Greetings from Vienna, where the last full day of our tour was indeed very full. With a national holiday meaning that all public offices were closed on Monday, we needed to make all of our Vienna connections on this day. So Tuesday was full… but also fun and informative. We began by visiting the OeAD – the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalization. There, we learned a great deal about the Austrian educational system, which frankly has a far more complex structure than does public education in the United States. Don’t believe me? Check out this chart we all received. While [...]

Hello, this is Heidi Bauer-Clapp (she/her) from UMass Amherst reporting on our activities for Monday, May 20! Today is Whit Monday, a holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost in the Christian tradition—universities, museums, and most shops are closed, so NAFAns were on the move again, this time to Bratislava, Slovakia. We started the day with some challenges on Vienna’s U-Bahn (subway), which reminded us all that it’s important to be vigilant and take care of each other. We caught our Flixbus to Bratislava just in time and settled in for a comfy journey (a little over an hour from Vienna). We [...]

Greetings from Vienna! It has been a whirlwind of a study tour! One of the great benefits of this trip (besides meeting university and foundation reps, and connecting with colleagues) has been our chance to explore, meaning that some days we have free time where we can choose our own adventure. Today was one of those days! The Volksgarten in full bloom. After arriving in Vienna late the day before, we started our first full day in the city with a walking tour. Home to some of the greatest artistic and intellectual figures in history, Vienna was THE center [...]

Our sixth day on the Tour was a travel day, and a nice break between activities in German cities and our next (and final) stop, Vienna! While some slept in and/or repacked items before our train departed that afternoon, others used the continued good weather in Weimar for one last coffee, museum visit, or shopping run. Some of us even stayed in the hotel through the early afternoon catching up on Stateside work. "Solidarity is better than solidly Aryan" At 1:30 PM, it was off to the Weimar train station one final time with all our luggage in tow. [...]

Note from Susan Albrecht: Later [on Day 6], about 2/3 of our group opted to head to Buchenwald to see the grounds and museum of the former Nazi concentration camp, where there were more than 55,000 deaths. After WW II, Buchenwald was put back into use as a Soviet internment camp until 1950. Photos provided by Sidney Woram, Heidi Bauer-Clapp, Jessie McCrary, and Susan Albrecht. Weimar, the cultural capital of Germany, was home to the Bauhaus School of Art and Design – known for its sleek, modern design elements. The Nazi regime outlawed Bauhaus, as it was considered to be [...]

It’s day 6 of the study tour—so we’re just over halfway! It’s hard to believe. We had a half day of presentations in Weimar and a welcome afternoon of free time. Our academic experience was at Bauhaus University Weimar, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Dr. Christian Kästner briefly described the history of the university, which was founded in 1919 as The Bauhaus design school and after several transitions became Bauhaus University Weimar in 1995. The university has four faculties: Architecture and Urbanism, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Art and Design, and Media, all of which are interested in the intersections of design [...]

After arriving by train to Weimar late Wednesday, today marked our first day beyond the bounds of Berlin and Potsdam. We took an early train to Jena, to visit two more types of research and education institutes. The pace and feel of both Weimar and Jena are very different from the bustle of Berlin, and it exciting to get to see beyond the biggest cities and explore the many educational and research centers in smaller, regional locations in Germany. Group photo on the stairs at Max Planck Institutes, Jena NAFAns in the bug labs(!) donning white coats [...]

Fulbright Friday...written on a Wednesday! Hello, this is April Seehafer from Washington State University, reporting from our 2024 Study Tour. Today was yet another day of adventures and learning in Germany, including a visit with Fulbright officials and recipients. The weather in Berlin has been absolutely gorgeous so far and we started another warm day bright and early! After 22,000+ steps yesterday, it was a delight to catch the bus right across the street from our hotel. We headed over to the German American Fulbright Commission, where we met with Ms. Catharina Hänsch, Program Officer American Programs, Ms. Kerstin Klopp-Koch, Coordinator [...]

Lost (and Found) in Transition Potsdam is a place between, where East and West Germany were divided between American and Soviet forces in the year following WWII. This history is reflected in the architecture of its buildings and its people. Neoclassic facades, many reconstructed after the city was bombed by both America and the Soviet Union just months before the war ended, mingle with communist-era brutalist mid-rise hotels. Presentation at the ZZF Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History NAFAns had an opportunity to explore this liminal space at the ZZF Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History. Originally an East German research [...]

Guten Abend! My name is Madison Howard (she/they), and I am the Fellowships Advisor at University of Puget Sound in Washington! I have the pleasure of being the volunteer blogger for our second day in Berlin, and what a day it has been! As I write this, we have just completed our first full day of the NAFA Study Tour! With some folks arriving days ago and some arriving right before yesterday's dinner, it was nice to all have a (hopefully) good night's sleep after all the travel and then get started on a full and busy day! The first part [...]