Reflection Room

Past events

23.04.2026 Living democracy - The role of the constitutional court. Reflection Room at Bielefeld University

What does the Basic Law say about our democracy and how does the Federal Constitutional Court help to protect it? What is actually meant by democracy, why are fundamental rights indispensable and how does an independent constitutional court work? The fundamental rights that are negotiated here concern us all. But how does the court actually work? How does consensus emerge and what does this mean for the major controversies of our time - from climate protection to migration to social justice, from data protection to freedom of expression to equal rights? So how does the Constitutional Court protect democracy - and why do we need to protect it? Susanne Baer, former judge of the Federal Constitutional Court, talks about this in this reflection room.

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29.01.2026 "Reform - Charisma - Concealment"

The fourth Reflection Room on 29 January 2026 at 6 p.m. s.t. in the lecture hall of the Y building will focus on the topic of "Reform - Charisma - Concealment". The aim is to critically and self-reflectively discuss whether and how specially produced mechanisms in progressive institutions enable and legitimise sexualised violence and discriminatory practices, among other things.
Bielefeld University began in 1969 as an ambitious reform project - interdisciplinary and innovative. These principles still characterise the university's self-image today. At the same time, issues of internal power relations, exclusive masculinity networks and dealing with sexualised violence were largely ignored in the early years - for example in school pedagogy. To this day, efforts are still being made to close the gaps between institutional standards and actual structures.

The fourth reflection room on the topic of "Reform - Charisma - Concealment" focusses on this tension. The central concept of concealment describes the more or less intentional concealment, disguising and invisibilisation of deeds, but also the cementing of existing orders.

The guiding thesis is that the more institutions such as reform universities position themselves on the "good" and "right" side, the more vigilant they must be with regard to aspects that have been concealed and actually defended against. Reform processes in particular, which dare to break new ground in terms of content and culture against the backdrop of encrusted structures, can be susceptible to this type of dynamic.

At the same time, they attract charismatic individuals who initiate and prepare new paths, but who can also delimit their position of power. Such constellations can lead to forms of "knowing ignorance" in the environment and a "diffusion of responsibility" in complex, participatory structures.

Invited to the panel discussion with audience participation are

• Dr Marlene Kowalski, visiting gender professor at Bielefeld University (2024/25) and head of the "Active against sexualised violence" unit at Diakonie Deutschland
• Prof Dr Bernhard Pörksen, media scientist at the University of Tübingen
• Prof Dr Oliver Flügel-Martinsen, Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at Bielefeld University

The event will be moderated by Professors Dr Barbara Thiessen (Dean of the Faculty of Educational Science) and Dr Michaela Vogt (Vice Rector for International Affairs, Diversity and Society).

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10.06.2025 Despite dark times - listening and talking to each other

In dark times, against the backdrop of ever-hardening fronts in the Middle East conflict, it is all the more important both to continue talking to each other and to continue listening to each other. This is the view expressed by Dr Elisabeth Becker-Topkara from Heidelberg University in her lecture on Thursday, 10 July at 6 pm in the lecture hall of CITEC at Bielefeld University. The lecture is entitled "Speaking and Listening in Dark Times: The University as a Space of Trust" and will be held in English.

The Middle East expert will be speaking as part of the Rectorate's "Reflection Room" series. This series is dedicated to topics that are of particular concern to society. The university regularly invites academics who can contribute to current social conflict issues. It is an offer to the members of the university, but also to urban society, to engage with well-founded scientific analyses of these issues.

In her lecture, Elisabeth Becker-Topkara demonstrates the need for spaces of discourse in which universities must transform themselves from battlegrounds of competing ideologies into havens for rigorous, courageous dialogue. Discourse across differences must be actively encouraged. She proposes the concept of 'third spaces' where deep engagement and exchange can take place without ideological constraints, emphasising plurality, shared learning and the need for responsible discourse.

The lecture challenges the current polarisations and radicalisations by offering approaches that strengthen the essential function of the university as a place where we can talk to each other - and not just about each other. The university should be a place where we try to understand each other even in the face of profound differences of opinion.

Dr Elisabeth Becker-Topkara is a Freigeist Fellow at the Max Weber Institute for Sociology at Heidelberg University and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University. She has been researching Jewish-Muslim relations in Europe and the USA for more than ten years. Her most recent work focuses on strategies for facilitating talks after 7 October 2023.

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06.11.2024 "Thoughts on the historical significance of 7 October 2023"

Jan Philipp Reemtsma will be coming to Bielefeld University on 6 November. His lecture is entitled "Thoughts on the historical significance of 7 October 2023". In this lecture, he will focus on the significance of the Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023 because, according to Reemtsma, this date has a special significance in the history of wars in the modern era. He believes that the so-called "pro-Palestinian" sympathy rallies immediately afterwards should also be viewed against this backdrop. He also locates them in the history of anti-Semitism. The lecture begins at 6.15 pm in lecture theatre building Y, Y-0-111.

Jan Phillip Reemtsma comes to Bielefeld University at the invitation of the Rectorate and continues the "Reflection Room" lecture series. The Rectorate initiated this series to create a space for social exchange on socially relevant topics and conflicts. Academics who can contribute to current social conflict issues are regularly invited. It is an offer to members of the university, but also to urban society, to engage with well-founded scientific analyses of current social issues.

Professor Dr Jan Philipp Reemtsma, born in 1952, is the founder and chairman of the Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture and the Arno Schmidt Foundation. He is also the founder and was Director of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research until March 2015. His main areas of work include: Literature of the 18th and 20th centuries, theory of civilisation, history of human destructiveness.

To the uni.news entry