What a nice afternoon we had yesterday at the “Meet the Majors/Welcome Back Seniors.” It was great to see so many faces back from abroad and so many others interested in learning more about IGS.
Thanks also, of course, to the faculty and staff who came to spread the news about other programs, such as Study Abroad, Brandeis in the Hague and the Brandeis-India Fellowships. And here’s hoping some of you also check out and/or join the Brandeis International Journal!
And now some news you’ve no doubt been eager for…the winners of our 2013 Photo Competition! As judged by the famously discerning IGS UDRs, the winners, in alphabetical order, are…
Sam Bender for this one…
…Rachel Gordon for this…
…and Alina Pokhrel for this.
Each wins a $50 gift certificate from the Brandeis Bookstore. I’ll ask each photographer to tell us a little bit more about their shots in the comment section below. In the meantime, congratulations all!
Lots of thanks to the IGS UDRs! My photo was taken in Sedlec, right outside Kutná Hora. At one point in history it was just known as the outskirts of a little silver mining town. Now, it is best known as the home of the Sedlec Ossuary, which houses the bones of between 40,000 – 70,000 people (most of whom died during the plague or in various wars) that were made into sculptures in 1870. I’m standing underneath probably the most famous part of the ossuary, the chandelier of bones, which has at least one of every bone in the human body. It’s an incredibly morbid sculpture, the entire place is inescapably macabre, but the setting is really very quiet and peaceful. It is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Czech Republic (where I spent my semester abroad), which I think says a lot about Czech tourist attractions.
It also says something about 19th century Central Europe, and the whole neo-Gothic Romanticism of that period. What a creepy place!
Thank you so much to all of the IGS UDRs. This shell-shaped complex, called “Oceanográfico,” makes up one of the five parts of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. Oceanográfico is home to over 500 aquatic species, making it the largest aquarium in all of Europe. Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela of Madrid started the project in 1996 and the last installment was made in 2005. Calatrava has worked on a plethora of other works including structures for the Olympics in Barcelona and Athens.
I studied abroad in Barcelona but was attracted to Valencia because of the rich heritage (it was founded as a Roman colony) and beautiful cultural sites. The City of Arts and Sciences is found at the end a riverbed on the river Turia and is aesthetically astounding. I had never seen architecture like that quite before – it had some sort of Australian feeling and felt modern and edgy, yet ethereal.