study abroad
overview:
We explored the city of Berlin as a prism for German history, unification, and European integration, but also as a site of political rupture and social conflict to trace the social, cultural, political, and architectural markers of a divided past and ask how they inform the present and future of this global city.
The studies explored spatial concepts of the city including mass displacement during the Holocaust, the spatial and social implications of migration and the modern refugee crisis on the city, and the planning implications of a city physically divided by the Berlin Wall. We also looked towards architectural and design techniques to historically enact imagined political identities, as well as architecture and design as a means of memorialization.
Based out of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the program used traditional lecture methods as well as urban explorations to memorial sites, meetings with public officials, social activists, artists, and journalists to inform these issues. Field trips to Munich and Prague helped to narrate these concepts.
classes
De/constructing the Capital: Historical Memory and the Politics of Space in Berlin
Focused on the history and politics involved in the city's architectural and design choices, with emphasis to topics of centralization/decentralization of the city's landmarks and memorial culture.
Final Project:
The Spatialization and Globalization of Holocaust Remembrance
Germany in Europe: political legacies and post-unification challenges
Explored political and social issues through traced histories of reunification and dynamics of change and adaptation in the new ‘Berlin Republic’, such as the renegotiation of East and West German identities, the push for welfare and labor market reform, the political cultures of gender and ethnicity, immigration and integration. as well as navigating a contentious new identity of Germany in international relations.
Final Project:
The Divided Identities: A Comparison Study of Homosexuality Histories in East and West Germany
INDEPENDENT STUDY: URBAN CULTURES AND SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH THE PRISM OF BERLIN
An independent study project designed to facilitate student explorations into an aspect of German/Berlin politics, society, culture, economy.
I chose to explore the planning concept of Temporary Use within the city through case-study analysis
Final Project:
IN THE VOID: An Exploration of Interim Use Space (Zwischennutzung) Through the Lens of Berlin's RAW Territory