The Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC)

In the face of Europe’s 2015 “Refugee Crisis,” we established the Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC), a scholarship program aimed at opening doors for young, talented, strong-willed individuals from regions of crisis or conflict. The extreme indignity and ruthlessness that define our times call for a new and resolute generation of citizens who are committed to democratic values and initiating change – idealistic and impactful change that is targeted toward increasing communal alongside individual well-being.

The first scholarships were awarded in 2016. Since then, Bard College Berlin has given 85 four-year scholarships to students from countries (alphabetically) from Afghanistan to Yemen.  These dedicated scholarship holders make up on average  ten percent of the total student body of the college. In light of the jarring worldwide figures of displaced people and the increasing reluctance of many countries to provide sanctuary for refugees and others impacted by conflict,  the provision of so many scholarships is  a remarkable achievement. The PIESC students enroll in one of the three available degree tracks and at the end of four years, students who meet the requirements graduate with both an American and a German BA degree.

The program aims to contribute to a new generation of change agents and multipliers that are needed not only in the regions where the students originate, but also in Germany, Europe and the “West” at large. Scholarship awardees are seen as future politicians, journalists, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists and intellectuals– who will be able to act locally in a concentrated and pragmatic way all the while being driven and informed by intercultural and interdisciplinary thinking which is critical and creative. Only this mode of thought and action can succeed in translating and mediating between the fronts of our conflict-ridden world. And it is needed more than ever.