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). [...]

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 [...]