People

teacher, photographer

Andrée is a teacher of German as a second language having graduated from Humboldt-University, Berlin. She is also a professional photographer with experience in a variety of formats, with a degree from Lette-Verein, Berlin. A selection of her work can be found at http://www.fotodienst-mitte.de/. Outside of teaching and photography, she is interested in arts and languages, education, and education policy.

editor, NovoArgumente

Johannes Richardt studied humanities and social sciences in Marburg. Since 2009 he has worked as a journalist (in Cicero online, FAZ.NET, The Independent, Spiked, Schweizer Monat and Die Welt among others). He lives and works in Frankfurt as managing editor of the magazine NovoArgumente.

student, writer

Free University Berlin; Novo Argumente

Benjamin was born in Bad Sarow PIescow (Brandenburg) but grew up in Königs Wusterhausen (Brandenburg).  He graduated with a focus on German literature and English and participated in several student’s exchange programs (Poland, Israel) and drama clubs as a pupil. Benjamin did nine months of civil service for a psychiatric facility in in Berlin and worked one year as a carer for autistic adults in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

Today he is studying Languages and Cultures of the Middle East at Free University Berlin (Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic.  History, politics and culture of Israel and the Arabian speaking countries). Benjamin been working as a private tutor for German, English and general rhetoric. He is a long time member of the political fraternity “Verein deutscher Studenten” in Berlin, having been responsible for public relations, the education of new members, the planning and preparation of events as well as the presentation and moderation of lectures and political debates.

Benjamin is a writer for the online magazine Novo Argumente and member of “Freiblick Institut” He is also co-producing and hosting a podcast called “Streit ist Kosher”, going online in April 2017 which will discuss several questions regarding Israel, Judaism and its relations to Germany and the world.  

journalist

Jutta Kramm started her journalistic career in the mid-1980s at the Berlin daily die Tageszeitung, or “taz”. In 1991, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, she was hired by the Berliner Zeitung. The “Berliner” claims to be the only paper with East German roots to have achieved national prominence since Reunification. It remains one of the three main papers in the German capital. Jutta was head of the Berlin desk as well as head of Politics and News. Furthermore, from 2009 to 2017, she was deputy chief editor. After more than 25 years, she left the paper in 2017 to lead the Fact Checking Team at CORRECTIV, a non-profit news organisation based in Berlin and Essen. CORRECTIV achieved international prominence for its role in monitoring and debunking fake news and misinformation before and during the 2017 German election campaign.

In 2018, she took up a post in the communications department at the NGO, Save the Children. Since October 2018, she has been head of communications at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. The MDC is an internationally renowned institute, devoted to biomedical research with the aim of understanding the molecular basis of health and disease and translating findings as quickly as possible into clinical applications.

Jutta is married and had two kids who are currently studying and working in Bonn and Potsdam.

academic advisor, EKD Institute for Research on Religious and Ideological Issues

Kai is a researcher on current religious culture and new religious movements in Europe. Outside of his academic work, his interests include mountaineering, tournament chess, long distance running and literature.

managing director, MR WOLF

Hannes Putzig is the director of MR WOLF Consulting, a marketing consulting start-up of the VOK DAMS Group. VOK DAMS is one of the leading agencies for events and live-marketing. 
Hannes studied Business Administration with a focus on marketing in Germany and Hong Kong. After graduating he went to work for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany supporting the experiential marketing department. In 2013 he decided to follow his passion at the consulting department of VOK DAMS with a focus on strategic event communication. Hannes has developed and created a vast number of studies and concepts regarding 360° communication, digital / hybrid events and the activation of events and sponsoring deals for clients such as BMW, Commerzbank, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, BASF, and Swarovski.

project manager, British Council

Michael has worked for the British Council for 20 years. He started his career as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and worked in Japan and Slovakia before moving to Berlin in 2001. As Project Manager for the British Council’s work supporting the teaching and learning of English in Germany, Michael works closely with local education authorities, teacher training institutes and schools.
Michael has a first degree in German from the University of Durham, and having studied in Berlin during his student year abroad, he has now made Berlin his home.

retired psychiatric nurse

Ian was born in Oxford and lived in the south of England until age 10, when his family moved back to his parents’ home town of South Shields where he’s lived ever since. He studied sociology at Newcastle Polytechnic. On graduating, Ian had no definite career plan, and did a variety of jobs; labouring, bar work, survey work, retail management, and archaeological excavation. Eventually, he decided to train as a psychiatric nurse. He worked in the NHS for 23 years, and the private sector for 7 years. He loves history and art, and has read more social theory than is probably good for him. His interest in politics has waxed and waned, but has dramatically increased since the referendum. Married for 37 years, he has two sons aged 24 and 30, and grandchildren aged 5, 7 and 9. He boxed and did karate in his younger years, later doing distance running, He exercises daily. The things he holds dear are family, fitness, education, democracy, and free speech.

student and barrista

Sam Glendenning is hoping to study PPE or social policy at university in 2020. He previously studied veterinary medicine, and misses how little animals mentioned Brexit. An avid Labour supporter, he attended last year’s conference, but sadly forgot his fiddler’s cap and was rudely ejected after failing to greet a fellow attendee as comrade. Currently working as a barista at a Café Nero in Newcastle, he is hoping to find an exciting internship for next year. An opinionated vegan, he enjoys hiking, running and travel.

philosophy student, University of Sheffield

Katie is a second year philosophy student at the University of Sheffield with plans to complete a Masters there. Katie is a committee member of both the Philosophy Society and the Equality and Diversity Committee. She is excited to be interning at the Academy of Ideas before returning to university in September.