As part of FU-BEST’s highly diverse, internationally oriented semester program, it will be sharing thought-provoking presentations online each week in its new digital lecture series. Anyone interested in these topics can watch video recordings of the lectures in English as well as participate in live interactive lessons with German language instructors. The 15 lectures will focus on contextualizing the course content in terms of Berlin as a site of cultural and historical significance. The lecturers will also address issues that are currently relevant in Germany and Europe and how they affect society, culture, and politics.

As Dr. Dirk Verheyen, one of FU-BEST’s academic directors, puts it: “By offering this wide array of topics, we hope to accommodate international students who were unable to travel to Berlin this fall to undertake their FU-BEST semester due to the Covid-19 pandemic. What’s more, outside parties who are interested in these issues will now be able to participate.” “The lecture series will provide an accurate glimpse into the FU-BEST program we usually organize,” says Dr. Kristina Rödder, who is also an academic director for the program. The series will address overarching issues related to European Studies from different disciplinary perspectives. The German language sessions will be divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. The online lecture series will be launched on September 2 with a digital welcome speech by the President of Freie Universität Berlin, Professor Günter M. Ziegler, and another by the academic directors.

FU-BEST is an academic program at Freie Universität Berlin that lasts one semester and is held in the fall and spring. The program is made up of specialized courses that typically revolve around the humanities and social sciences and are usually taught in English. International students can also take courses in German as a foreign language. Participants can receive transfer credit points for their home universities after successfully completing courses.

The program follows the North American academic calendar and has consistently grown since 2005 – roughly 340 students participate in FU-BEST each year. About 3,500 international students have enjoyed the benefits of this program since it was first founded. The academic quality of FU-BEST was once again recognized this year by the Forum on Education Abroad through its Quality Improvement Program (QUIP).

The program for the FU-BEST Digital Lecture Series can be found here: www.fubest.org/online