iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Invitation to a Film Screening and Discussion 📅 31.10.2026,🕓 20:00 at @boell.de in Berlin Traces: Cinema, Memory and Peace curated by Nilgün Yelpaze and Leyla Toprak -> offuniversity.org/forum-for-pe... Organized by @offuniversity.bsky.social, @rosaluxstiftung.bsky.social, @boell.de

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

We are excited to announce 3 NEW COURSES in our 2026-27 WINTER SEMESTER starting in mid-October. JOIN US in sustaining spaces where learning, solidarity, and critical inquiry can continue despite violence and repression. SIGN UP TODAY! -> offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

"Critical Peace and Civil Society,” led by @dr-ferda-fa.bsky.social is an interactive online lab examining how mid-level actors connect communities and decision-makers in conflict settings. ℹ️ offuniversity.org/current-cour... 🗣️ KURMANCÎ @rosaluxstiftung.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Gender-based violence is structural, political, and contested. This course explores its dynamics in West Asia, from domestic abuse to conflict-related violence, while highlighting activism, survival strategies, and spaces of resistance across the region. ➡️ offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

What does it mean to live through historical rupture? This course explores war, displacement, and crisis through performance ethnography, using Playback and Documentary Theatre to transform lived experience into collaborative, research-based performance. Register: offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Amid rising authoritarianism, can universities offer refuge and continuity for human rights defenders in exile? Join an interdisciplinary, practitioner-led course examining real-world strategies, networks, and challenges across global contexts. Register here: offuniversity.org/current-cour...

Exile, Activism and the University with Alexander Kalgin, Magnolia, 15.04.2026 - 22.07.2026, 6 ECTS

This course examines the role of universities as spaces of protection for human rights defenders in exile, focusing on how academic institutions can provide protection for activists. Today, authoritarianism is rising globally, and those who dare to contest authoritarian governments are often forced into exile. Traditional measures of human rights protection may not be sufficient. In this context, universities have the capacity to function as semi-safe spaces that offer resources, networks, and communities that allow human rights defenders to sustain their work.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

We are happy to have Yadviha Lukashyk in our History Textbook Workshop. Her research explores everyday life on the Eastern Front during the First World War through photographic sources. Sign-up here: offuniversity.org/current-cour... #Universitywithoutborders

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

At a time of incessant wars, widespread mass displacement and rising authoritarianism, the dissemination of knowledge is under threat. Join us in sustaining spaces where learning, solidarity, and critical inquiry can continue despite violence and repression. offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

We are inviting proposals for an online laboratory on the Memory of the Syrian War to be taught by scholars at risk. Check the details of the application requirements, what you should submit to apply and how here on the call page ℹ️ offuniversity.org/call-for-an-... 📆Deadline: April 13th, 2026

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

We are inviting proposals for an online course on War, Memory, and Gender to be taught by scholars at risk. Check the details of the application requirements, what you should submit to apply and how here on the call page ℹ️ offuniversity.org/call-for-cou... 📅 Deadline: April 13th, 2026

Call for Course Proposals on War, Memory, and Gender

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

In the next-to-last session of our lecture series Cities at War, we are welcoming Aimal Formolly speaking on "Spatial Justice and Everyday Resilience: Navigating Post-Conflict Urbanism in Kabul". Join us on January 28th, 4pm CET time: offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders

This lecture examines the lived experiences of Kabul’s residents amid the enduring legacies of conflict, emphasizing the intersections of spatial justice, social cohesion, and participatory urban planning. By integrating gamified urban design models with ethnographic insights and geospatial analysis, it outlines pathways for strengthening resilience, equity, and collective memory in fragile urban environments.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

We are a partner of the universities in #Rojava. Our thoughts and solidarity are with the students and scholars in the region who are facing escalating violence and deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Please read this statement of solidarity here: drive.google.com/file/d/1aEdK...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Join us for Batoul Yassine and Mariam Bazzi's lecture "From Archiving to People-Centred, Heritage-Led Urban Recovery. The Cases of Gaza and Nabatieh" this Wednesday, January 21st at 4pm CET. -> more offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders Thanks to @urbanstudiesfoundation.org

This lecture advances the argument that urban recovery can start during war in many forms and practices, one of which is the act of archiving. Archiving the city does not only preserve but also enable the emergence of multiple narratives through unarchiving, a process that disrupts and re-organizes the archival collection, leading to the formation of future imaginaries tied to the recovery of sites of urbicide. This proposition is explored through two cases: Gaza, Palestine, and Nabatieh, Southern Lebanon, where a team of the Beirut Urban Lab has engaged in planning amid complex conditions of war.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

We are happy to welcome Nevin Soyukaya this week in our Lecture Series "Cities at War". She will speak on "Diyarbakır/Suriçi: Conflict and Urbicide as the Erasure of Collective Memory" on January 14th at 4pm CET. register here -> offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders

Dating back to the 5th millennium B.C., Diyarbakır is one of the rare urban centers where the evolution of urban history and the cumulative layers of the past can be observed in all phases up to the twenty-first century. Between October 2015 and March 2016, however, this deeply layered urban fabric was violently disrupted. Following declarations of self-governance in twenty Kurdish cities, intense armed clashes broke out between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and Turkish state security forces, involving heavy weaponry leading to widespread urban destruction.
This paper examines the dynamics of armed urban conflict and the subsequent practices of urbicide through the case of Diyarbakır’s historic core, Suriçi. It analyzes the socio-spatial consequences of this violence, with particular attention to its erasure of historical layers, transformation of the urban fabric, and displacement of local communities.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

The first session in the Cities at War Lecture Series in 2026 will be given by Viktoriia Grivina on #Kharkiv is a Dream. Planning a Future During War". Join her timely talk on Wednesday, 07.01.2026 at 4 pm CET. offuniversity.org/current-cour... @urbanstudiesfoundation.org #universitywithoutborders

In 2022, Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine withstood months of relentless Russian artillery strikes that razed entire residential districts of the city, with its population dropping from 1.6 million to 800 000. A short Ukrainian counteroffensive in summer 2022 eliminated the fears of occupation. People started to return, and grand plans involving foreign architectural bureaus for rebuilding have appeared. But are we allowed to think of the future when Kharkiv continues to be attacked by drones, guided bombs, and missiles every day? During this lecture, I invite you to dream and think of the future of a war city with me.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

This week we have Sarah Husein with a talk on "Water Practices in Conflict-Torn Damascus: Distressing Memories to Overlook or Coping Strategies for Climate Resilience" in our Cities at War Lecture Series. Join us December 17th, 4 pm CET. Everyone is welcome: moodle.offuniversity.org/course/view....

This lecture examines how decades of conflict have profoundly affected the daily lives of Damascus's inhabitants by limiting access to running water. The massive destruction of infrastructure during the armed conflict has exacerbated a water scarcity already evident at the turn of the century, forcing residents to reinvent everyday practices around water use. Drawing on NGOs reports, media accounts and testimonies of residents’ coping strategies, this lecture reflects on how memories of these coping strategies can inform future approaches to water management, both at individual and political levels, in a city marked by chronic scarcity and still bearing the scars of war.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

We are looking forward to Naman Agrawal's lecture Beyond the Golden Walls: Memory, Survival, and Everyday Life in Jaisalmer’s Borderlands" in our Cities at War Lectures Series on 📅 10.12.2025 🕓 16:00 CET Join us here: offuniversity.org/current-cour... @urbanstudiesfoundation.org

The lecture examines how militarization, tourism, and cycles of violence shape everyday life in Jaisalmer, a city on India’s western frontier. By focusing on the strategies of adaptation and resilience employed by local communities facing displacement, heritage commodification, and the blurring of war–peace boundaries, it highlights the agency of ordinary people in sustaining memory and cultural continuity. Drawing on ethnographic insights, the session situates Jaisalmer within comparative discussions on cities negotiating survival amidst conflict and globalization.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

We are looking forward to Shada Bokir's lecture "The Other War: Economic Occupation and Civic Resistance in Hadhramout" in our Cities at War Lectures Series on 📅 03.12.2025 🕓 16:00 CET Join us here: offuniversity.org/current-cour...

This lecture explores how the eastern Yemeni region of Hadhramout has become a frontline of a different kind of war, not through military confrontation, but through resource extraction, infrastructural collapse, and sustained foreign intervention. Deeply entangled in geopolitical competition and economic exploitation, Hadhramout has since 2021 experienced waves of protest fueled by electricity blackouts, inflation, and the collapse of public services. This unrest has unfolded in a region that is among the most resource-rich in Yemen, yet these benefits rarely reach the population.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

This week in our lecture series "Cities at War": Emotional Landscapes of Ukrainian Cities in Times of War by Olena Kononenko and Oleksandra Nenko. 📆 26.11.2025  ⏰16:00 CET -> offuniversity.org/current-cour...

War leaves deep and visible scars on the urban landscape, but it also profoundly transforms how residents emotionally perceive their city. In this lecture, we will explore the concept of the emotional landscape and emotional places in wartime cities, and present the types of emotional places identified in contemporary Kyiv and Kharkiv.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Join us this week for "Justice in Post-War Reconstruction: The Social Sustainability of Neighbourhoods" by Zena Asswad in our Cities at War Lectures Series on 19.11.2025 at 16:00 CET. #universitywithoutborders @urbanstudiesfoundation.org

The lecture highlights the social and emportional dimensions of reconstruction, emphasising that buidling must extend beyond physical infrastrcuture to restore community, identity, and justice. It reflects the tension between sustainability discourses and political agendas and advocates for socially rooted approaches that honour local memory and participation. This hightlights how terms like "modernisation" and "sustainability" can be weaponized to justify displacement and homogenisation, particularly in the case of Aleppo.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Join us this week for "Urban Ruins and Resettlement: Governing Cities in Post-Conflict Ethiopia" by Wudu Muluneh Yimer in our Cities at War Lectures Series on 12.11.2025 at 16:00 CET.

This lecture examines post-conflict urban reconstruction in Ethiopia, focusing on cities in the Amhara region affected by displacement, infrastructural ruination, and contested planning. It explores how residents reclaim space, preserve memory, and secure tenure while local authorities navigate reconstruction under political and economic constraints, highlighting the interplay between everyday life, governance, and urban memory.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

The @neweuropeu.bsky.social and @offuniversity.bsky.social invite applications from colleagues to form a team delivering a 12-week online course titled “History Textbook Workshop”. Deadline: November 16th offuniversity.org/call-for-two... offuniversity.org/call-fo-expe... @universitywithoutborders

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Join the third session of our Cities at War Lecture Series: "Teaching 300 Metres Beyond the Border" by Luqman Guldivê this Wednesday at 5 pm CET. You can visit our website offuniversity.org/current-cour... for more information and registration. #universitywithoutborders

Teaching 300 Metres Beyond the Border by Luqman Guldivê - Cities at War Lectures Series - 3

During the 1990s, paramilitary operations systematically eliminated the artisans and emerging middle class in the town of Nisêbin just a few hundred meters north of Qamislo, across the border. The renewed destruction in late 2015 erased urban space, left inhabitants with deeply fragmented memories and a dislocated sense of place. The subsequent reconstruction further severed these connections, erasing the sites of collective memory once embedded in the urban fabric. As an educator at the University of Rojava, Luqman Guldiv narrates the emotional and intellectual challenges of working within sight of a place so violently transformed.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Join the third session of our Cities at War Lecture Series: "Kobanê — Between The Ashes of War and The Dawn of Reconstruction" by Aras Hiso this Wednesday at 4pm CET. You can visit our website offuniversity.org/current-cour... for more information and registration.

Kobanê — Between The Ashes of War and The Dawn of Reconstruction by Aras Hiso - Cities at War Lectures Series - 3, 05.11.2025, 16:00 CET

After the liberation of Kobanê in 2015, the residents of Kobane undertook the task of rebuilding their city despite ongoing warfare and the constraints of a severe embargo. As part of this reconstruction, they made the decision to establish the city’s first university now serving over 1000 students. What motivated the founding of the university? How was the city rebuilt? And how does the ever-present threat of renewed violence continue to shape the reconstruction? Aras Hiso, who experienced this period first as a student and now as a faculty member at the University of Kobanê, offers a first-hand account.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Join the second session of our lecture series "Cities at War" with Anood Ali who will speak on "Architecture as Resistance: The Reconstruction of Gaza's Urban Fabric After The Ongoing Genocide" this Wednesday, 4 pm CET. offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Aksana Ulanovich and Andrii Kostyriev’s course will uncover the techniques, tactics, and means by which media shape – and are shaped by – democratic and authoritarian contexts through discussion, debate, and collaborative research. offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders

Media Communication in the 21st Century with Aksana Ulanovich and Adrii Kostyriev, Wednesdays 2pm hosted at the Geschister Scholl Institute fot Political Science at LMU, co-sponsored by New University IN Exile Consortium

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

We are proud to present three new online courses starting in mid-October. All our courses are free to join, free of charge and free in content! Sign up today! offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders @unimarburg.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social @urbanstudiesfoundation.org

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Join babykilla @iambabykilla.bsky.social in their workshop, “Drag As A Liberating Teaching Methodology”, on Sept. 20, 16:30 (CEST) and explore how performance and play can create inclusive, critical, and joyful learning environments. More info about Off Fest📍https://offuniversity.org/off-fest-2025/

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

The morning after, on September 21, we will conspire with activist and representatives of organizations to think about how we can build more solidarity among all knowledge workers. For details: offuniversity.org/panel-discus...

How to build more solidarity among all knowledge workers.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Together with Asli Vatansever, @ygmarshall.bsky.social and Felicia Kompio @gewberlin.bsky.social, we will discuss what MAGA does to academic freedom in the US and what that means for working conditions in Germany for all scholars. Join us on Sept. 20 at 7pm online or @Engelnest in Berlin.

Common Struggles, Unequal terms. Towards Fair working Conditions for all Scholars. Panelists Asli Vatansever, Felicia Kompio, Yannick Giovanni Marshall

International at-risk academics working in German academia and organisations campaigning for better working conditions will critically discuss the latest developments for US academia and what they mean for existing challenges such as precariousness, abuse of power and the state of academic freedom.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

On September 20, Off Fest will open with a workshop led by @dr-ferda-fa.bsky.social on the experience of the Critical Peace Network. For more information, visit our website 📍 offuniversity.org/off-fest-2025/ Don’t forget to register to help us with the planning📝 nc.offuniversity.org/index.php/ap...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Join us on September 20–21, 2025, for our yearly meeting and the 2nd Off Festival. The festival will include workshops, a panel discussion, art performances, film screening and discussion, music, dancing, and shared meals. For more information, visit our website 👉 offuniversity.org/off-fest-2025/

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Eleştirel Barış Ağı olarak "Sivil Toplum Barışı Konuşuyor" Webinar Serisinin ilk etkinliğinde bütün ilgilileri webinara davet ediyoruz. t1p.de/4jfmx

Eleştirel Barış Ağı'nın Sivil Toplum Barışı konuşuyor başlıklı webinar serisinin posteri. Ferda Fahrioğlu ve Hamit Bozarslan ve Arzu Yılmaz konuşmacılar

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

In "Myanmar in the World" scholars from Myanmar will discuss the impact of geographical aspects on international politics in the context of Myanmar. The course has English presentations with discussion groups in English & Burmese. Don't forget to register 👉 t1p.de/ogtgg #universitywithoutborders

Myanmar in the World by Tr. Rose and Tr. April, 10.05.-19.07.2025, Saturdays, 9 am CEST, 3 ECTS

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

We'll be part of this interesting exchange next Wednesday. •Conference “Authoritarian Threats and Academic Solidarities in Contemporary Eastern European Exile”• April 9, 2025 • ➡️ cercec.ehess.fr/evenement/me... @campuscondorcet.bsky.social @boris-melnichenko.bsky.social @plaborier.bsky.social

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Registration is open! t1p.de/o9kl6 Othering, Social Taboo, and Ethnicity: Representations of the Margin in Arab Contemporary Fiction by Adel Dashela and Safwan Yahya Al-Showaiter. @thenewschool.bsky.social and @unibremen.bsky.social #universitywithoutborders

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Adel Dashela and Safwan Yahya Al-Showaiter's course focusses on how marginalized communities are represented in novels. Register now t1p.de/o9kl6 w/ Anthropology & Cultural Research @unibremen.bsky.social and the New University in Exile Consortium @thenewschool.bsky.social #universitywithoutborders

Othering, Social Taboo, and Ethnicity. Representations of the Margins in Arab Contemporary Fiction by Adel Dashela, Safwan Yahya Al-Showaiter, 09.04.2025 - 09.07.2025, Wednesdays, 14:00 CEST, 3 ECTS

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Join Aleksandra Kolesnik and Alexandre Russanov's course "History and Memory in Contemporary Russia" to explore historical culture in contemporary Russia through an examination of both state memory policies and grassroots initiatives. We start on April 7th, registration is open !!🔔 t1p.de/y4znw

History and Memory in Contemporary Russia by Alexandra Kolesnik and Aleksandr Rusanov, 04.04.2025 - 18.07.2025, Mondays 5 pm CEST

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

🌟Off University’s 2025 Summer Semester, a defence against the global attack on science and critical thinking, is starting soon! Sign-up today for our online courses on our new website at offuniversity.org and check out our e-learning platform, moodle.offuniversity.org #universitywithoutborders

Caste on Screen: Hindi Cinema and the Making of Contemporary India by Reyazul Haque and Nadja-Christina Schneider, History and Memory in Contemporary Russia by Alexandra Kolesnik and Aleksandr Rusanov, Myanmar in the World by two scholars from Myanmar, and Othering, Social Taboo, and Ethnicity: Representations of the Margin in Arab Contemporary Fiction by Adel Dashela and Safwan Yahya Al-Showaiter.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

This is a summer against the global attack on science and critical thinking! Off University's Summer Semester is starting soon with 4 new courses that help to stay sane. Join us and register here for free: offuniversity.org/current-cour... #universitywithoutborders #onlineseminars #AdultEducation

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

29.01.25: Join the final session of our conversation series, Ways of Remembering! offuniversity.org/current-cour... In conversation with Meltem Ahıska & aided by two short films produced in Turkey, we will problematize visibility and invisibility with regard to various concepts and issues of memory.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

What is your experience of the freedom to study, learn or train in Berlin? We documented answers in the radio play "The Situation or the Freedom to be Loud" now available on all streaming platform. 🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/2jcAGr... 🎧 YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pzH...

Cover of the radio play "The Situation or the Freedom to be Loud"

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Do you want to teach at Off University? We are calling for proposals for a course on Myanmar to be taught by scholars at risk. Deadline for Applications: January 5th, 2025. More Information: offuniversity.org/news/call-fo...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Are you new in Berlin & seek access to education or vocational training? We explored this topic artistically this summer and would like to hear your thoughts. Join the discussion, watch & hear more about the results of this process! ℹ️https://tinyurl.com/25k9f2et

Event on November 26th, 19 - 21 CET at Bard College Berlin, Waldstraße 15, W15 Café.

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 28/10/2024

⭐️Join the Conversation: Freedom of Research & Learning in Berlin! ⭐️ ⭐️ Saturday, November 2nd, 3-6 pm, organised together with Roam Projects e.V. in Berlin offuniversity.org/freedom-of-r... Reserve a seat: art@offuniversity.org #learning #learninginberlin #workshop #screening #radioplay

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

What do freedom and academic freedom mean to New Berliners? What are their expectations and are they fulfilled? Join us this Saturday afternoon to discuss our 📹artistic📻 exploration on this topic. ⌚️ 5-7 pm (doors open at 4:30) 🌆 @engelnest in #Berlin offuniversity.org/freedom-of-r...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 22/10/2024

Off University's 2024/25 Winter Semester Courses have officially kicked off with amazing participation! We’re thrilled to see the interest in our courses and enthusiastic participants. 🙌 But don’t worry, it’s not too late to join in! You can still enroll ➡ offuniversity.org/current-cour...

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Off University @offuniversity.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

Join us for a discussion of our radio play and video on October 26th, 5 pm in Berlin ℹ️ offuniversity.org/freedom-of-r...

Urgently wanted. Freedom of Research and Learning. Discussion on a Work-in-Progress

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