MUDEC Méinden-Weekly news from the MUDEC community for the MUDEC community-#lifelongMUDEC

Fall 2021 #7

October 11, 2021

Halloween Comes to MUDEC

by Hannah Horsington, MUDEC newsletter intern

As MUDEC students entered the Great Hall for a special Student-Faculty Council (SFC) event last Wednesday, they stumbled into the middle of a mystery—a murder mystery!

The Great Hall was transformed into "St. Cake’s Academy," where students found themselves tasked with solving the mysterious death of the headmaster. Cobwebs and bats covered the walls, while candles on every table added an ominous glow to the room. Spiders and snakes could be found hanging from the chandeliers while pumpkins decorated the hallway.

Students were sorted into six different “houses,” or teams, and assigned different roles, including the head student (in charge of organizing the team) and prefect (in charge of managing the clues). A folder containing role details, clues, and a special challenge were given to each team, as well as additional information throughout the night, such as a coroner’s report.

Students and faculty of St. Cake’s (who looked mysteriously similar to our SFC members) wandered the room, talking with students and answering any questions they may have.

As students searched the Chatêau for additional clues and bartered with other teams to try to get more information, they were interrupted by another murder! With the mysterious death of St. Cake’s head boy, MUDEC students were now tasked with solving two murders—in just a short amount of time!

After two hours of searching for clues, each house sent one student to the front to present their findings and explain which St. Cake’s member they thought responsible for each murder. In the end, no one correctly guessed the person responsible for both murders (Fifi Stevens, a St. Cake’s French teacher with a questionable past). One house correctly guessed Fifi as responsible for the first murder, and were crowned the winners of MUDEC’s murder mystery with a pass to skip to the front of the lunch line on a day of their choice.

After the murderer was revealed (and “arrested” by Student Activities Coordinator Daniel Reicker), groups were then invited to the front of the room to perform the songs they created as part of the murder mystery’s challenge.

But Halloween isn’t over at MUDEC yet—SFC plans to host a Halloween movie night this week!

Students hold up their 'cut the line pass' cards

ART 188 Field Trip to Clervaux

by Meta Hoge, MUDEC newsletter intern

On Friday, Oct. 1, students in ART 188, a course about art history from the Renaissance to the modern era, traveled north to Clervaux to see ‘The Family of Man’ photography exhibition. ART 188 professor Laure Faber arranged a private visit before the museum would be open to the public.

The exhibition was constructed by Edward Steichen, a photographer and former director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. It was first displayed at the MOMA in 1955 and then went on to tour the world for eight years. After the tour, it was moved to Clervaux Castle for permanent display because Steichen was born in Luxembourg.

The exhibition is composed of a collection of 503 photographs from 273 photographers. Together the photographs convey different aspects of being human, including childhood, working, love, and war. Notable photographers whose works are in this exhibit include Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and August Sander.

Students had the opportunity to use public transportation and took a train from Luxembourg City to Clervaux. After visiting the museum, students were free to explore Clervaux further or to travel onward.

Laney Rupert, a senior international studies major, found the exhibit interesting because of all the diversity shown.

“My favorite part was that it incorporated people of all origins, which is fascinating, considering that these photographs were collected in the civil rights era,” Rupert said.

Faber has arranged another ART 188 field trip to Metz, France for November.

October in Germany

by Maddie Kelley, MUDEC newsletter intern

This past weekend marked the beginning of October, so we had to make the trip to Munich, Germany to experience Oktoberfest. This annual festival includes a lot of Bavarian attractions, and, of course, lots of food and drink. People from all over come dressed in traditional costumes, ready to celebrate all day long.

Unfortunately, due to COVID the actual Oktoberfest event was cancelled, but that didn’t stop people from celebrating. As we walked through the city of Munich on Friday and Saturday, we saw a lot of people wearing costumes, and there was even a live band. It was such an interesting and new cultural experience; I know that I have to go back when Oktoberfest is really going on.

When we weren’t walking through the city, we spent a little time on the top of a tour bus driving around it. They took us all around, showing us the famous streets and statues. For being such a big city, Munich felt so clean. It was easy to get around, even though it was packed with people. We felt safe in the evening, especially since people were still out celebrating until late. Compared to a place such as Chicago or New York City, Munich was such a big jump.

However, another experience that we had in Germany was much different than being in the city. We took a self guided tour through the Dachau Memorial Site. Opened in 1933, Dachau was a concentration camp that was originally meant to hold political prisoners. It was only 40 minutes outside of Munich, and it was such a strange thing to see concrete walls with barbed wire fences in the middle of a German town.

One of the barracks had been redesigned and filled with artifacts and information about the camp. We spent hours in the building reading about the history of the camp. There were many pictures and items that had been discovered during the rebuilding process that made being there even more informative.

Some of the other barracks were in such poor condition that they had to be rebuilt as well. We were able to peek into the windows and see. Even though the buildings were cleaned up and new, the pictures in the museum were enough to get through our heads just how awful the conditions had been. Thirty more barracks had been torn down, but the ground was marked where they would have stood.

This experience was emotional but also very informative. It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and learn about these camps while looking at pictures. It’s another thing to step foot on the camp grounds and see firsthand where so many awful events took place. Taking this opportunity to study in Europe was such a smart decision, because I now have seen and been to so many of the places that I have learned about in history classes.

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