The opportunity to see other grantees’ projects and discuss my own offered context to my work as well as to my experience living in Europe. Many of the collaborative panels and workshops prompted us to reexamine our behaviors and daily interactions while also evaluating our environments critically. In these discussions, I found the seminar theme of “courage” proved surprisingly relevant to us as individuals and as intellectuals concerned with global activism and participation. The speakers and panelists emboldened us to confront, negotiate, and celebrate difference actively, beyond the limitations of discourse.

On the last day of the conference, I joined a tour titled the “Refugee Walk,” led by Nafee, a Syrian refugee living in Berlin. Nafee led us around the capital, interweaving the history of the Eastern Bloc with his own experiences in Syria and in Germany. At Checkpoint Charlie he described the uncertainty and violence at checkpoints in Damascus, and at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe he recounted unspeakable acts of brutality seared into his memory. The tour ended at the Brandenburg Gate, with Nafee reiterating the power of goodwill over fear. He manifested the courage that had been underscored over the past few days, both in his decision to come to Germany and his willingness to share his story with strangers.

I was grateful to Nafee for showing us the city that Berlin is, and the city that it has the potential to become. I understood that the decision to hold the conference in Berlin was not random. The city embodies the spirit of conscious transformation fundamental to Fulbright. Attending the seminar, I realized how proud I am to be one of many committed to upholding this tradition of change, and I hope to further it in the future.

Photos courtesy of Isabel Monaghan, Maria Sanchez, and Fulbright Austria