International Days 2022

International Days 2022 was held in the two-week period of October 19th–31st, shortly after the opening of the 2022/23 academic year. The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs invited students, doctoral students, postdocs, researchers and the interested public to take part in the extensive program comprising this event. This page provides a look back at the many activities and initiatives conducted as part of the event.

Das waren die International Days

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

WE are international: Global projects and initiatives in Bonn

A social media campaign designed for International Days 2022 highlighted a number of the strong and highly varied collaboration projects ongoing between the University of Bonn and our international partners. Bonn being a major seat of the UN, our university here unsurprisingly enjoys a broad network of international relationships, as seen in the large number of applications submitted for diverse research and teaching projects. The innovative concepts pursued in these projects contribute in key fashion to the successful implementation of the University of Bonn Excellence Strategy.

Paul Basu: international collaboration in our Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs)

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Martin Keßler: international collaboration in our Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs)

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Eva Kiermaier: international collaboration in our Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs)

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Jan Börner: international collaboration in our Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs)

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The Bonn University Ambassadors gather on campus

Some 20 former visiting researchers have been named ‘Bonn University Ambassadors’—individuals who, beyond having personal ties to the University of Bonn, are personally interested in proudly representing our alma mater abroad. A three-day workshop for these ambassadors was held as part of International Days, which most were able to attend. The workshop created major opportunities for communication and dialogue, in part through group activities, further strengthening participants’ already considerable bonds with the University of Bonn. Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Vice Rector for International Affairs: “We are greatly pleased to know that our institution is being represented abroad by such high-caliber individuals.”

1/4 Fifteen Bonn University Ambassadors came to Bonn to attend International Days © Barbara Frommann

2/4 Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch was on hand on the opening day of the workshop to greet the visiting ambassadors © Barbara Frommann

3/4 The workshop was held as a forum for the ambassadors to discuss strategies and new ideas with each other © Volker Lannert

4/4 Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch took guests on a guided tour of an exhibition at LVR State Museum entitled “A Feast for the Eyes: Dutch Still Life Painting in Detail” © Volker Lannert

Besuch der Bonn University Ambassadors

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

Spotlight on: Japan

The International Days concept involves a special focus on one of the University’s partner countries. This year’s focus-country is Japan, chosen in recognition of the close cooperation with Waseda University in Tokyo as strategic partner, and in view of 160 years of German-Japanese friendship.

On October 26, 2022 the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs invited the public to take part in a special program of wide-ranging cultural and academic offerings about Japan, organized in cooperation with the Japanese Consulate General in Düsseldorf, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Cultural Institute in Cologne, the German-Japanese Society of Bonn, the Department of Oriental and Asian Studies and the University’s International Office.

The high level of interest shown by students and researchers in Japan Day 2022 again underscored the sound reasoning in selecting Japan as a priority country for international cooperation with the University of Bonn.

1/6 An info market was set up in the Senate Hall as source for comprehensive information about ‘all things Japan’ © Volker Lannert

2/6 Visitors had the chance to learn origami folding technique there, among other things © Volker Lannert

3/6 Those attending also encountered opportunities to learn about Japanese calligraphy © Volker Lannert

4/6 The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and University of Bonn’s International Office were on hand to introduce the Japanese higher education system to attendees, as well as scholarship and grant opportunities open to students and researchers © Volker Lannert

5/6 Prof. Dr. Reinhard Zöllner of the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies was speaker for the first evening lecture, addressing the digitalization of the Kataoka collection and related research in a talk entitled “Japan in Your Ear: How Old Vinyl Records are Revealing New Insights” © Volker Lannert

6/6 The keynote speaker was Prof. Dr. Kikuko Kashiwagi of Kansai University—a Bonn University Ambassador—who presented on “It's All about the Wurst: The Transformation of Foods in German and Japanese Cuisine” © Volker Lannert

Japantag

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

Introducing the Cologne/Bonn Academy in Exile (CBA)

In the summer of 2022 the Universities of Bonn and Cologne joined forces to support Ukrainian researchers who are no longer able to work at their home universities due to the war, forming the Cologne/Bonn Academy in Exile. Researchers from Belarus and Russia who have had to go into exile because of opposition to the war also qualify to utilize the CBA to continue their research.

1/3 Prof. Dr. Martin Aust of the University of Bonn Department of History, Eastern European History section, presenting the Academy © Volker Lannert

2/3 Dr. Kateryna Kobchenko, a scholar of Eastern European History at the University of Münster, gave a lecture titled “The History of a University in Exile: the Ukrainian Free University in Munich after 1945” © Volker Lannert

3/3 From left to right: Dr. Kateryna Kobchenko, History Department, Eastern European History section, University of Münster; Prof. Dr. Johanna Hey, Vice Rector for International Affairs, University of Cologne; Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Vice Rector for International Affairs, University of Bonn; Prof. Dr. Martin Aust, University of Bonn Department of History, Eastern European History section © Volker Lannert

Awards for early-career researchers

The International Days events at the University of Bonn opened with the awarding of State Prizes to distinguished early-career researchers. Sponsored by the governments of Spain, France and the UK, the awards include the “Queen’s Prize,” created by Queen Elizabeth II (recently deceased) on the occasion of her 1965 visit to the University of Bonn, which recognizes outstanding achievement in English studies. The State Prizes have traditionally been presented simultaneous with the DAAD Prize of the German Academic Exchange Service for noteworthy accomplishments benefiting society and/or university life.

1/7 The six award winners together with Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Vice Rector for International Affairs © Volker Lannert

2/7 Alba Iglesias Martín received a Premio Rey de España award for her master’s thesis titled “La cortesía verbal en la correspondencia académica virtual. Estudio empírico y propuesta didáctica” © Volker Lannert

3/7 Another Premio Rey de España award was presented to Marién Salinas Valera for her master’s thesis titled “La discriminación cultural en la literatura peruana: el concepto de ‘cholo’ en tres novelas representativas del siglo XX” © Volker Lannert

4/7 Luis Padberg likewise earned a Premio Rey de España award for his master’s thesis titled “Francisco Umbral as Chronicler of Late Francoism and the Spanish Transición: the Article Collections ‘Spleen de Madrid’ (1973), ‘Crónicas Postfranquistas’ (1976) and ‘Spleen de Madrid 2’ (1982)” © Volker Lannert

5/7 Lisa Christine Thomas was recipient of a Prix de la République française for her bachelor’s thesis titled “Linguistic Stowaways? Archaisms in French Idioms from the Speaker’s Point of View.” © Volker Lannert

6/7 Carlotta Wolfram received the Queen’s Prize for her bachelor’s thesis titled “Tag-Rag People. Romans and the ‘Fumbling Liberal’: Power Relations and Demagoguery in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar through the Ages” © Volker Lannert

7/7 Relindis Ebesoh Nkeng received an award from the German Academic Exchange Service in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and noteworthy activism for social, societal or internal university causes © Volker Lannert

Staatspreise

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

Art intervention on campus: “Duet” by Ari Benjamin Meyers

A performative exhibition by prominent US composer and artist Ari Benjamin Meyers was a particular cultural highlight. His piece “Duet” has mainly been performed in museums and concert halls since 2014, including at the OFF Biennale in Cairo among numerous other events around the world. The performance as part of the University of Bonn International Days was the first time the piece has played in a university setting. For this intervention, singers were positioned in the courtyard of the University’s main building for four hours, inviting passersby to join in the singing. This led to an encounter between two people who had never before met in their lives, who found themselves singing a piece of music together—a poignant ‘togetherness’ moment that also commented on the relationship between the University and the city within which it is embedded. That evening Meyers held a talk with ensuing audience discussion of his artistic work in context.

1/3 “Duet” performed in the Arkadenhof courtyard of the University of Bonn © Barbara Fromann

2/3 Meyers talked about his work as an artist in a lecture titled “Rehearsing the Future. On the Kunsthalle for Music and Some Recent Works” © Meike Böschemeyer

3/3 The talk was followed by a lively discussion with members of the audience © Meike Böschemeyer

Ari Benjamin Meyers

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

Global network: The University of Bonn’s multilateral relations

Early on in the 2022/23 academic year, the Vice Rectors for International Affairs of our strategic partner universities—Emory University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of St Andrews and Waseda University—sent video greetings to their colleagues in Bonn.

Vice Rector Birgit Ulrike Münch commenting on the themed events: “The International Days have demonstrated that the University of Bonn benefits enormously from the strong partnerships that have been in place for many years now, particularly with the institutions that have formed part of our multilateral Global Network since 2021.”

Global Network

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

Further events

The program of events for International Days 2022 was designed to appeal to a wide range of interests on the part of its attending visitors from within and from outside the University community.

DPE lecture: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Stanford University

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, has been a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Bonn since 2022. In a lecture titled “’Bildung’: About a Practice and a Concept in the Core of German Culture––and a Possible Rebirth Coming from the Pacific,” Professor Gumbrecht outlined promising possibilities for transatlantic dialogue.

Panel discussion: Academic partnerships with special-situation countries

Funding possibilities for projects with partner countries where international exchanges are subject to particular challenges were discussed in a public university panel discussion with Kathrin Kohs of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and Dr. Kai Sicks of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

International Conference of Centre Ernst Robert Curtius (CERC)

Scientific/academic, political and religious thought systems from the early modern period up to the present were discussed and analyzed in relation to questions of individual and collective action in a European context at this year’s international CERC conference, titled “Thought Cultures: Cognitive Orders and Cultural Paradigms in a Diverse Europe.”

Networking meeting with partners from Georgia

The University of Bonn invited eight researchers from the countries of Georgia and Armenia to come visit in order to further develop and expand an already vibrant cooperation with the Georgian universities Ilia State University, Agricultural University of Georgia, Yerevan State University and Tbilisi State Medical University.

United Nations University: Interconnected Disaster Risks launch event

The UNU and the Bundeskunsthalle art museum invited the public to attend an interactive event in Bonn in connection with publication of the Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2021/2022

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Drop-in sessions: Study and internships abroad

The International Office offered drop-in consultation sessions as a chance for students to get both general information on the existing options for academic stays abroad and advice regarding specific programs.

Coming soon!

Roundtable discussion: Identity, Diversity, Participation. A Sharing of International Experiences

February 9, 2023, 12:00 noon

Ort: TBA

Location: TBA

The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs, the Vice Rectorate for Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the US Consulate General in Düsseldorf and the AmerikaHaus NRW are organizing a joint panel discussion on the topic of diversity in an international context. The all-female panel will be discussing their life and work as women in their respective home countries and in Germany. The debate will also open up a dialogue with the audience about the opportunities and challenges that the issues of diversity and participation bring to our personal and professional lives.

Panelists: Pauline Kao, US Consul General; Sandra Kim, Public Prosecutor, NRW Ministry of Justice; Prof. Dr. Carla Jaimes Betancourt, University of Bonn Department for the Anthropology of the Americas

Host: Arnd Henze, WDR

BONN*E FÊTE – The 60-year anniversary of the Elysée Treaty! Special ‘France Year’ at the University of Bonn—2022/23

October 2022 to March 2023

Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer signed the Elysée Treaty on January 22, 1963: a historic friendship agreement between Germany and France. Now, sixty years later, these two countries are facing major challenges in and with Europe, and the anniversary presents an excellent occasion to revisit and re-invigorate Franco-German cooperation within the university context. Between the months of October 2022 and March 2023 the University’s International Office and Centre Ernst Robert Curtius (CERC) will be addressing salient issues of German-French relations—past, present and future—holding one or more events monthly in coordination with the Institut Français Bonn. A two-day conference of the Center Ernst Robert Curtius (CERC) as part of International Days kicked off this event series.

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