The Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC)

PIESC in Theory

In 2015 we established the Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC), a scholarship program that is aimed at young, promising, 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 initiate change – idealistic and impactful change that is targeted toward increasing the communal well-being instead of the individual being well-off.Over the past three academic years, Bard College Berlin has been able to award 32 four-year scholarships to Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan, Palestinian, Greek, Brazilian and Eritrean students. This number makes up ten percent of the total student body of the college, which currently consists of 270 students. In light of the jarring worldwide figures of displaced people, 32 does seem a negligible number but in comparison to the number of refugees actually entering B.A. programs either in Europe or abroad, it is a remarkable achievement. The PIESC students enroll in one of the two available curricular tracks and at the end of four years students who meet the requirements graduate with a dual American and German B.A. degree.The aim of the program is to contribute to a new generation of change agents and multipliers that are needed not only in the regions of crisis where the students originate from, but also in Europe and the “West” at large. We want to educate the future politicians, journalists, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists and intellectuals that are able to act locally in a concentrated and pragmatic way all the while being driven and informed by intercultural and interdisciplinary thinking. Only this mode of thought and action can succeed in translating and mediating between the fronts of our conflict-ridden world.The PIE-SC program can only exist because of private and institutional philanthropy. Bard College Berlin commits to cover 70% of the tuition balance. The remaining cost of supporting a scholarship is €20,000 per year. A full scholarship covers tuition, room and board, all applicable fees, health care, monthly transport within Berlin, and a fund to cover books, study materials and pocket money. We ask donors to make a firm pledge for the full duration of a B.A. program, which equals four years of study.