Uma Scharf

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. 

Reflections on the Asian Diaspora in Germany

Scharf

Photo Credit: Bridget O’Neill

“Britta, Kai and I are three students in this program who have enjoyed sharing our experiences as Asian women in Germany with each other. During this podcast, we further elaborated on this discussion as our way of ‘giving back’ to our block and adding a different perspective to the discourse surrounding marginalized groups of people that we have discussed so far. To guide this discussion, we engaged with two texts that we read for class—’Knowledges of (Un)Belonging: Epistemic Change as a Defining Mode for Black Women’s Activism in Germany’ by Maisha Eggers, as well as ‘Neither Foreigners Nor Aliens: The Interwoven Stories of Sinti and Roma and Black Germans’ by Nicola Lauré al-Samarai and Sara Lennox. Using these two texts, we unpacked our experiences here in Germany, and discussed what we have observed on a larger scale regarding the Asian community here.”
—Uma Scharf, Podcast Lead and Producer

Joining Uma in her discussion are Britta Lam—a Hong Kong native who hopes to double major in German and Environmental Science, and Kai Mesman-Hallman—a San Diego, CA native and junior at Colorado College majoring in psychology.

 

Jewish History & Culture Walking Tour

Maggie

Photo Credit: Bridget O’Neill

This podcast—led and produced by Maggie Mehlman—examines our Jewish History & Culture Walking Tour with Carolyn Gammon, which covers the historic Jewish Quarter on the trail of the 18th century “German Socrates,” Moses Mendelssohn, Berlin’s first synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, Jewish High School, and where the world’s first female rabbi lived, the city residence of the expressionist painter Max Liebermann, the Holocaust Memorial, and other sites that communicate the significance of Jewish history and culture in Berlin.

Rosenstraße Protest Memorial - Photo by Maggie Mehlman

Photo Credit: Maggie Mehlman

Maggie is a Mathematics major at Colorado College from Denver, CO. Maggie has been living in Lüneburg, Germany for the past 3 months studying German language and philosophy, and she is thrilled to continue her studies in Germany by exploring the hidden narratives of marginalized communities in Berlin under the instruction of Professor Heidi R. Lewis. Outside of the classroom, Maggie’s passions lie in the performing arts. In particular, she has an extensive background in dance, and is very involved with the Dance and Theatre Department at Colorado College.

Lise Meitner - Photo by Maggie Mehlman

Photo Credit: Maggie Mehlman

Joining Maggie in her discussion at Café Lavie about the tour are Kayla Adams—a Memphis, TN native and senior at Colorado College majoring in Race, Ethnicity, & Migration Studies, and Uma Scharf—a Baltimore, MD native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Neuroscience.

NOTE: The feature photo credit also belongs to Maggie Mehlman.