Karl Hirt

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. 

BlackBox Cold War Exhibition

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Photo Credit: A Kind BlackBox Visitor

This podcast—led and produced by Karl Hirt—examines our tour of the BlackBox Cold War exhibition at the Berliner Forum für Geschichte und Gegenwart. According to curator Dr. Jürgen Reiche, “The exhibition BlackBox Cold War depicts the division of Germany and Berlin in the context of the international block confrontation at the historic site of the 1961 tank confrontation.”

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Photo Credit: Karl Hirt

Karl Hirt comes from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and is a sophomore at Colorado College. He is currently undeclared, but plans to major in German and Economics. At Colorado College, he is a member of the Nordic Ski team, and in his free time, he also enjoys camping and bike touring, and boxing.

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Photo Credit: Karl Hirt

Joining Karl in his discussion are Caroline Olin—a Highland Park, IL native and senior at Colorado College majoring in Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies, and minoring in Feminist and Gender Studies, and Britta Lam—a Hong Kong native who hopes to double major in German and Environmental Science.

 

Berlin Unterwelten

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Photo Credit: Professor Heidi R. Lewis

This podcast—led and produced by Atiya Harvey—examines our “Subways and Bunkers in the Cold War” tour with Berliner Unterwelten. According to the organization, this tour “follows the traces of the Cold War in the underground. In West Berlin, civil defence shelters were reactivated or newly built in preparation for a possible nuclear war. Particularly after the building of the Berlin Wall, the West German government and the West Berlin senate invested millions in these projects. Some of these were built as ‘multi-purpose structures’ and are currently used as underground stations, parking garages and storage facilities. By explaining the practical preparations made to help people survive, this tour attempts to make the realities and horrors of such conflict easy to comprehend.”

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Photo Credit: Atiya Harvey

Atiya a senior Feminist & Gender Studies major from Washington, DC. She is taking this class in Berlin, because she enjoys learning about world history. She is a blunt, empathetic, and outdoorsy person who stands up for social and environmental issues.

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Photo Credit: Atiya Harvey

Joining Atiya in her discussion are Karl Hirt—a sophomore at Colorado College and New York native who hopes to either double major in German and Economics or International Political Economy, and Maddie Sorensen—a junior at Colorado College hailing from Chicago and majoring in Organismal Biology and Ecology.

NOTE: The photo credit for the featured image also belongs to Atiya Harvey.

Jüdisches Museum Berlin

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Photo Credit: Kendall Stoetzer

This podcast—led and produced by Britta Lam—examines our tours at the Jüdisches Museum in Berlin with Karsten and Adam. “Since opening its doors in 2001, the Jewish Museum Berlin has joined the ranks of Europe’s leading museums. Its exhibitions and permanent collection, educational activities, and diverse program of events make the museum a vibrant center of reflection on Jewish history and culture as well as about migration and diversity in Germany. An architectural masterpiece, Daniel Libeskind’s spectacular structure has firmly established itself as one of Berlin’s most recognizable landmarks. The zinc-paneled building is innovative in the connection it creates between the museum’s topics and its architecture. Libeskind has dubbed his design Between the Lines, a title that reflects the tensions of German-Jewish history. Inscribed within the design of the building, the past takes shape along two lines charting various cultural connections and modes of thought: one is straight, but broken into many fragments; the other is winding and open-ended. The intersection of these lines is marked by voids—empty spaces that cut through the entire museum. Rich in symbolism, the museum’s architecture makes German-Jewish history palpable.”

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Photo Credit: Britta Lam

Britta is an international student from Hong Kong who hopes to double major in German and Environmental Science. In the fall of 2016, she studied abroad in Germany. With a great passion for nuclear physics, she is currently researching the use of nuclear energy as a potential option for the climate change issue. In her spare time, she enjoys playing pickup basketball and hanging out with friends.

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Photo Credit: Britta Lam

Joining Britta in her discussion about the museum are Karl Hirt—a sophomore at Colorado College and New York native who hopes to either double major in German and Economics or International Political Economy, and Maddie Sorensen—a junior at Colorado College hailing from Chicago and majoring in Organismal Biology and Ecology.

NOTE: The photo credit for the featured image also belongs to Britta Lam.