Anna with friends visiting from NYU London at the Berlin Wall.
1. What is your school affiliation and what year are you? What is your major?
I am a rising senior at NYU in the Global Liberal Studies school. I am set to graduate in the spring of 2017. I am a Global Liberal Studies major concentrating in Politics, Rights, and Development. I also have declared a double major in German language.
2. What inspired you to study in Berlin?
It was multiple reasons. I already had some good German language experience as I attended Kindergarden in Basel, Switzerland (German speaking part of Switzerland). I also loved that Berlin was located very centrally in Europe. This would allow me to meet people from all over the continent and allow for easier travel to other countries. The biggest inspiration for my choice was the current world refugee crisis. I had been reading reports on Germany’s record breaking in take of people in need and was fascinated by how they were able to accomplish this where other countries shied away from the challenge (The US included).
3. How was your experience? What was most inspiring, surprising, or moving about your time there? What did you find challenging?
The experience cannot be described as anything short of incredible. I owe a big thank you to the truly amazing NYU Berlin staff and professors. They really take into account an individual students interested and go out of their way to connect you with resources in and around Berlin. It was surprising to see how different and yet similar it was to NYC. You have the same melting pot of people aspect and your surrounded by amazing art and culture. However, it feels a bit more relaxed and slower than NYC. People take their time and sit out side at cafes for coffee rather than running around with Starbucks to-go cups!
I had a very moving experience with the family of a close friend. He was German-Polish and his family essentially adopted me for the year allowing me to do laundry at their home as well as never letting me leave without a full bag of groceries from their grocery store in Poland. I even went with them one weekend in January to visit their family farm in Jutrosin (6 hour car ride from Berlin). That was my first contact with the Berlin migrant community.
The most challenging aspect was trying to adjust to the framework of the EU political system. I had always had an interest in human rights but had really only approached in in previous classes from a US perspective. My first months in Berlin I was overwhelmed with the dynamics involved in EU legislation and how various member states worked together to address humanitarian issues and crisis.
4. I understand that you worked with an organization, FreeArtus: Artists and Refugees United for Freedom, while in Berlin during your second semester in Berlin (Spring, 2016). How did you come to intern with FreeArtus? What did the work involve?
I came to work for FREEARTUS artists and refugees united for freedom as part of my coursework. For Global Liberal Studies majors we perform an internship in the second semester of our junior year in our study abroad site. I had expressed interest in working in some capacity with the many refugees that were flooding in to the city.
The work involved research for fundraising opportunities, event planning and executing, some light translation work, writing grant proposals, and special project monitoring. FREEARTUS has many wonderful programs that bring together refugees and Berlin artists through the universal language of the arts. I was able to sit in on meetings with the German government as well as aid first hand in the implementation of integration programs.
5. Do you feel as though the work you did as an intern was valuable and did you see its impact? Did the experience change your understanding of issues of migration, integration, and community? If so, can you describe how?
I felt that the work I was doing was incredibly powerful. We would see newcomers come to a workshop, such as our acting workshop, and really be able to express themselves, despite not speaking perfect German or English. It was a place where they could be heard and not judged. The key to the program is that it was ‘for and with refugees’. Frank Alva Buecheler, one of the CEOs would always take in to account what the newcomers were asking for and made sure their needs would always be heard. He was an excellent supervisor because he really showed me what it looked like to go over and beyond for people in need. One evening I went with Herr Buecheler and one of our newcomers to a meeting with Amnesty International to try and locate a friend of his who had gone missing along the refugee route. It was not part of one of FREEARTUS’ integration programs, it was just a small gesture of compassion and solidarity with one of our program’s users.
Integration is a two way street. I realised that you cannot expect all the work and effort to come from new comers. Members of established communities have a responsibility and even the privilege of meeting these people half way and showing that they are supported, respected, and cared for.
6. Did you feel as thought the NYU Berlin community was generally aware of or engaged in thinking about the refugee crisis?
The NYU Berlin community was very engaged in thinking about the refugee crisis. Various students would lead volunteer groups to play soccer with refugee children or help out in other small ways. The NYU Berlin housing staff set up a clothing/food drive at the end of the semester to use anything students wanted to part with at the end of the semester before they returned home. I had a lovely conversation with Gabriella Etmektsoglou, Director of NYU Berlin, shortly before leaving Berlin about the work that NYU Berlin has been doing with teachers in order to support refugees. I would say that the NYU Berlin community is discreet in their support for refugees but strong. They realise the value and potential that each of these people has just as they value the potential of all of their students.
6. I also understand that this summer you interned in Washington, DC at the CWS Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Program. Can you describe the work involved? Did your experience in Berlin inspire you to continue working on issues involving refugee?
This policy internship threw me right back into the the American political system and forced me to brush up on my government knowledge! I assist in tracking state and federal legislation that is or might be anti-migrant. When a bill is detected our branch formulates action alerts and sign on letters in order to stop the bill in its tracks and hopefully keep it from being adopted into law. CWS is also one of the six resettlement agencies that the United States government uses to resettle all refugees in the United States. I have met some of the most hardworking and inspiring colleagues at this organisation and truly aspire to have their moral and dedication to this humanitarian cause. My experience in Berlin defiantly inspired me to continue working on refugee issues. The global climate demands a better response to the 60 million people around the globe that are displaced because of persecution. Working first hand with refugees in Berlin really grounded me and made me connect with people on a human level. It is on this level that it really hits you that these are people just like your friends or neighbours.
7. How would you compare these two internship experiences and what do you feel you’ve gained from each?
The FREEARTUS internship was much more hands on and on the ground work. The CWS internship is totally in the policy world and research realm. It all worked out perfectly for me because I really have a great perspective on policy because I had the opportunity to work on the ground with refugees. Hearing staring from the source what could be changed or improved is incredibly powerful.
8. Have these experiences informed your thinking about your future plans? If so, how?
My experiences have greatly informed what I want to do with my future. I am currently in the process of studying for the LSAT and think of which law schools to apply to. I would love to steer my law studies toward international human rights. Hopefully one day I will be able to work for an organisation such as UNHCR, US Department of State, or a non-governmental organisation dealing with human rights.
9. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time in Berlin or while at NYU?
My time in Berlin has been the most valuable and enriching experience of my undergraduate education so far. I look forward to one day returning to Berlin while pursuing my work in human rights.
On Thursday, 22 September, the NYU Brademas Center at NYU Washington, DC will celebrate Constitution Day, an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution. Stephen D. Solomon, associate director of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of NYU and director of the M.A. program in Business and Economic Reporting, will provide a dialogue on his newest book, Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech.
Stephen D. Solomon is associate director of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and director of the M.A. program in Business and Economic Reporting, which he founded in 1999. His new book, Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech, was published by St. Martin’s Press in April 2016. It explores how the raucous political protest of the nation’s founding period gave meaning to the freedoms of speech and press at a time when the crime of seditious libel was used to punish criticism of government.
