programs in Fall 2026. The Early Action deadline for applying is November 1, 2025, at 23:59 in your time zone. Students who apply by the Early Action deadline can expect to receive their admission and financial aid/scholarship decisions by the end of December.
For more information on eligibility and application requirements, please refer here: How to Apply.
Should you have any questions about your application for admission and/or financial aid at BCB, please do not hesitate to reach out to the BCB Admissions Team at [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your application!
NochMall (Auguste-Viktoria-Allee 99, 13403 Berlin) On 1st November, the BCB Swap Shop invites you to visit NochMall - Berlin's first department store for used goods. With over 2,000 square meters of space, NochMall sells furniture, clothing, electrical appliances, household goods, toys, books, and much more, giving them a second life. It is also an experience center for the circular economy and waste prevention. This trip will also give you the chance to witness / take part in Nochmall's monthly auction, happening at 12pm every first Saturday of the month.
T25 to K30 November 1st is the first campus-wide Choppin’ It Up X RA event! From 1:30 - 5:30, we will be moving from T25 to K30 where we will have large tables for a potluck set up. We encourage all to bring food so that we can eat and enjoy as many different cultures and flavors together!!
You might think, “Dang, that’s a long time!” But look — the time is flexible. What’s not flexible is the food. It’s gonna be good, and it's gonna go fast, so make sure that you are on time
Things to Expect • Delicious food from people you see every day • Some refreshing drinks to get the day moving... courtesy of the RAs • Last but absolutely not least - Live Music from a familiar band!!!!!
Food or a Fiver* - How you can support • We students tryna survive.... and the way that you can support this event and the club members would be by cooking something of your own!
The Factory Celebrate Halloween at BCB this year with an open-mic night and costume party! All students are invited to sign up to perform and share their musical talents with their peers. There will also be a Halloween costume competition, and a prize will be awarded to the best-dressed! You can register to perform using the QR code on the event poster. Performance registration will also be available on the night of the event — so if you are inspired to perform after seeing others do so, you can register then as well!
Even if you are not looking to perform, come enjoy a night full of music, fun, and Halloween spirit!
Grunewald Do you want to see some fall foliage and unwind in nature? Then join BCB GoGreen club for a hike in Grunewald! We will walk a loop around the Grunewaldsee and have a picnic lunch. You are welcome to register here, but it is not required.
Meet at Kidd Hall (W15) at 10am or at the bus station Königin-Luise-Str./Clayallee at 12PM
P98A Lecture Hall On behalf of the Civic Engagement and EOPND Offices, you are all invited to join Dr. Shirin Assa this coming Monday, November 3 at 12:30PM - 1:30PM in the P98A Lecture Hall for a talk and discussion on Islamophobia as racism.
"How are Muslims racialized through religion and culture? In this session, we examine how Islamophobia operates as a form of racism today and how anti-Muslim hate is reinforced in media, politics, security discourses, and everyday encounters. The session also aims to create a safe(r) space to share observations, reflect on experiences, and raise questions together. Students are invited to think about racism as a system of power and to consider what solidarity and anti-racist practice can mean in their own contexts."
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) The BCB Internship Program gives you the opportunity to gain an off-campus workplace experience in a field that interests you. You can work 10-13 hours per week in an internship while also exploring various questions regarding work in the internship seminar taught by Agata Lisiak and Florian Duijsens. While the majority of internships are unpaid, you can earn academic credits through the internship seminar.
If you are a current or upcoming third-year student and curious about BCB’s Internship Program and the opportunity to gain practical experience alongside your studies while interning for an organization or individual in Berlin, please save the date.
Writing Bravely and Originally in an Age of AI, Polarization, and Groupthink: A Talk with Thomas Chatterton Williams
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 12:30–1:45 pm
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) In an age of polarization and intellectual groupthink, and the encroachment of AI, it is more important--and more difficult--than ever to write in a way that challenges convention and accepted wisdom, all the while grounded in scholarship, logic, and fact. Thomas Chatterton Williams, an author, staff writer at The Atlantic, and visiting professor at Bard College Annandale, will speak with Joshua Yaffa, Bard College Berlin's writer-in-residence, about how to write original ideas and iconoclastic, contrarian arguments. That is, how to be both courageous and creative on the page, while not losing sight of intellectual rigor. Chatterton Williams has embodied these traits in his own writing career, and will share his thoughts and ideas with Bard College Berlin students and faculty.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunches.
Student Life & Civic Engagement Housewarming Party
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 12:45–1:45 pm
K24 Ground Floor You are all invited to the Student Life and Civic Engagement Team Housewarming Party! Stop by K24 to say hello, see our new offices, and enjoy some snacks with us as a way of celebrating the new home for Student Life.
P24 SR8 The Faculty Colloquium is a multidisciplinary forum for discussing faculty work in various stages of progress, from brainstorming new ideas to already published work. Each session will take place over lunchtime and feature a short presentation followed by a discussion. Open to the BCB community.
P24 SR8 The starting point of this talk is a set of relatively unknown remarks, written in 1945, in which Ludwig Wittgenstein responds to what we may now (anachronistically) call genocide. Interlacing biography and philosophy, Gilad Nir examines these remarks in light of broader issues that arise in Wittgenstein's writings, including the question concerning the intelligibility of evil and the problem of theodicy. Ethics, for Wittgenstein is a deeply personal matter; similarly, this presentation will draw on Gilad Nir’s own personal experience to illuminate the issues.
Part of the Faculty Colloquium series. Open to the BCB community.
Gilad Nir received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2017 with a dissertation on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of logic. His current research addresses topics such as the limits of understanding, conceptual revolutions, and the nature of philosophical problems.
P24 Conference Room Cookies and Conversations is a casual opportunity to connect directly with University Leadership and other administrators to share your ideas, ask questions, and voice any concerns in an open, informal setting. Come for the cookies, stay for the conversation. Space is limited to the first 12 students per session. Register here.
Fall 2025 Schedule:
Wednesday, September 10, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday, September 24, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, October 15, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday October 29, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, November 5, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
Wednesday, November 19, 1-2pm with Dorothea and James
Wednesday, December 3, 1-2pm with Florian and Maria
From Weaponized Interdependence to Defensive Statecraft: Ukraine’s Balancing Act Between EU Integration and Russian Leverage
Thursday, November 6, 2025 3:45–5:15 pm
W15 Kidd Hall A guest lecture by Dr. Inna Melnykovska from the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, will focus on Ukraine’s experience after 2014 to explore how, despite strong incentives to cut economic ties with Russia, Ukraine remained dependent in some sectors until the full-scale invasion in 2022, while other sectors moved closer to the EU even before formal agreements were in place. This talk highlights how domestic business alignments and bureaucratic coalitions shape strategic choices between EU integration and Russian leverage.
The lecture is a part of the class HI131 “Ukraine since 1986. History of a Post-Communist Transformation“ and is open to the BCB community and interested academics.
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) Your fellow students Ina and Mariia made a podcast episode for Stories from the Beauty Parlor about queer Ukrainians in Europe’s East and what beauty means to them. We will listen to a part of the episode and then continue with a Q&A with Ina, Mariia, Stories from the Beauty Parlor executive Annamaria Olsson moderated by professor Agata Lisiak. Come to listen and discuss!
Friday, November 7, 2025 – Saturday, November 8, 2025
Lecture Hall and JJKH (W15) Cafe November 7, 6-9 pm November 8, 11 am-3 pm
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Jumana Manna Film Festival, taking place on the 7th and 8th of November 2025. Jumana Manna is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist, based in Jerusalem and Berlin. The event includes a screening of all three of Manna’s award-winning feature-length films. Her 2015 film A Magical Substance Flows into Me will kick off the festival on November 7th at 18:00 in the P98 Lecture Hall, followed by a discussion with BCB faculty Sinem Kılıç. The following day, Foragers and Wild Relatives will be screened in the JJK (W15) Cafe, at 11:00 and 14:00, respectively. In between these screenings, festival goers will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about forgeable plants from around Berlin, and explore the campus plants with BCB’s own Janina Schabig. After this break, Wild Relatives will be shown, and the film festival will close on a discussion with special guest Mikhail Lylov, who facilitates connections between human and ecological communities in the Spore Initiative’s garden. Our discussion will engage in the topic of seed movement throughout Manna’s film, and their movement in Berlin.
We hope to see many of you there, and a huge thank you to Jumana Manna for allowing us to share her work with our community.
*This event is open to all, please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested
Screening times: November 7 at 6pm: A Magical Substance Flows into Me (2015), followed by a discussion with Sinem Kılıç – Lecture Hall November 8 at 11am: Foragers (2022), followed by an exploration of forgeable plants on campus with Janina Schabig - JJK (W15) Cafe November 8 at 2pm: Wild Relatives (2018), followed by a discussion with Mikhail Lylov- JJK (W15) Cafe
Organized and moderated by Zoë Nation, Camas Oxford, and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
Life After BCB: Networking: Professional Friendships, and Connecting
Friday, November 7, 2025 12–1 pm
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) Maybe you have already experienced the tedious slog of scrolling through job listings, painstakingly putting together various application materials, and sending your hard work and effort into the ether, only to receive absolute radio silence in return. While this tactic may of course result in success, it remains that another, better avenue is open to you, and benefits not only your job search, but also your professional life overall: Networking! Whether you have some idea, have already begun to develop your own, or have no clue where to start, this info session will demystify the practice, dispel myths, and help you either to begin or to grow and maintain your network within a German context.
Friday, November 7, 2025 – Saturday, November 8, 2025
Lecture Hall and JJKH (W15) Cafe November 7, 6-9 pm November 8, 11 am-3 pm
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Jumana Manna Film Festival, taking place on the 7th and 8th of November 2025. Jumana Manna is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist, based in Jerusalem and Berlin. The event includes a screening of all three of Manna’s award-winning feature-length films. Her 2015 film A Magical Substance Flows into Me will kick off the festival on November 7th at 18:00 in the P98 Lecture Hall, followed by a discussion with BCB faculty Sinem Kılıç. The following day, Foragers and Wild Relatives will be screened in the JJK (W15) Cafe, at 11:00 and 14:00, respectively. In between these screenings, festival goers will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about forgeable plants from around Berlin, and explore the campus plants with BCB’s own Janina Schabig. After this break, Wild Relatives will be shown, and the film festival will close on a discussion with special guest Mikhail Lylov, who facilitates connections between human and ecological communities in the Spore Initiative’s garden. Our discussion will engage in the topic of seed movement throughout Manna’s film, and their movement in Berlin.
We hope to see many of you there, and a huge thank you to Jumana Manna for allowing us to share her work with our community.
*This event is open to all, please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested
Screening times: November 7 at 6pm: A Magical Substance Flows into Me (2015), followed by a discussion with Sinem Kılıç – Lecture Hall November 8 at 11am: Foragers (2022), followed by an exploration of forgeable plants on campus with Janina Schabig - JJK (W15) Cafe November 8 at 2pm: Wild Relatives (2018), followed by a discussion with Mikhail Lylov- JJK (W15) Cafe
Organized and moderated by Zoë Nation, Camas Oxford, and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
POISONED POLITICS: Truth, Lies, and the Decline of Discourse — and Democracy
Monday, November 10, 2025 7 pm
Hybrid: Online & Amerikahaus Munich (Karolinenplatz 3, 80333 Munich) On November 10th, join Dialogues on Democracy in Munich for an evening with acclaimed authors Renée DiResta, a professor and social media researcher at Georgetown University, and Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at The New Yorker, who will discuss the way the online and offline worlds have collapsed, leading to a new—and altogether darker and more confusing—age in both politics and society. Moderated by Joshua Yaffa, Marantz's colleague at The New Yorker and Bard College Berlin's writer-in-residence.
The event will be in-person and live online. Link for YouTube here.
This event is in cooperation with Bard College Berlin’s and the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s fall event series, “Writing Democracy: Stories, Ideas, and Arguments On and Off the Page.”
Decoding Autocracy: Democratic Erosion and the Rise of Hybrid Regimes
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 7 pm
Publix (Hermannstraße 90, 12051 Berlin, Germany) Modern-day authoritarianism no longer looks like the authoritarianism of old. If you look hard enough, you might think you're seeing a functioning, if embattled, democracy. But in fact democracy has eroded, leaving in its place what are often called "hybrid" regimes: they borrow from democracy and contain elements of the democratic systems they seek to disrupt and subsume, whether elections and opposition parties or an independent press. Yet what remains of these democratic institutions often lacks influence or power, which is held by a central authority intent on unitary control.
This evening will feature a rare Berlin appearance by one of the premier chroniclers of this phenomenon, Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker, who has written about democratic backsliding in Hungary and the similarities with the second term of Donald Trump in the U.S. In conversation with Joshua Yaffa, his colleague at The New Yorker and the writer-in-residence at Bard College Berlin, Marantz will touch on the main attributes of these systems, and note where and how they have cropped up across the West in recent years—with Trump's America the most pressing case study of the current moment.
In which ways has American democracy already suffered, and where does it remain healthy and vital? What are the moments or markers that societies can seize to restore, revitalize, or even rebuild stronger democracies both within and across borders? This evening will speak to the critical lessons from recent political history, as publics on both sides of the Atlantic face increasing threats to democracy.
Online Student Life invites you to attend our series of programs aimed at supporting students as you make plans for post-graduation life.
You did it, but now what? Come learn about how to wrap up your time at BCB and transition to your next adventure, be that in Berlin or across the globe.
In this session we will cover: How to wrap up your academic time at BCB What bureaucratic paperwork you need to take care of including Um- and Abmeldung, residence permits, etc.
Varieties of Academic Precarity Across (and Beyond) Europe — Anthropology of Labour Network Webinar
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 5–7 pm
Online (Zoom) The webinar, organized by the EASA Anthropology of Labour Network, gathers scholars from across Europe and beyond to discuss the diverse forms of academic precarity and their social, political, and institutional dimensions.
Speakers include: Bhargabi Das (Shiv Nadar University) Martin Fotta (Czech Academy of Sciences) Mariya Ivancheva (University of Strathclyde) Aslı Vatansever (Bard College Berlin)
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) "Abendbrot" is an informal social gathering for all students interested in speaking German. Bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 6:30pm in JJK Cafe (W15). Hosted by your German tutors Sanskriti and Giulio.
Prosecuting the Powerful: Justice at a Tipping Point
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 7–8:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (W15) Genocide is listed as a crime by the International Criminal Court. The atrocities of the Holocaust were largely addressed through the Nuremberg Trials, but what is happening now? Will we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock? Or Benjamin Netanyahu? Are there legal consequences for the perpetrators after Bucha, Gaza, or Aleppo? From the adoption of the first Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg Trials to the current indictments by the International Criminal Court against two of the world's most powerful heads of state: With sharp insight and narrative power, Steve Crawshaw shows in »Vor Gericht« (engl. »Prosecuting the Powerful«) how fragile justice can be and why it is more important than ever to stand up for it.
Steve Crawshaw, born in 1955, has been working on the issue of human rights for decades. After studying in Russia and Germany, he was the London bureau chief for Human Rights Watch, worked for Amnesty International, and advised the United Nations. He was also a foreign correspondent for The Independent and produced a BBC documentary about Germany and its history. Crawshaw lives and works in London.
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurelie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets and educators, thereby providing insights both into their creative and intellectual contributions and into the multifaceted Berlin literary scene – a scene that is as precious as it is fragile, thriving and yet coping with economic pressures.
LitFest 2025 at Bard College Berlin: Spectacular Currents
Thursday, November 13, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025 6–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) LitFest is an annual two-day event celebrating the work of writers working across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In accordance with its motto, LitFest explores “SPECTACULAR CURRENTS”, once again celebrating Berlin's literary diversity by highlighting writers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to create meaningful connections. Organized by literature faculty Dr. Andreas Martin Widmann, known for his novel Messias, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature Prof. Dr. Laura Scuriatti, a scholar of Modernist literature. All events take place at Bard College Berlin (Waldstraße 15, Berlin 13156) and are free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 13 6:00pm-7:30pm - Poetry & Zines Without Borders Language: English This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurélie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets, and educators.
Friday, November 14 6:00pm-7:00pm - Bard College Berlin Student Reading Language: English This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
8:00pm-9:30pm - Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation with Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (India/Germany) Language: English, Hindi Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life. Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Die Verbliebenen vom Tempelfeld: Novel Reading & Conversation with Ariel Magnus (LitFest 2025)
Thursday, November 13, 2025 8–9 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) In his novel Die Verbliebenen vom Tempelfeld, the Argentinian-born author Ariel Magnus tells a story of friendship, migration, and the unique atmosphere of Tempelhofer Feld: a place once remembered as the “Hitler Airport” and today reimagined as an urban utopia. At its center is Jamil, a young refugee from Syria who has become stranded in the “Tempohomes.” Together with the Argentinian Santiago, the eccentric gardener Mr. Schwarz, the Israeli pretzel baker Yehonatan, and the freedom fighter Elenya, he discovers a piece of Berlin shaped by freedom, anarchy, and unexpected encounters.
The protagonists drift through their days, plotting a film project, debating migration, urban planning, and social fault lines—while reflecting the contradictory, vibrant spirit of Berlin itself. “I love this novel for its humor, for the deliberately circling motion of its storytelling, for its linguistic originality, and for its composite perspective on the present, local but not strictly German” says Andreas Martin Widmann about the book.
LitFest 2025 at Bard College Berlin: Spectacular Currents
Thursday, November 13, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025 6–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) LitFest is an annual two-day event celebrating the work of writers working across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In accordance with its motto, LitFest explores “SPECTACULAR CURRENTS”, once again celebrating Berlin's literary diversity by highlighting writers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to create meaningful connections. Organized by literature faculty Dr. Andreas Martin Widmann, known for his novel Messias, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature Prof. Dr. Laura Scuriatti, a scholar of Modernist literature. All events take place at Bard College Berlin (Waldstraße 15, Berlin 13156) and are free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 13 6:00pm-7:30pm - Poetry & Zines Without Borders Language: English This event features founding editor of the Berlin Review Tobias Haberkorn, poet and Bard College Berlin alumnus Sam Zamrik, and translator, songwriter and director of the Toledo-Programm Aurélie Maurin. In a round-table discussion the panelists will talk about their work as multilingual artists, publishers, poets, and educators.
Friday, November 14 6:00pm-7:00pm - Bard College Berlin Student Reading Language: English This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
8:00pm-9:30pm - Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation with Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (India/Germany) Language: English, Hindi Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life. Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Track Changes: Mapping Musical Contrafacta Through the Balkans-Levant Nexus
Friday, November 14, 2025 12:30–1:45 pm
P24 - Seminar Room 8 This seminar explores musical contrafacta -melodies shared across different languages- through the historically intertwined geographies of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. Dr. Firat Erdogmus, a postdoctoral scholar and maker in digital humanities, will present an interactive atlas that traces these musical variations, examining folk songs across languages to unravel the layered histories of cultural diffusion, exchange, and appropriation.
Bard College Berlin Student Reading (LitFest 2025)
Friday, November 14, 2025 6–7 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) This event features Bard College Berlin students reading from their works of creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
Contemporary Voices from India: Novel Reading & Conversation Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree (LitFest 2025)
Friday, November 14, 2025 8–9:30 pm
Julie Johnson Kidd Hall (Waldstraße 15, 13156 Berlin) Two acclaimed Indian novelists, Saskya Jain and Geetanjali Shree, will read from their work and engage in a conversation about writing, memory, and the many Indias their fiction brings to life.
Saskya Jain’s Geeta Rahman at Championship Point (2021) tells the story of a young badminton prodigy in 1990s Delhi, coming of age in a rapidly liberalizing nation while grappling with personal grief and the echoes of Partition. With sharp and inventive prose, Jain explores the intimate entanglements of ambition, family, and history.
Geetanjali Shree, winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand and currently fellow of the DAAD Berlin Artists Program, offers in this novel a bold, poetic narrative centered on an 80-year-old widow who rediscovers vitality after loss, befriends a transgender woman, and journeys across the border to confront the wounds of Partition.
Across generations and languages, Jain and Shree present two visions of contemporary India: one in English, the other in Hindi, one seen through the eyes of youth, the other through the wisdom of age.
Kidd Hall Cafe (W15) In this lecture Anat Kraslavsky introduces critical studies on “new antisemitism” as an emerging field of inquiry that interrogates how “new antisemitism” functions as a racializing, securitizing, and governing assemblage in Europe, with particular attention to Germany. Existing critical scholarship has shown how antisemitism is increasingly depicted as Israel-centered. The “new antisemitism” constructs a perceived global alliance of Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, migrants, leftists, and “bad Jews,” depicting them as threats to Western values such as tolerance and democracy. Kraslavsky argues that this emergent body of work requires clearer definition as a field. Therefore, the marking of the “antisemite” should be studied as a mechanism of knowledge production. Within the politics of state philosemitism, this marking enables repression, surveillance, and securitization under the guise of protecting Jewish life, thereby linking European border regimes with settler colonial logics.
Kraslavsky examines how mobilization of LGBTIQ and feminist discourses on women’s rights, gender equality, and sexual freedom become appropriated to sustain settler sovereignty and European bordering politics. These dynamics are especially visible in the knowledge production surrounding October 7, where discourses of gender and sexuality are weaponized to frame dissent as antisemitism. By defining critical studies on “new antisemitism” as a field, this lecture highlights how scholarship can resist reproducing settler colonial logics in research on antisemitism and instead illuminate the entanglements of antisemitism discourse with racialization, gender, sexuality, and state violence.
Societal Transformation and Resilience: Experiences from Local Communities in Ukraine
Thursday, November 20, 2025 7–9 pm
Lecture Hall (P98a) This event looks into the local level initiatives in Ukraine that emerge in spaces of transformation and resilience during times of aggression.
Dr. Oleksandra Keudel, Associate Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics and an Associate at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, will discuss the role of Ukrainian local communities (hromadas) in societal resilience during the Russo-Ukrainian War in the context of broader societal transformations in Ukraine since 2014
P24 S8 In this presentation, Dr. Luis Miguel Isava proposes a working definition of cultural artifacts, distinguishing them from both utensils and “things,” in order to analyze how they operate within and intervene in cultural contexts. This definition and characterization, which includes and expands the traditional notion of the art object, seeks to foreground the theorizing and critical impulse inherent in them.
Part of the Faculty Colloquium series. Open to the BCB community.
Luis Miguel Isava, PhD in Comparative Literature (Emory University) is Full Professor of Language and Literature at the Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas, Venezuela), is currently Guest Researcher at the Freie Universtität Berlin, and Visiting Professor at Bard College Berlin. He has published books on Poetry and Poetic Theory, as well as articles on Poetry, Literary Theory, Visual Arts and Film Studies. The paper proposed for discussion is the first chapter of his most recent book, On the Prolongations of the Human: Cultural Artifacts and Protocols of Experience (Valencia, Spain; Pre-Texts, 2022), in which he analyzes the way in which cultural artifacts intervene in culture.
AARON: Think the Image — AI Art History and the Structure of Creativity
Thursday, November 27, 2025 2–3:30 pm
JJK Hall Cafe (W15) This workshop explores Harold Cohen’s pioneering art program AARON as both a historical case study and a conceptual tool for understanding how creativity operates between humans and machines. We’ll look at how Cohen used AARON to make the logic of image-making explicit. Treating drawing as a kind of structured thought. The session introduces ideas like procedural authorship, distributed creativity, and the image as cognitive feedback, connecting mid-20th-century AI art to today’s AI tools. The second half turns theory into practice with a collaborative exercise followed by a discussion about where creativity actually resides.
This workshop is part of IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar taught by Florian Duijsens and Agata LisiakSponsored by: Bard College Berlin.
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