For season three we bring you Bard Beyond Borders, your gateway to the vibrant world of international student experiences at Bard with EH Media Corps host, Maha Abdulwahab.

Season three was supported in part by an inclusion grant from the Office of the Dean.

Episode 0: Teaser for Bard Beyond Borders Podcast

Welcome to season three with host Maha Abdulwahab.

Episode 1: Personal Tales of Displaced Students

Join Maha Abdulwahab in conversation with two guests, Zainab Hashim and Diana Wardak, who share journeys of coming from Afghanistan to Bard.

Episode 2: From Russia to Bard College 

Join Maha Abdulwahab in conversation with Eva Rasskasova, an international student from Russia now studying film at Bard.

Episode 3: Stories from International Student Support Staff

This episode features conversations with Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director, Center for Civic Engagement; Professor of Political Studies and Danna Harman, Associate Dean of Students & Director of Development for Displaced Student Program.

Episode 4: Culture Brokers and Invisible Labor

This episode showcases the work of students from the OSUN anthropology class “Invisible Labor and the Making of Culture: Global Culture Brokers.” In this class, we explored the typically invisible work of people who work at the intersection of global knowledge producers (eg. anthropologists, journalists, tour guides) and local communities. For the final project, students produced a podcast centered on one example of invisible labor and global culture brokers. This episode combines excerpts from each student’s final project that are edited together into a single podcast.

Episode 5: different city

EH alumna Anna Spirochova ’24 shares with us her EH senior project, different city, an experimental sound portrait recorded in three places: Prague, Berlin, and Annandale. The project is meant to offer insight into the spoken aspect of the written word, it is an exploration of what can happen when poetry is read repeatedly, out loud or to an audience. The readings are layered with urban sounds of Prague and Berlin as well as nature sounds from Annandale. The viola is played by Gabo Cassell-Ramirez.

Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director, Center for Civic Engagement; Professor of Political Studies

B.A., McGill University; D. Phil., St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Specialization in Soviet, Russian, and Eastern European politics; media and politics. Taught at Central European University, University of Kiev Mohyla Academy, Wesleyan University, Yale University. Author of Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition (1999; new edition, 2002). Articles in European Journal of Communication, Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Slovo, among others. Director, Global and International Studies Program; Academic Director, Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program. At Bard since 2001.

Danna Harman
Danna Harman is the Associate Dean of Students & Director of Development for Displaced Student Program. She is in charge of taking care of the 120 students from different war torn countries – Afghanistan, the Ukraine and Russia, in this current cohort – who have been accepted to Bard on full scholarships. Prior to taking up this position, Danna worked for over two years on evacuating vulnerable Afghans from Afghanistan and finding them pathways to resettlement in Canada and the USA. All this comes following a 30 year long career in journalism, writing and reporting from around the globe: from Iraq to Papua New Guinea to Myanmar to Yemen. Danna started out in journalism as an intern for the Associated Press in her hometown of Jerusalem – before becoming the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. She later served as the Nairobi based Africa bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today’s Mexico City based Latin America bureau chief, and, for over a decade, the London based roving foreign correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Danna received a BA from Harvard University and an Mphil in Islamic Studies from Cambridge University, and lives in Tivoli.

Zainab Hashimi
Zainab Hashimi is a driven economics and pre-med student dedicated to humanitarian work and healthcare initiatives. With a diverse skill set and experience in healthcare and humanitarian projects, she’s known for her adaptability and self-driven nature. She’s contributed to organizations like Sister-2-Sister, empowering young women of color, and worked with the Open Society University Network to promote civic engagement globally. Previously, she served as Chief Technology Officer at Silicon Dreams LLC, focusing on data science solutions in Afghanistan. Zainab is deeply involved in volunteerism and community initiatives, advocating for human rights through organizations like Afghan Civil Society Joint Networking Group. She’s also co-founded initiatives like The Scholars’ Project for Afghanistan’s youth. A prolific writer and editor, Zainab has diverse publications spanning medical research to socio-political commentary. With fluency in multiple languages and computer skills, she’s equipped to drive positive change in her community and beyond.

Eva Rasskazova
Eva Rasskazova is an international student from Russia at Bard College. She studied film history in Smolny College before transferring to Bard in 2023 as a film production major and now she is continuing to study her major at Bard College.

Anna Spirochova

Anna Spirochova is a writer and performer from Prague. She holds a poetry and experimental humanities degree from Bard College in New York. Her work has been featured in dirt children, Lunch Ticket, and other publications. She can be found in Prague, Amsterdam, or Berlin.

Diana Wardak
Diana Wardak, senior economics student, journeyed through diverse roles shaping her skills. At Levy Economics Institute, as a research intern, she boosted analytical skills and grasped macroeconomic policies for high-level research. Working on a World Bank project, she refined data analysis skills for real-world challenges with a humanitarian focus, applying economic theories practically. As an administrative assistant and social media coordinator at Montgomery Place, she honed multitasking and digital communication skills. Her campus tour guide role developed strong interpersonal and public speaking skills, crucial for various contexts. These experiences equipped Diana with research, data analysis, project management, and communication skills, ready for her future career in economics and beyond.