#thebardnetwork

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Meet-Up Berlin: Bard International Network

In October, Bard College Berlin hosted student leaders from across the Bard international network, including: (American University of Central Asia (AUCA), European Humanities University (EHU), Bard College Berlin (BCB), Al Quds Bard (AQB) and Smolny College (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences, St. Petersburg State University) to share their civic engagement leadership skills in a series of student-led workshops.  Participants, who were selected for their demonstrated leadership in communities, were asked to develop and lead interactive, skills-based workshops for the group.

Students’ work in Russia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Lithuania is often defined by the challenges faced in those communities. The meet-up emphasized the importance of creative thinking.  “There are no unsolvable issues,” one speaker stated, and the conference tagline quickly became “You can find a way.”  Finding a way became an important inspiration for all participants students and staff alike.  Many also found inspiration while on tours and visits with various German NGO’s, non-profits and BCB student community leader sites all focused on the integration and support of refugees in Berlin.

One participant wrote, “This conference was an open space for students with different backgrounds to develop their skills, projects and take that knowledge back to their communities.  We know change is possible.”

From photography to clowning to writing and thinking, students approached the question of community development through a wide range of innovative practices. Student participants and staff organizers worked collectively on ideas to empower more students across the network, which has inspired a new student Global Fellowship position focused on mentoring peers across the international network.

Student projects include:

Al-Quds Bard College (AQB)

Ghareeb, Raneem & Yamani, Yaqeen: AQB Radio amplifies student voices and expands the use of media on campus.

American University of Central Asia (AUCA)

Kazemi, Ulfat: Sustainistan helps create a greener, healthier environment at high schools throughout Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Arghandaiwal, Sajid: Peace Building Initiatives empowers youth to engage in their own communities and has reached over 20,000 people all over Afghanistan.

Sarmast, Zarlasht: The Recovering Forgotten Conflicts Photography workshop brings internationally renowned photographers and youth leaders for an annual 10-day workshop for 15 young Afghan photographers from 5 different regions of Afghanistan.  

Shirzad, Mustafa & Karimi, Mohammad Tamim: American University of Central Asia Model UN is a student-directed academic simulation of the United Nations reaching over 250 national and international students from Central Asia, along with the first annual high school session hosting over 70 students.

Bard College Berlin (BCB)

Risnovska, Veronika: Clowning Workshops is an acting and arts-based program that prepares Bard College Berlin students to work with children in refugee camps, orphanages and hospitals.  

Sopo Kashakashvili: VOICE/NOIZE focuses on storytelling and the uniqueness of each individual voice.

Hadi, Adeeb: Baghlin is a three-day Human Rights Film Festival between Baghdad and Berlin that explores human rights violations through film.

Smolny College (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences, St. Petersburg State University

Nikiforova, Veronika: LA&S Magazine is a multidisciplinary publication that takes a diverse and creative approach to journalism, culture and news-making.

European Humanities University (EHU)

Yahor Aleksishyn: The EHU Network focuses on the development of EHU student life. Network activities connect students to community on and off campus.

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Global Citizenship Course Goes Global Across the Bard Network

What does it mean to be a global citizen?  What forms of political organization are necessary to address problems that cut across national borders and require a global response?  During the Fall 2016 semester, students at five campuses in the Bard-HESP network are contemplating these and similar questions in a new course titled Global Citizenship.  Faculty members from American University of Central Asia, Al-Quds Bard, Bard-Annandale, Bard College Berlin, European Humanities University and faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences of St. Petersburg State University met in person and over video several times during the 2015-16 academic year to carefully plan and coordinate efforts to launch a shared course on global citizenship. The result is a set of linked courses that share readings, a similar course structure and common assignments.

One of the goals of the course is to link students in different parts of the world in conversation about a common set of problems and global issues. To this end, all students enrolled in the course regularly participate in an online discussion forum, where they respond to questions posed by the different classes, engage with one another in virtual debate, and sustain a global conversation about how to meet the challenges that an increasingly globalized world presents.  To further encourage collaboration between the campuses, faculty have arranged for guest lectures that link the different classes.  Michelle Murray, who teaches the course on the Bard-Annandale campus commented on how global problems are conceptualized and studied in the class. “These linkages highlight how very specific local problems can have global significance and demonstrate for students how similar problems unfold differently in different places. Our hope is that this class will be taught annually across the network for years to come.” Murray went on to say plans are underway for future iterations of the course to include more direct collaborations where students will be paired with peers from other campuses to work on a joint project.