Anabel Simotas

Some Final Thoughts on the Block 4 2017 #FemGeniusesinBerlin

Kai (Dylan)

Photo Credit: Dylan Compton

This podcast—led and produced by Kai Mesman-Hallman—provides some final reflections on the Block 4 2017 section of Hidden Spaces, Hidden Narratives: Intersectionality Studies in Berlin with Professor Heidi R. Lewis. Throughout the block, the #FemGeniusesinBerlin have taken walking tours, visited museums and cultural centers, and met with activists and artists in the city to conduct situated examinations of how the identities of marginalized people and communities in Germany (especially in Berlin)—such as Black Germans, Turkish Germans, migrants, refugees, victims of Neo-Nazi terrorism and police brutality, and LGBTQI communities—are constructed, particularly how these constructions are dependent on racism, heterosexism, colonialism, imperialism, and other forms of oppression. Additionally, we examined how these communities resist, reject, revise, and reproduce these narratives as they construct their own subjectivities.

Kai is a junior at Colorado College majoring in Psychology, and is originally from San Diego, CA. She is especially interested in consciousness and the ways our brains’ processing and collecting information can shape our beliefs and thoughts. She spends her free time with her dog and watching conspiracy theory videos.

Joining Kai in her discussion are Uma Scharf—a Baltimore, MD native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Neuroscience, and Drew Ceglinski—a Bath, ME native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Geology.

 

Block 4 2017 FemGeniuses in Berlin Podcast Index:
Click here to view a slideshow, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter to see even more pictures and videos!

“Jewish History & Culture Walking Tour” by Maggie Mehlman
“Das Verbogene Museum” by Anna Balaguer
“Interkulturelles Frauenzentrum S.U.S.I.” by Bridget O’Neill
“Women’s Perspective Walking Tour” by Caroline Olin
“Jüdisches Museum Berlin” by Britta Lam
“Jewish AntiFa Berlin” by Dylan Compton
“Berliner Unterwelten” by Atiya Harvey
“BlackBox Cold War Exhibition” by Karl Hirt
“Generation ADEFRA” by Maya Littlejohn
“Queer Berlin Walking Tour” by Judy Fisher
“Queer City: Stories from São Paulo” by D. Adams
“A Right to Mourn; A Right to Monument” by Maddie Sorensen
“The Spirit of 1968 Walking Tour” by Anabel Simotas
“Reframing Worlds: Mobilität und Gender aus Postkolonial Feministischer Perspektive” by Elsa Godtfredsen
“Queer@School” by Drew Ceglinski
“RomaniPhen: Rromnja Archiv” by Kendall Stoetzer
“Reflections on the Asian Diaspora in Germany” by Uma Scharf
“Street Art Workshop & Tour” by Wynter Scott

To read and/or listen to the finales and view the indices and slideshows for previous FemGeniuses in Berlin, click here. 

Street Art Workshop & Tour

Wynter (Judy)

Photo Credit: Judy Fisher

This podcast—led and produced by Wynter Haley Scott—examines our “Street Art Workshop & Tour” with Declan (tour guide) and Rob (workshop guide) of Alternative Berlin Tours. According to the tour company, “On this two-part tour, we take the back streets and discover some of the latest, greatest and oldest examples of street art, graffiti, and mural art in this famous capital of urban art. The street art tour component is a detailed look at local and international artists who have left their amazing art on the streets of Berlin.” Further, they note that all of their guides are “street artists/graffiti writers and experts on the scene and will show you some of the best stencil art, throw ups, mural art, hall of fame pieces, paste ups, tagging, ad busting, heaven spots, burners and installations, while teaching you who is behind the art and what their motivations are.” Finally, the tour concludes “in a former abandoned margarine factory in the district of Lichtenberg where you will get the opportunity to paint and receive instructions on various street art and graffiti techniques from both local and international artists. You’ll then get to make your very own canvas piece to take home with you as a memento of this truly Berlin experience!”

Photo I

Photo Credit: Wynter Haley Scott

Wynter Haley Scott is a senior at Colorado College, where she studies Political Science and Sociology. Wynter Haley is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but came to the Colorado College because of its unique block plan. During her spare time, Wynter Haley enjoys reading books, watching Netflix movies, and playing with her puppy, Meela. This was only Wynter Haley’s second trip outside of the country, but she chose this class because she has always been interested in Germany’s rich and complex history.

Photo III

Photo Credit: Wynter Haley Scott

Joining Wynter Haley in her discussion are Anabel Simotas—a New York City native and sophomore at Colorado College majoring in History, Political Science, and Classics, and Maya Littlejohn—a Brooklyn native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Race, Ethnicity, & Migration Studies.

NOTE: The photo credit for the featured image also belongs to Wynter Haley Scott.

 

The Spirit of 1968 Walking Tour

Simotas

Photo Credit: Anabel Simotas

This podcast—led and produced by Anabel Simotas— examines our tour on “The Spirit of 1968” with Nadav Gablinger of Gablinger Tours, which covers the students’ movement of 1968 in Berlin and various other similar movements throughout the world. According to the tour company, “The face of modern, post-unification is impacted by the Students’ Movement of 1968, and the different developments in German politics it has ignited. They brought ‘Green’ notions of human rights and environmental policy to the German discourse, but others have resorted to use force to reach their objectives. Berlin, the divided city, was at the centre of Germany’s political changes, and in your tour, you will see why it has attracted the rebels and the challengers, and what they have done there. In this tour, Gablinger will show you the crossroads that changed the face of modern Germany and the relics of the 1968 Revolution in contemporary Berlin.”

Photo III

Photo Credit: Anabel Simotas

Anabel Simotas, New York City native, majors in History/Classics/Political Science and minors in German at Colorado College. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, cooking, at-home-Spa-treatments, period piece TV programs, and disco. Ultimately, she would like to pursue a Masters in Social Work.

Photo II

Photo Credit: Anabel Simotas

Joining Anabel in her discussion are Dylan Compton—a Tulsa, OK native majoring in Religion and International Affairs with a Chinese language minor, and Britta Lam—a Hong Kong native who hopes to double major in German and Environmental Science.

NOTE: The featured image photo credit also belongs to Anabel Simotas.

 

Interkulturelles Frauenzentrum S.U.S.I.

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Photo Credit: Maggie Mehlman

This podcast—led and produced by Bridget O’Neill—examines our session at Interkulturelles Frauenzentrum S.U.S.I. with Jamile da Silva e Silva (Program Coordinator) and Melody LaVerne Bettencourt (Events Assistant). S.U.S.I. (an abbreviation of Solidarity, Independence, Social and International)—an organization whose members and boards are mostly migrant—was founded on in 1992 by Christiane Barckhausen-Canale, “who wanted to create a house of international encounters in the autumn of ’89 in the east of Berlin.” The original aim of the organization “was to promote intercultural exchange, especially through events and workshops,” and this has evolved to include counseling services and empowerment events.

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Photo Credit: Maya Littlejohn

Bridget is a junior at Colorado College, where she is majoring in Political Science and minoring in German. She is from Louisville, CO (just outside of Boulder), and enjoys climbing, hiking, writing, and finding the best coffee shops around. She has spent this semester mostly in Lüneburg, Germany, and is excited to be spending her last term of the semester in Berlin, where this course with Professor Lewis is putting often silenced narratives center stage.

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Photo Credit: Maya Littlejohn

Joining Bridget in her discussion about S.U.S.I. are Anabel Simotas—a New York City native and sophomore at Colorado College majoring in History, Political Science, and Classics, and Judy Fisher—an Oklahoma native and sophomore at Colorado College majoring in Feminist and Gender Studies.

NOTE: The feature photo credit also belongs to Maya Littlejohn.