The currently estimated 281 million migrants worldwide constitute 3.6% of the global population (IOM 2022). Of these migrants, 89.5 million have been forcibly displaced (IOM 2022). This figure is larger than the domestic population of all but 16 countries in the world. Despite this overwhelming number of displaced persons, political and humanitarian measures to address forced migration are often ad-hoc and largely neglect the socio-economic aspects of this displacement. To better manage forced migration, it is important to understand migrants’ socio-economic situations, including their legal and economic integration in the host region as well as their economic contributions in the conflict zone. Research-based analyses and policy recommendations for developing resilient economic and livelihood systems will be an important academic contribution to handling conflict-induced migration and facilitating the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Directorship of the International Research Cluster for researchers at the University of Cologne is one of the funding opportunities of the Cologne International Forum. It enables the realization of up to 5 internationalization projects for comprehensive international, possibly also interdisciplinary networking within the framework of a central research focus. In 2023/24 Prof. Dr. Michaela Pelican has been Director of the cluster, which will now hold its concluding conference.

Conference program and registration

Was bedeutet historische Verantwortung?

Gibt es Alternativen zur „Staatsraison“?

Welche Rolle spielt die Anerkennung von Holocaust und Nakba in der Vision „A Land for All“?

Die Autorin Charlotte Wiedemann spricht mit Stephan Milich über ihre Erfahrungen in Israel und im Westjordanland und liest aus ihrem Buch „Den Schmerz der Anderen begreifen. Holocaust und Weltgedächtnis“.
 

In this public event we present and discuss the joint exhibition by artist-weavers and researchers from Iran and Germany, “WE ARE NOT CARPETS – I Tell You My Story.”  The collaborative exhibition is shown at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum and presents newly created, unique personal carpets and their stories, which are experienced in a poetic and cinematic way. The carpets are the result of the collaborative research project “Weaving Memories,” which provides weavers from the North Khorasan region in Iran with a platform to tell their stories by transforming their craft into a medium of storytelling and as works of art.

Natasha A. Kelly ist seit dem Wintersemester 2023 Gastprofessorin für Kulturwissenschaften im Studium Generale der Universität der Künste Berlin. Sie ist Kommunikationswissenschaftlerin und Soziologin, Autorin und Herausgeberin, Kuratorin und multimediale Künstlerin mit den Themenschwerpunkten Schwarze deutsche Geschichte, Schwarzer Feminismus und Afrofuturismus.
 

Pop-Up Exhibition on Multispecies Storytelling feat. participant projects at the University of Cologne, International House

The exhibition displayed the collective multimodal results of one week of intense multidisciplinary collaboration and exchange of our Autumn Academy participants on the topics of Multispecies Conviviality and Planetary (More-than-human) Wellbeing.

Further information:
mesh.uni-koeln.de/events
mesh.uni-koeln.de/events/meshworks

The diversity of  our (international) scholars enriches the research at the University of Cologne significantly. To achieve an atmosphere in which this diversity is fully appreciated and supported, we need continued discussions on discrimination and structural racism. The Cologne International Forum therefore supports the lecture series Rassismuskritik organized by the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Islamic World.

Montags 16-17 Uhr, Hörsaal 121 (Gronewaldstr. 2)

Wir beschäftigen uns in dieser Ringvorlesung mit Rassismus in all seinen Variationen und Spielarten: Antisemitismus, anti-muslimischem Rassismus, anti-schwarzem Rassismus, Antiziganismus etc., strukturellem sowie institutionellem. Zu diesen Themen werden Angehörige der UzK, aber auch Gastdozierende von anderen Universitäten und Institutionen sprechen, um möglichst viele Aspekte abzudecken. So wird auch die Geschichte des Kolonialismus eine große Rolle spielen, des christlichen wie des islamischen. Eingehen wollen wir zudem auf Strategien gegen die heutigen, speziell in Deutschland vorhandenen Formen des Rassismus - und uns immer wieder diskutierten Fragen stellen, wie: Gibt es Rassismus gegen Weiße? Oder: Dürfen Nicht-Betroffene über Rassismus forschen/sprechen?

Aufgrund der hohen Nachfrage, kann die Teilnahme nicht garantiert werden. Wir bitten Studierende darum, sich ausschließlich über KLIPS anzumelden.  Alle anderen melden sich bitte hier an.

In his talk, Siavush Randjbar-Daemi explores the Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran, a key writer‘s association, and its role in Iranian politics from 1968 to the 1979 revolution. It highlights how the association became the main non-
violent dissident group during a time of heavy political re-pression, uniting major intellectual figures who had been divided by political conflicts. As part of his upcoming study, Randjbar-Daemi presents a new perspective on the Iranian revolution beyond the usual focus on religious leaders.  

During his multi-sited fieldwork with LGBTI+ asylum seekers and refugees, and the local and transnational organizations in Turkey, Mert Kocak made a consistently recurring observation: asylum seekers and refugees gain access to certain rights not because they are entitled to them under national and international laws, but because bureaucratic bodies deem them deserving of these rights.

In this talk, we will seek to answer the following questions: What constitutes the discourse of deserving asylum seekers and refugees? What local and transnational actors play a role in constructing this discourse? How does the 2016 EU-Turkey Agreement influence it? And finally, how does deservingness affect the daily lives of refugees and asylum seekers?

Some people easily know what they feel, what they like and what they want. Others, however, find it difficult to access such internal states. Together with Nira Libermann we will look at obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as an example of this difficulty. Instead of reflecting on their inner emotions, people with OCD rely on external signs that are easier to recognize, such as strict rules or repetitive behaviorisms. Studies have shown that people with OCD often misinterpret signals from their bodies, struggle to understand their emotions, and have a distorted sense of control over their actions. This approach helps us to discuss and understand why people with OCD often have compulsive habits, persistent worries, and doubts. 

Since the 1948 declaration of independence, Myanmar has grappled with civil unrest, notably seen in the 2017 Rohingya exodus. The situation worsened after the 2021 coup, leading to increased violence and human rights violations, displacing approximately 2.4 million people by February 19, 2024.

This lecture will cover the current political climate in Myanmar, challenges faced by displaced individuals in Mae Sot, and their integration into the Thai labor market amidst demographic and economic constraints.

Presenters Su Myat Thwe and Simon Becker, members of the International Research Cluster “Conflict-Induced Displacement and Socio-Economic Resilience”, will share findings from their MA theses conducted at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and the University of Cologne. The presentation will be followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A session.

Lecture Series

We are looking forward to supporting the second part of Professor Katajun Amirpur’s lecture series ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ that will continue to shed light on the situation in Iran.

Knowing more about the political, historical, and cultural background of Iran and of course the current situation, will be crucial for academic collaborations – If they are to become possible on a larger scale.

The lectures will take place at the university or online and are open to the public. They will be held mostly in German.

Schedule and information in German

Katajun Amirpur has been Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Cologne since 2018. She previously taught at the Universities of Hamburg and Zurich. Her research focuses on Shiite Islam, Iranian intellectual history, reform thinking in Islam and the theory and practice of gender movements. 

During the 1910s, the film fan came into being. But all we know about the establishment and formation of early film fan practices we know from heavily biased third-party accounts such as press articles, portrayals in literature and film or later memoirs of film stars. However, several newly discovered collections of fan mail to Danish film stars, totalling up to about 2,900 letters, not only makes it possible for the first time ever on a worldwide scale to reconstruct the agency and practices of early film fans and their sociological, cultural, gender and age diversity. At the same time, the difference to the media representation of ›the‹ fan and his/her fandom provides insights into the functionalization of the discourse on fans and fandom in the respective cultural, social and media-historical context.

The Atoms of Epicurus

In the framework of the Cologne International Forum tandem collaboration between Federico Giulio Corsi (Università La Sapienza, Roma) und Jürgen Hammerstaedt (Universität zu Köln) three public events will be held at the International House on 26-27 September. Please have a look at the poster for further information.

The Ice Cream Sellers by Sohel Rahmen
Film Screening - June 29, 6 p.m.

Kick-off Event of the Cologne International Forum Salon Series 

The film The Ice Cream Sellers (2021, 75mn) is a human story of the Rohingya people - 'the most persecuted minority in the world. The film invites the audience to become a part of the journey of two young siblings Ayas (10) and Asia (8) across the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, just as the director himself was invited and received intimate access to their journey of life. The director takes the audience around the incredibly hot, dusty camp that stretches as far as the eye can see. The film portrays a story of tragedy and loss, courage, and suffering in the attempt by the two siblings to earn enough money to bribe officials for the release of their father from prison in Myanmar. The Ice Cream Sellers is a timely, relevant, and significant film, especially as it gives an insightful context to the Rohingya refugee community and their lives in Bangladesh, five years on from the onslaught of violence they experienced in August 2017.

Registration and further information on the event

Cologne International Forum Opening:

»Classics Now: The Importance of Studying Antiquity in Our Present Age of Crisis«

Guest lecture by Jackie Murray (Professor of Classical Philology, University of Kentucky, SUNY Buffalo, Fellow of the American Academy, Berlin)