(: heidiwitz :)

Don't let the men of the Vienna Philharmonic keep playing with themselves

2012-01-26T22:06:00.000+01:00

Duly resuming two decades of tradition, I woke up on 1 January 2012 and switched on the TV to tune into the annual New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Televised live from the Musikverein into more than 70 countries world-wide, the concert is attended by some 2000 people who are willing to pay up to 940 € a pop in a ticket lottery and thereby ensure a sold out show by

Christmas in Vienna

2012-01-06T00:22:00.000+01:00

With my wool-gloved hands I clutched the steaming mug, fingers warming to the touch while I licked the remnants of my well-spiced apple-cinnamon punch off my lips with an appreciative smile. Instead of traditional snacks such as gingerbread hearts, candied fruit, roasted almonds or Brezel, my aunt and me munched organic corn tacos and mango enchilada from the Mexican deli around the corner.

Vienna's 4th Human Rights Film Festival - This Human World

2011-12-10T15:24:00.001+01:00

In the age of giant multiplexes, it is always a pleasure to discover independent film houses where young ushers actually wish you a "wonderful projection"! Although a great fan of independent film, it is a love that sort of developed abroad and as such, it was the first time that I actually set foot in any of Vienna's indie (and actually oldest) cinemas like Topkino, Stadtkino and my

UNHCR Director of International Protection Volker Türk in Vienna

2011-11-16T22:47:00.000+01:00

Volker Türk One of the great things of being an intern is that you are always in the loop about exciting events. In this case, I was over the moon when I read that Volker Türk, incumbent Director of International Protection for UNHCR who used to represent UNHCR in Malaysia before he moved to Geneva, was stopping by in his native Austria to deliver a talk at the local UN Association

Christmas Wish List 2011

2011-11-13T14:07:00.001+01:00

Since you all know that I am a great fan of indie movies and documentaries, I decided to theme this year's requested wish list around five DVDs you would really make me happy with! Please vote for me (2007) "Wuhan is a city about the size of London located in central China. It is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A Grade 3 class at

EU Anti-Trafficking Day - Annual Conference at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna

2011-10-18T20:28:00.000+02:00

I just returned from an amazing event at the Diplomatic Academy on the occasion of human trafficking day. A truly intriguing crop of distinguished speakers came together on a ten hour talkathon to discuss some of the (Austrian) dimensions of human trafficking, present their own activities in the field and raise awareness of some of recent policy developments. The whole day was

Moving to Mars

2011-10-13T21:18:00.000+02:00

"Moving to Mars follows two refugee families from Burma over the course of a year that will change their lives completely. Forced from their homeland by the repressive military junta, they have lived in a Thai refugee camp for many years. A resettlement scheme offers them the chance of a new life, but their new home, in the British city of Sheffield, will be different to everything they

Asia in the Eyes of Europe - Public and Media Perceptions of Asia in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for External Relations with Asia

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000+02:00

I admit I assumed it would be a boring evening with under-funded Austria-based researchers regurgitating eurocentric conceptualisations of Asia. It also isn't promising to know that most Austrian research on Asia tends to focus around China or Japan - the usual suspects (as you might know, the University of Vienna, Austria's largest university, does not have a Southeast Asia department but

Heidiwitz - Five years on!

2011-10-09T15:00:00.002+02:00

"The real act of discovery is not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes." Marcel Proust The time for this blog post that I have been looking forward to for weeks, even months has finally arrived! I had hoped that when the day came to write it, I would have a(nother) "major milestone" to report, like a "successful" transition from student to working girl. Alas, life is

Medien.Messe.Migration - The fair on media & migration

2011-09-30T11:03:00.000+02:00

Stall featuring the Medien-Servicestelle Neue Österreicher/innen (Media Service Point New Austrians, a portal for journalists) and some other media As an avid blogger and great fan of media use in development settings, I was super excited about attending the media fair on migration in the Wiener Stadthalle (a venue comparable to the Earl's Court Exhibition Centre that also is THE venue for

ICT Links - A list of ICT, social media and web 2.0 technologies for development

2011-08-14T19:44:00.004+02:00

Since there has been so much interest in my blog post "How ICT impacts development - Ingenious Solutions for Social Innovation" and I had plenty of links left to share with you, I decided to post a list of them here. Be inspired! # Computer Aid International UK-based NGO that provides only the highest quality, professionally refurbished computers and laptops for reuse in education, health,

World Refugee Day 2011

2011-07-30T02:04:00.000+02:00

Okay boys and girls, it's time for my next post! I know you want it, I know you have been waiting for it even if you haven't shown it lately! *hint hint* The last couple of weeks saw me sharing my thoughts on various fascinating aspects of the digital age in a mini-series. Since we are half-way through, I thought I am going to spice up the time it takes for me to produce my popular pieces on the

How ICT impacts development - Ingenious Solutions for Social Innovation

2011-06-23T09:53:00.000+02:00

Many people in Europe or North America would never guess that 61% of the BBC's international WAP users came from Nigeria and 19% from South Africa (July 2006, read here). According to the May edition of the Harvard Business Review, Africa's economies are growing rapidly: "The continent is among the fastest-expanding economic regions today. In fact, Africa and Asia (excluding Japan) were the

Forward to the Past: Of e-storians and v-ethnographers

2011-06-08T04:07:00.001+02:00

Thank you for reading the third part of my IT series, first two parts being: # iStudent (Part 1 of 2): Navigating through university in the digital age # Twitterature: Of digital narratives and multi-media story-telling The evolution of man. Why was it so hard for me to find the evolution of women? Artists, get to work! As an anthropologist, I have been wondering how the rather recent

Twitterature - Of Digital Narratives and Multimedia Story-Telling

2011-05-18T12:02:00.002+02:00

The ICT revolution has changed the way we read, book lovers say that electronic reading devices are threatening the book, while others predict more intricate and infinite storylines. I love the book, the smell of a new book, of a story fresh from the printing press waiting to envelop you in its colourful world, the young spine reluctant to reveal its wonderful secret. Or the smooth pages of a

Current technological problems with posting comments fixed

2011-05-02T18:30:00.000+02:00

Hi guys, A quick note: I just noticed that there appears to be some technological problem with posting comments (nothing happens after you type your comment and click 'Post'). I found out that Blogger is currently working out some reported issues related to comments. In the meantime, I have fixed the problem by changing comment settings from 'embed below post' to 'pop up window'. A small new

Google Friend Connect allows you to follow my blog now!

2011-04-30T09:08:00.002+02:00

I have just embedded GFC and now you can finally follow my blog with Google or Yahoo! Uusually it is possible to 'Follow' a blog from a link in the NavBar but since none of the default NavBars fitted with my customised template, I removed the NavBar. If you already have a Google or Yahoo account, adding my blog to your profile should be easy. If however, you would like a vibrant instruction

iStudent - Part 1 of 2: Navigating through university in the digital age

2011-04-29T21:33:00.000+02:00

This is the first of a series of blog posts about my thoughts on how the revolutionary way social media alters our daily lives in the 21st century. I might spice up the order with some unrelated topics in between but the working titles are:iStudent - Part 1 of 2: Navigating through university in the digital age iStudent - Part 2 of 2: "When *I* was in school...": Reminescing school in the early

'Burqa ban' in France: housewife vows to face jail rather than submit

2011-04-10T15:26:00.000+02:00

Muslim woman says that she will not accept pressure from mosques or state over 'burqa ban' that begins on 11 April. The Observer 10 April 2011. [...] Drider says it is only since Sarkozy's government began discussing the veil ban that she has been subject to insults, harassment and death threats. "When President Sarkozy said: 'The burqa is not welcome in France', the president, my president,

Petition "UK scientists oppose cuts in the Arts and Humanities"

2011-04-08T04:45:00.000+02:00

As you might be aware, the UK government has announced cuts for funding for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences last year. Lord Mandelson, the business & education secretary has ordered budget cuts of £600m by 2013 and as a consequence, had to deny allegations of a "utilitarian" agenda in which academic institutions were seen as a production line dedicated to delivering graduates to meet

Madonna in Malawi: Project for elite school halted over allegations of financial mismanagement

2011-04-07T08:27:00.000+02:00

Digital Design of Madonn's school 15m US-$ go a long way in industrialised countries. They go a much, much longer way in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world (GDP per capita is 800 US-$). I was therefore shocked to read last week that all of this money goes into a project by Madonna to build an elite (!) academy for girls and even more shocked about the contradictory news on the

Blog Update - Comments Box, Mobile Template & Sharing Function

2011-03-17T20:43:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Blogger in Draft that lets you beta-use the latest Blogger developments before they are made available to the general public by default, there are a few new features I put in place to make this blog more user-friendly for you! First, it is now much easier to post comments! Following one of the most common complaints to Blogger, the developers made it possible to embed the comment box

15 things you did not know are Austrian!

2011-03-11T21:12:00.014+01:00

Ha! If you are reading this post a few months from its publication, chances are that we just met and you thought a) Austria was Australia b) Austria is part of the former USSR c) Austria only brings out sex offenders or xenophobic politicians d) Austria must be part of Germany because we speak German (I'd refer to the German state of Bavaria, though Germans north or the Black Forest might

83rd Academy Awards - Winning Documentaries!

2011-03-07T19:57:00.018+01:00

From Brooklyn to Brazil, from Israel to Indonesia and China, this year's crop of nominated documentaries are of particular interest for anyone concerned about peace, development and the environment. The short-length movies listed below give voice to refugee children, Muslims who lost family members to terrorism and who challenge extremists in front of the camera, and environmental refugees (the

Over-qualified for an office job, under-qualified for a job in retail

2011-01-21T05:34:00.011+01:00

You guys have probably been wondering what I have been up to lately and whether or not I have managed to find a job. Well, I wish my absence was due to long hours in the office but instead, I have only been busy writing applications. Despite my previous reservations in blogging about my predicament, I decided to be open about it and hope that others will either find the courage to talk about

Dukot (Kidnapped) - A Movie on Enforced Disappearances in the Philippines

2010-11-24T07:23:00.009+01:00

In time for Human Rights Day (10 December), I would like to recommend a Philippine independent film that has gained national and international critical acclaim, including at the Montreal Film Festival, is currently touring the United States, had its European premiere in The Hague (where it was received well) and will screen in London on 04 December 2010. You can find details on how to get a

Cartoons on the Graduate Job Search

2010-11-20T19:41:00.004+01:00

One cartoon says more than a thousand words...!

Returning to Vienna from Camp David (Career Camp)

2010-11-19T14:18:00.041+01:00

The other day, I returned to Vienna after altogether four weeks of "career camp" in the UK. Dave, a friend of mine whom I met in the hostel and who now has a flat of his own, offered me his guest room and from day one became my CV guru! I thought my bullet-point CV was pretty much bullet-proof, except for the profile section at the very top perhaps but since I already have 157 versions of my

Interview with outgoing UN Special Rapporteur Manfred Nowak

2010-11-17T17:58:00.067+01:00

Manfred Nowak, Austrian human rights lawyer and university professor as well as co-founder and Scientific Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights, gave a public lecture on November 9 at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna to discuss his experiences during the six-year mandate as UN Special Rapporteur of Torture. He is handing over to Juan Méndez, an Argentinian and torture

Universally Challenged: “Quiz answers that prove Britain really is dumbing down”

2010-11-12T17:37:00.002+01:00

As a continental European proud of her free quality secondary education, it has always been a mystery to me why in a country as supposedly economically developed as the UK, the general knowledge of the average population can be as shockingly non-existent as can be its command of its native language, let alone its knowledge of any second language. Parallels with Bush Jr.'s visit to the obscure “

"Quantum Gradnamics": What would Schrödinger say?

2010-11-09T19:19:00.006+01:00

Yes, this is how I see it sometimes...! :DClick on the image to appreciate the other half of the comic that got cut off in Blogger.More hilarious comics on: http://www.phdcomics.com

A few inspirational thoughts on Halloween/All Soul's/Día de los Muertos

2010-11-02T16:22:00.003+01:00