Perspectives
With Perspectives the Cologne International Forum would like to introduce its new event series in collaboration with the At-Risk Scholar Support of the University of Cologne.
The University of Cologne has a strong commitment to support at-risk scholars. It has been part of the worldwide Scholars at Risk network since 2015 and founding member of the Scholars at Risk Germany Section.
The University’s commitment to supporting international scholars who cannot pursue their research due to restrictions on their academic freedom, persecution, or war, requires the need to look at the world as a whole and local realities simultaneously.
Perspectives events will focus on topics dealing not only with the complex experiences of exile and migration but also spotlight specific crises and explore how societies deal with migration and ongoing transformation.
Perspectives: LECTURE
Housamedden Darwish
»The Concept of Heritage in Contemporary Arab Thought«
19 May 2025 - 4 p.m., International House (Kringsweg 6)
The venue is wheelchair accessible and the lecture will be held in spoken English.
Heritage occupies a central place in contemporary Arab culture and Arab thought. To explore this, I will address the conceptual significance of heritage, its meanings, and its entanglement with other key ideas, such as tradition, the past, authenticity, modernity and renaissance. In doing so, I will also reflect on how Arab intellectuals have approached heritage as both a cultural foundation and a contested problem. By examining the engagement of Arab thought with heritage over time, the shift from revivalist to critical and then to synthesis-oriented perspectives is highlighted. This evolving debate is further situated within the broader intellectual and political challenges in the Arab world. To illustrate these approaches, the works of Hussein Muruwa, Tayeb Tizini, Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, Muhammad Arkoun, Abdullah Laroui, Hassan Hanafi, Muhammad Abed al-Jabri, and Radwan al-Sayyid are underlined as representative models of distinct approaches to heritage in contemporary Arab discourse.
Housamedden Darwish is a writer, researcher, and lecturer at the University of Cologne. He earned his PhD in Philosophy with a specialization in Hermeneutics from the University of Bordeaux 3, awarded summa cum laude with distinction. His work engages with philosophy, Arab thought, Islamic studies, and cultural studies. He has authored nine books in Arabic and three in French and published widely in peer-reviewed journals and in translation in both Arabic and English.
Past Events
Herausforderungen für die Demokratie in der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft
Die Ringvorlesung des Instituts für Sprachen und Kulturen der islamischen geprägten Welt (ISKIW) und des Instituts für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie (ISS) der Universität zu Köln befasst sich mit Herausforderungen für die Demokratie in der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft angesichts der aktuellen politischen Entwicklungen. Dazu gehören Verletzungen von Menschenrechten und Ideologien der Ungleichheit, Autoritarismus in seinen verschiedenen Formen, Antisemitismus und antimuslimischer Rassismus.
Wir freuen uns die Januar-Veranstaltungen als Kooperationspartner am Cologne International Forum begrüßen zu dürfen.
Die Veranstaltungen im Januar finden im International House, Kringsweg 6 statt.
Eine Anmeldung ist erforderlich.
13.01.2025, 16:00-17:30 Uhr (hybrid)
Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç (Humboldt University Berlin):
Wie fühlt es sich an, als Gefahr wahrgenommen zu werden? Selbstbilder, Emotionen und Umgangsweisen mit dem „Bedrohungsszenario“ im antimuslimischen Rassismus
20.01.2025, 16:00-17:30 Uhr (NUR ONLINE)
Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan (DeZIM, Berlin):
„Importierter Antisemitismus“? Herausforderungen für die postmigrantische Gesellschaft
27.01.2025, 16:00-17:30 Uhr (hybrid)
Prof. Dr. Claus Leggewie (em./KWI Essen):
Erweiterte Demokratie: Für ein Parlament der Dinge