Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Alexandra Socarides visited Kasteel Well from Sept. 23–26, her first trip to Emerson’s Netherlands campus since assuming her position in July.
On her four-day trip to the castle, Socarides sat in on classes, ate meals with students in the dining hall, and met with student affairs and operations staff members to learn about all aspects of the program.
“That is important to do if you want to understand how a program works [and] how it’s serving our students,” Socarides said. “It’s not just about sitting in a class, [but] about understanding the whole environment that they live in and all the people who affect their experience there.”
Socarides said that the immersive nature of the Kasteel Well program is a quality that sets it apart from other study abroad programs. She noted that the college employs local faculty to teach courses relating to European topics, including contemporary world history and environmental ethics.
“I sat in on a European history course,” Socarides said. “To [be able to] do that in the Netherlands and then … take an [excursion] to connect the learning to the spaces that students are moving through is very special.”
A newly developed component of the Kasteel Well academic curriculum is the living-learning community (LLC) course revolving around the central theme of “water.” While this theme is brought up in the classroom, it is most predominantly encountered on the semester’s two academic excursions in Amsterdam and Prague.
“I think this is a way to ground Emerson students in the issues that are important to the local environment that they are living in,” Socarides said. “You are in this historical and beautiful space, and are asked to be immersed in what it means to live on this land, what the water around you means, and to look at [these issues] through an equity lens.”
On Sept. 24, Socarides met with Dr. Michael Rauner, who serves as the mayor of Gemeente Bergen, a small municipality bordering the village of Well.
“I asked [Rauner] for three issues that are most important to his work. He [brought up] water, tourism, and nature,” Socarides said. “I felt so proud that our students are [in the area] thinking about water because that’s what the mayor is also thinking about.”
That night, Socarides, along with Tony Pinder, vice provost for internationalization and equity, held a meet and greet with students and faculty in the castle’s barn. Many topics were discussed, including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Emerson’s position on other global issues.
“We talked about the past, we talked about the future,” Socarides said. “I tried to meet them where they were and answer the questions that they needed answered.”
The college established EmersonTogether, an initiative that, according to Socarides, is targeted toward healing, being able to talk across political, ideological, and experiential differences, and coming to the table with mutual respect.
“EmersonTogether is an initiative to open space [to speak about these issues],” Socarides said. “By creating these opportunities for capacity building and community conversations, we can begin to do some of the healing work that needs to be done.”
The initiative’s first community conversation was held in early September, but Socarides said that many events in the capacity building, content, and community conversation spheres will soon be announced.
“EmersonTogether is what people make of it,” Socarides said. “We can create the scaffolding, but it is what happens in those rooms and conversations that will contribute to that healing that is so necessary.”
Following their trip to the castle, Socarides and Pinder traveled to the Paris College of Art (PCA), Emerson’s Global BFA partner. They met with students and faculty in the program and attended the inauguration of PCA’s new campus before traveling back to Boston.
