IN-EAST graduates, family and friends, new students, returning BA students, IN-EAST staff and lecturers joined our graduation and welcome ceremony on October 30, 2015. At the event with the headline “Hello, Good-bye and Welcome Back!”, graduates and students shared their personal impressions and valuable insight with the audience.

The invitation flyer can be downloaded here.

Music

Duisburg love song and IN-EAST celebrity live on stage

The 2015 Hello & Goodbye also featured the world premiere of "Duisburg - Du bist Du", a declaration of love in the shape of a "Schlager". Witnesses report that the city of Duisburg shed tears of joy. Lisa Bachmann, Max Krumm, Panajotis Gizis and Axel Klein represented BAnd MOAS, a musical project that brings different BA students on stage every year. Look out for 2016!

Another musical highlight was the moving solo performance of Max Krumm, currently Bachelor student at the IN-EAST. He played “Home”, a song he wrote for a friend who left for Australia. This composition had made him one of the contestants to compete for representing Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

Hello!

A warm welcome to our new PhD candidates, Bachelor and Master students

This year, the IN-EAST has the pleasure of welcoming PhD candidates, Bachelor students and Master students from more than 17 countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Japan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, Ukraine, USA and Vietnam.

Graduate Connor Malloy looked back on the past two years he spent at the IN-EAST for his Master studies. In his speech he described what it is like to be a student at the IN-EAST: “My classmates and fellow students are a diverse, intelligent, and enjoyable bunch. The next best thing to making new friends is to meet them again in some other part of the world and considering the diversity and global orientation of this group, the net has been cast quite wide and I very much like our odds.”

Welcome Back!

Talk show with Axel Klein

Live on stage, Franziska Cremer-Seibert and Benjamin Oberschelp discussed their year abroad with talk show host Axel Klein, Director of the Bachelor program. Franziska Cremer-Seibert spent a year in China. She presented artwork that she created at her art class during spear time. Benjamin Oberschelp worked as a construction worker in Japan – a rather surprising side job that he found via google. As a side note: The IN-EAST supports students with their applications for scholarships. The Confucius Institute, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) as well as Dokkyo University and JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization) offer financial support for studies abroad.

Good-bye!

Prof. Peter Anker, Dean of the Mercator School of Management, and Helmut Demes, IN-EAST, presented the graduates with certificates. We congratulate all of our graduates on their achievements. We are proud of you and wish you all the best for your future careers.

AlFreDo Award

The alumni association AlFreDO (Alumni and Friends of the Duisburg East Asia Studies) generously supports IN-EAST students and graduates. This year, AlFreDO granted two awards: The AlFreDO Award for the best Bachelor thesis went to Mr. Thomas Schneider for his thesis on how German football clubs establish brand awareness using the example of the People’s Republic of China. Silviya Veselinova Dimova received the AlFreDO Award for the best Master thesis on Beijing’s and Guangzhou’s fight with air pollution. On top of this, AlFreDO supports Tobias Fausten, student of the MEAS Master program, with a scholarship. He is currently conducting research in Japan.