Goodbye, San Antonio

Today our flight to Germany will leave.
The last three weeks were very wonderful and I am greatful for the experience. I am glad that the Fulbright Commission decided to let me be part of this amazing group which I had the joy to be with.
Therefore, I want to thank the Fulbright Commission in Germany, Dr. Noor for organizing our trips and other activities and the whole group for being such great people.
 The last three weeks were really funny and I learned much about the USA but also about the countries the other participants are from.
To be honest, the things I will most will be the good weather in San Antonio and the great friends I made and all of the other people who made my experience so delightful.
I hope that I can someday come back to learn more about the US and visit some of my new friends.

Karaoke club

Yesterday evening after playing a round of "werwolves" a game similar to "Mafia" some we, some Fulbrighters and Americans, went to a karaoke club in San Antonio. We sang had very much fun. Songs like "baby one more time" by Britney Spears to "OMG" by Usher and "We are the world" were sung by all of us. We spent to hours there singing at the top of our lungs. It was really a great night and a good way to end my experience in the USA.

W. Kamu Bell and Radio Lab

Last Sunday the Trinity University had a guest lecture about Radio Lab. Jad Abumrad, MacArthur Fellow & Host of the Peabody Award-winning RadioLab told us about how Radio Lab started and where he gets his inspiration from. It was so interesting. Some Fulbrighters were so inspired by him that they went to make some music and draw something. 
Last Monday W. Kamu Bell held a guest lecture in the Laurie Auditorium. He talked about "how to end racism in one hour". Kamu Bell is a comedian so he joked a lot. At first I did not like his jokes but later on it got better and I laughed all the time because I could relate to some of the things he said. It was a great way to end my Monday evening.
On Tuesday we had another lecture about black lives matter by a African-American woman who teaches it at an university. I must honestly say that I was not really thrilled by her lecture. She only talked about black lives matter in the last 20 minutes of the lecture and I did not have the feeling that she was really involved in the scene.

Lecture 'From Neo-Nazis to Jihadist'

Yesterday evening we visited a lecture held by Dr. Erin Saltman named 'from Neo-Nazis to Jihadist'. Saltman works at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and is a senior researcher and programme manager. She talked about preventing violent extremism and countering it.

Nowadays extremist group use the internet and social media and they use it in very many and decentralized Websites so they can use the security and anonymity the internet provides. However, Saltman stressed that the internet is not the cause of extremism but a catalyst. She points out that while previously radicalization took six to twelve month it can now be done within two weeks. This assertion really shocked me. Another thing that I was surprised about was Saltman saying that IS-advertisement looks more like the advertisement the Nazis did then like the ‘normal’ Jihadist-advertisement.

However, the thing I was like most shocked about was that one reason of young women in Europe to join the IS is because they do not objectify women like the western people do. I think it is contradicting to what the IS is standing for. I know that even in this world you still have a huge problem about objectifying not only female but also male people but I really do not think that the IS and joining them is an alternative that you should even think of.

Lecture about American Justice System

Yesterday we visited a lecture about the American Justice System. At the beginning the prof made us fill out a poll with questions about the crimes we previously committed and then started her lecture. She asked questions like ‘what is a just punishment’ or what explains racial inequality in prison and talked about Michel Foucault and his understanding of modern punishment.

Before the lecture I did not know that the incarceration rate is the highest in the USA because they imprison people for drug use or drug possession more often than other countries. The racial inequality has to do with (as you can predict) with heavier police presence in particular neighborhoods, harsher sentencing of people of color and so many other reasons. I also learned that Michel Foucault sees the modern way of punishment critical. The reason is that nowadays you punish souls instead of bodies.

That and many more things was what I learned in the lecture and I am delighted to visit the lecture next week about ‘Black Lives Matter’.