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Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Melanea Vemealssel, a member of the Kasteel Well dining staff, stands by some of the breakfast offerings on Nov. 27, 2024 (Kaitlyn Smitten/Beacon Staff).

Cooking up community at Kasteel Well

By Kaitlyn Smitten, Staff Writer / November 27, 2024

Nestled in the small village of Well, located in the Dutch province of Limburg, the Emerson College Kasteel Well program resides. With around 80 students...

"The Amsterdam," a former slave ship located at the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. (Photo courtesy Chase Henfey)

Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum leaves Kasteel Well students grappling with display of colonial histories

By Iselin Bratz, Chase Henfey and Aparna Prabhakar / October 15, 2024
Emerson‘s fall 2024 Kasteel Well cohort visited Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum in late September during their first academic excursion.
A canal in Amsterdam (Chase Henfey/ Beacon Correspondent)

Kasteel Well students travel to Amsterdam for their first academic excursion of the semester

By Chase Henfey, Beacon Correspondent / October 1, 2024
Emerson’s Kasteel Well program has many unique aspects, including an excursion to Amsterdam, which occurs during the second weekend of the semester. 
An Instagram post announcing the return of Black Swan for the Spring 2024 semester.

Meet Black Swan, Kasteel Well’s magazine by students, for students

By Jordan Pagkalinawan / March 21, 2024

As Kasteel Well students approach the final weeks of their semester, they’ve likely already collected plenty of souvenirs and trinkets across Europe....

Kasteel Well students prepare to participate in the Carnival festivities.

Kasteel Well students connect with community in Carnival celebration

By Jordan Pagkalinawan / February 22, 2024

While Americans geared up for Super Bowl 58, Emerson students studying abroad at Kasteel Well prepared for a different celebration—participating in the...

Illustration by Rachel Choi.

I Am Not Your Juxtaposition.

By Kaitlin Harness, Beacon Correspondent / November 29, 2023

There is a specific awareness indicative of being colonized; the kind I was born into. It’s an intimate part of myself I will never be separate from,...

Illustration by Rachel Choi.

Nothing could have prepared me for the Kasteel Well culture shock

By Rumsha Siddiqui, Beacon Staff / November 15, 2023

Adjusting to a new environment is never easy. My semester studying abroad at Emerson College’s Kasteel Well campus has made that obvious. In the 1980s,...

Coming to Kasteel Well? Don’t pack the kitchen sink.

Coming to Kasteel Well? Don’t pack the kitchen sink.

By Maeve Lawler / April 12, 2023

Are you a future Kasteel Well dweller? If the answer is yes, then you’re probably wondering how to prepare for your semester abroad. What do I pack?...

A brief history of Kasteel Well

A brief history of Kasteel Well

By Maeve Lawler, Staff Writer / April 5, 2023

Kasteel Well, a Dutch national monument, is a moated castle nestled in the countryside of Well, Netherlands. Each day, students cross a wide wooden bridge...

America is overdue in its transition to a working-to-live approach

America is overdue in its transition to a working-to-live approach

By Maeve Lawler / March 22, 2023

Upon arriving at Kasteel Well, it didn’t take long before I realized a key difference in how Americans approach work-life balance in comparison to Europeans.  While...

Kasteel Well campus ends weekly testing protocol, shift to symptomatic testing only

Kasteel Well campus ends weekly testing protocol, shift to symptomatic testing only

By Maeve Lawler / March 22, 2023

As of March 9, Emerson’s Kasteel Well campus no longer requires twice-a-week COVID-19 testing, according to an email sent to Kasteel Well students from...

Kasteel Well’s assistant director of student affairs embraces life’s challenges and community building

Kasteel Well’s assistant director of student affairs embraces life’s challenges and community building

By Maeve Lawler / February 18, 2023

Each semester, a new group of students participating in the Kasteel Well program are welcomed by a medieval castle tucked in the countryside of Well, Limburg....

Photo by Margarita Ivanova

Some friendships are disposable—and that’s okay.

By Margarita Ivanova, Beacon Correspondent / October 20, 2022

Do you ever pass by the people you once laughed through packs of Pale Ales with, and now approach them with casual gestures and seemingly meaningless small...

Photo of four girls smiling in dresses

From the castle to Boston: What happens to home when you’re abroad?

By Sophia Pargas, Living Arts Editor / October 5, 2022

As I stared out at the descending Miami skyline on my first flight back to Boston since December 2022, unease rumbled in my ribcage like the engine of...

The exterior of the Kasteel Well castle

Emerson’s Kasteel Well campus welcomes fall arrivals

By Ashlyn Wang / September 29, 2022

Two main red brick buildings and asphalt-colored roofs, surrounded by moats and lush gardens, greeted approximately 80 students as Kasteel Well welcomed...

Emerson's Kasteel Well campus.

Kasteel Well community feels mixed emotions about the Ukraine-Russia war

By Mariyam Quaisar / March 3, 2022

A mere 1,200 miles away from the fighting in Ukraine, students and faculty at Emerson’s Kasteel Well campus are anxiously watching history unfold as...

Emerson's Kasteel Well campus in Well, Netherlands.

COVID outbreak at Kasteel Well forces students out of rooms

By Bailey Allen / February 17, 2022

Students at Emerson’s Kasteel Well have been moved out of their dorms to make space for quarantine and isolation housing as part of the satellite campus’...

Why I’ve (mostly) let go of “the way it should have been”

Why I’ve (mostly) let go of “the way it should have been”

By Sophia Pargas / February 11, 2022

When I first started college amidst a seemingly unrelenting pandemic, there was little in my life which remained untouched by the effects of COVID. For...

The exterior of the Kasteel Well castle

No change in sight for Kasteel Well following Omicron variant detection in Netherlands

By Bailey Allen / December 2, 2021

Weeks after a surge in COVID-19 cases forced the Netherlands into another lockdown, the appearance of Omicron—the latest mutation of the virus—threatens...

Emerson's Kasteel Well campus in Well, Netherlands.

Emerson students at Kasteel Well unfazed by Netherlands lockdowns

By Bailey Allen / November 18, 2021

Amid a rise in COVID cases throughout the Netherlands, Emerson students studying abroad at Kasteel Well face a three-week partial lockdown, which has limited...