Horizon Europe: From Concept to Grant

Keynote Lecture by Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University

Subject: The fragility of democracy: Is understanding racial trauma the key to resiliency?

Lecture and Discussion: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Reception: From 8:00 PM

Venue: Festsaal of the University Main Building

Event language: English

Access: Public; registration via the button below

Homi K. Bhabha is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities in the Departments of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He has authored numerous works in the fields of postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis, contemporary art and cosmopolitanism. His publications include The Location of Culture, Nation and Narration and prefaces to Frantz Fanon's most important works. Additionally, Bhabha has written essays on artists such as William Kentridge, Anish Kapoor, Taryn Simon, Matthew Barney and many others. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and Critic-in-Residence at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Ceremony for the 20th Anniversary of the German-French Studies Program

Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Venue: Festsaal of the University Main Building 

Event languages: German, French

Access: Public; registration until September 20, 2024, via dfs@uni-bonn.de

The University of Bonn celebrates 20 years of German-French Studies with welcoming addresses, an alumni panel discussion and a French theater performance, followed by a reception (Café Unique).

Workshop with Homi K. Bhabha

Subject: Third Space Turns 30: Revisit. Reflect. React?

Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Venue: Festsaal and Senatssaal of the University Main Building 

Event language: English

Access: Public; registration below

Homi Bhabha's The Location of Culture, published in 1994, is undoubtedly one of the works that sparked a paradigm shift in the humanities. The African American writer and 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Toni Morrison, rightly emphasized that serious engagement with postcolonialism would be impossible without this work. To this day, the book remains relevant, especially regarding the distinction between cultural diversity and cultural difference. At the same time, The Location of Culture, as a collection of eleven key essays, also contains shifts or differences from current debates, particularly with regard to the central concept of "hybridity." New geopolitical configurations and the general consolidation of globality in the 21st century cast the book in a new light. Ideas Bhabha introduced have now become reality.

How does the author view these changes and shifts thirty years later? What remains unchanged, and which narratives have been further developed? What are the consequences? To address these questions, representatives from various disciplines, research groups, and clusters (including the Cluster of Excellence Beyond Slavery and Freedom, the Center for Reconciliation, the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft, the SFB Future Rural Africa and the Graduate School of Contemporary Literature) at the University of Bonn will have the opportunity to engage in discussion groups with Homi K. Bhabha about the old and new impulses of this seminal work.

Ambassadors Workshop II

As former guest researchers of the university, our roughly 20 Bonn University Ambassadors share not only a personal bond with Bonn but also a desire to represent our Alma Mater well abroad. Ambassadors from universities in Jordan, Ghana, India, Brazil, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom will once again travel to Bonn for a joint workshop during this year’s International Days. This annual gathering is intended to further strengthen the already strong ties of the participants to Bonn through joint activities and intensive exchanges, and to facilitate the program's ongoing development.

During the International Days 2023, the University of Bonn celebrated international partnerships, excellent young scholars, and world-class research with students, doctoral candidates, postdocs, researchers, and other interested parties.

On October 19 and 20, 2023, numerous international projects and initiatives of the University of Bonn were showcased, current challenges and future opportunities in international cooperation—especially with partners from the so-called Global South—were discussed, and students and researchers were provided with comprehensive information. Together with outstanding international guests, international cooperation was examined from diverse perspectives, and networking with researchers from around the world was facilitated.