Several of these blog entries are reflections of various aspects of the holocaust-studies tour. These essays are designed to provide the reader with specific information about various memorials and locations as well as a personal reflection of meaning associated with a location or feature of a memorial. Some blog entries will not be animated by the holocaust-studies tour.
Additionally, I recently completed a writing project overhauling a behavior and social sciences statistics textbook. Some selected sidebar essays that may be of interest to a more general audience have been extracted and placed in this section of the website.
Holocaust Studies Tour – Day 5 (Group 1)
Ravensbrück Concentration Camp On Monday, we journeyed by regional train one-hour north of Berlin to Furstenberg-an-der-Havel. Just on the other side of the beautiful Lake Schwedtsee sits the women’s camp of Ravensbrück. Here are a few pics from that site – as well as the rest of the day. The next day we will get a briefing at the U.S. Embassy and enjoy some “free Berlin” time.
Holocaust Studies Tour – Day 4 (Group 1)
Sachsenhausen – one of the most important camps in the Nazi system On Sunday, we toured the Sachsenhausen labor camp in Oranienburg, just a few miles north of the German capital. This “city of oranges,” was renamed in the 16th century due to one of William of Orange’s granddaughter’s fascination with the town. However, in addition to this interesting history (complete with baroque-style castle, by the way), it also carries the burden of playing host to one of the most significant camps in the Nazi Lager Camp system, Sachsenhausen. This camp was designed to be the one on which other
Holocaust Studies Tour – Day 3 (Group 1)
The Jewish Museum of Berlin Today was primarily taken up with a visit to the Jewish Museum of Berlin. In the installation, the visitor in confronted with a fantastic amount of factual information spread across three floors of displays, and it is all wrapped and presented within a structure bursting with symbolic meaning – from the interior design of the hallways and “voids,” to even the outside of the building, which looks scarred and torn. Here are some of the shots taken by those of us on the tour: The next day we will go to Sachsenhausen, one of the
Holocaust Studies Tour – Day 2 (Group 1)
A trip to Brandenburg an der Havel The main event for today was a trip out the western side of Berlin on a Region 1 train to the historic town of Brandenburg. Before we left Berlin, we were met by Dr. Christian Marx and his colleague Dr. Petra Fuchs who chose to not only travel with us but to also give us a tour of this beautiful northeastern German city. Eventually, we made our way by foot to the Brandenburg Euthanasia Memorial, where Christian serves as the director of education. On the way, we saw building, churches, walls, and towers
Holocaust Studies Tour – Day 1 (Group 1)
First Day Summary Challenging first couple of days here for Group 1. Despite several challenging traveling issues, all made it here safely and on-time except one group who, due to a flight cancellation, will arrive tomorrow morning. Thankfully, we were able to make adjustments to the schedule and we are very hopeful that all scheduled events will still take place. Highlights of the day – safe arrival at the airport and transportation to our hostel (Ibis, Mitte Berlin); walking tour of Museum Island and Hackescher Markt, a visit to the famous East Wall Gallery, and a group dinner at Vapiano’s
A Creative End-of-the-Year Blessing
A Special Thank You from a Student Student acts-of-appreciation are simply the best! And this year I just received an incredibly creative, funny, and thoughtful thank you from a graduating psych major. It’s simply too good not to share. [Scroll through the attached PowerPoint file – she is riffing off of a class I teach on the History and Systems of Psychology.] Thank you so much, Sommer Toadvine! (By the way, Sommer is one of the 30 students who will be meeting me in Berlin for our Holocaust Studies tour later this month.)