Busy three weeks in Germany for US students on RIAS summer exchange program
Fourteen US students completed a busy three-week program in Germany to learn more about the roll of broadcasting during the Cold War and especially about the history of Radio in American Sector (RIAS). There were a total of 51 appointments during the 20 days the students from 10 different universities across the United States – from Texas to Minnesota, Oklahoma to Wisconsin, Arizona to Massachusetts, and Washington state to North Carolina.
Their visit to Germany was crowned with a visit to the US Embassy in the heart of Berlin right next to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building and a talk with Christina Higgins, (front row center) minister council for public affairs and the co-chair of the RIAS Berlin Commission.
The students also had in-depth talks with with top German journalists such as Peter Kloeppel at RTL and Gesa Eberl at NTV on Cologne, Cherno Jobatey at ZDF in Berlin, Michael Paweletz and Nadine Gries at NDR in Hamburg, as well as Brent Goff, Sarah Kelly, Melinda Crane and Meggin Leigh at Deutsche Welle. They also met German journalists at Der Spiegel magazine in Hamburg, MDR television in Leipzig, WDR in Cologne, and Bild newspaper, RBB, the Economist and KCRW Berlin radio in Berlin.
The students also learned more about Germany’s Energy Transition (Energiewende) from Sven Egenter at the Clean Energy Wire in Berlin, German politics with Barbara Richstein, a leader of the CDU in the state parliament in Brandenburg state and from member of parliament in Berlin Beatrix von Storch from the AfD party. The students also got the chance to learn more about the life of refugees from Syria and the fate of political prisoners at the Stasi prison in East Berlin.
There were four lively evening get-togethers with RIAS alumni in Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig and Hamburg — where they had the chance to meet and compare notes in informal settings with a total of about 80 German alumni of RIAS programs in the past. The students traveled by train to Leipzig and Hamburg, by bus from Hamburg and by air to Cologne. They also visited Potsdam by local train.
“My RIAS experience has taught me so much about the world, foreign relations and myself,” said
Kingsley Reigne-Pissang, a journalism student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Pictured on the right). “Germany welcomed my group with open arms and allowed me and my peers to make lifetime memories.”
Juliana Amos, a journalism and digital media student at Queens University in North Carolina added: “Participating in the RIAS program for students has been one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences of my life. It opened my eyes to a different view of the world. I learned all about German politics/media while also getting a more in depth understanding of the history of Germany and the Cold War.”
Ariana Lasher, a student from the University of New Haven (pictured on the left), said: “This exchange was a wonderful opportunity for aspiring journalists to discover the reason for their craft in a new cultural setting; all while making great connections and friendships along the way. Countless meetings with professional journalists, politicians, and think-tanks were extremely beneficial in furthering my knowledge of journalism, myself, and the exciting world around me.”
The program is designed to expand horizons and shed a light on the role that RIAS (Radio in American Sector) played during the Cold War as well as give the young American journalists a chance to meet German journalists and learn more about the industry in Germany. The program is funded to a considerable degree by a German government grant from the ERP program. The students applied to the RIAS summer exchange program in early 2019. Applications for the 2020 program that will run from June 28, 2020 to July 18, 2020 can be obtained by writing to: info@darkseagreen-dog-940501.hostingersite.com.
2020 Application Form as PDF
