Universität KonstanzExzellenzcluster „Kulturelle Grundlagen von Integration“

Cooperation Agreement Completed with New Delhi

The University of Konstanz will in the future cooperate with the renowned Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi.

Konstanz, 20 May 2008 At a small celebration in the Senate Hall of the university, Professor Dr. Anil Bhatti presented the prorector of the University of Konstanz, Professor Dr. Brigitte Rockstroh, a basic agreement of cooperation between both universities.

Bhatti, a member of the rector’s office of the J. Nehru University and responsible for international cooperations, is one of the most influential cultural policymakers of India. In a short speech, he emphasized the worldwide growing interest in the subcontinent. As one of the most important research universities of India with 550 scholars and only 5500 students, the J. Nehru University at present receives cooperation inquiries from around the world. It wants to limit itself, however, to a small number of partners, in order to cooperate as intensively as possible in research and teaching, according to Bhatti.

The Cooperation with Delhi was initiated by the Center of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of Integration.” The research group is interested in the processes of integration and segregation. The Konstanz-based researchers want to profit from experiences in the enormous State of India with its 21 official languages and five large religious communities.

Student Exchange

Apart from cooperation in research, a student exchange between Konstanz and New Delhi was agreed upon. In the autumn of 2009, five students in the M.A. program “Studies in European Culture” (newly established by the Center of Excellence) will already be in Delhi, acquiring a view on Europe from the outside. Students interested in this course of study, which will be offered as of the forthcoming winter semester, can obtain information at its website. Closing date for applications is 15 July. Besides New Delhi, further cooperation agreements are planned with universities in Buenos Aires, Cairo, Shanghai and the USA.

Jochen Bedenk

group picture with agreement
from the left: Dr. Sven Sappelt (coordinator of the m.a. program), Dr. Jochen Bedenk (coordinator of international cooperations for the Center of Excellence), Regina Sonntag-Krupp (director of the international office), Prorector Prof. Dr. Brigitte Rockstroh, Prof. Dr. Anil Bhatti (JNU New Delhi), Prof. Dr. Thomas Weitin (junior professor for German and European literature)