Bard’s signature project is the development of Bard College Berlin as an international hub for the study of migration. At the center is the creation of a new Migration Perspectives semester that will provide students from Consortium schools with an innovative and critical exploration of migration beyond US-centric political and scholarly contexts. As an arrival city, post-migrant metropolis, and home to prominent research and activist institutions, Berlin is the perfect place to study the complexities of migration. With the addition to the faculty of a Middle Eastern Studies scholar enabled by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, BCB will be able to offer experimental and civically engaged courses that situate Berlin in both a European and a wider global frame, encourage work directly in the city and move beyond traditional knowledge formats to include creative and collaborative products by students. Beyond the core Consortium class “A Lexicon of Migration,” examples of classes created for this study abroad track include “Urban Sounds and Migration,” “Migration, Gender, and Nationalism,” and “Legal and Illegal Migration in Germany.”

The Migration Perspectives program is committed to practice-based learning and will offer students the opportunity to pursue internships in the field of migration, refugee support, and human rights. Students will also benefit from Bard College’s Berlin strong civic engagement projects, including a public program of events and workshops, and from learning jointly with its diverse student body, 10% of whom are displaced students. Integral to the development of new courses, to public outreach and collaboration with local and international NGOs, and to the continued extension of access to education to displaced students is the construction of a new transnational teaching and media lab, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and open as a resource to all Consortium members doing projects in Berlin.