Symposium “Mehr Mut!” (“More Courage!”) at FRIAS

How do people make courageous decisions and why is it so difficult? The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) invites all interested parties to approach this topic from different angles in the symposium "More Courage!". On Thursday, June 23, 2022, and Friday, June 24, 2022, participants will present different aspects of this question in lectures and panel discussions.

Courage and despondency in politics and society

On June 23, 2022, starting at 9:00 a.m., Günther Schulze, Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Research at the University of Freiburg, Klaus Töpfer, former Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Uwe Wagschal, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Freiburg, and Vera King, Professor of Sociology and Psychoanalytic Social Psychology at the University of Frankfurt, will place the central question of the symposium in the context of politics and society in their presentations. 

Science in times of social media and fake news

Thereafter, Richard Traunmüller, Professor of  Empirical Democracy Research at the University of Mannheim, Johanna Pink, Professor for Islamic Studies at the University of Freiburg, and Benjamin Schütze, Junior Fellow with the Young Academy for Sustainability Research at FRIAS, will talk about how threats to academic freedom and science-based debate culture can be countered. Bernd Kortmann, Director of FRIAS, will moderate this panel discussion. In an evening event as part of the Freiburg Horizons of FRIAS, moderated by Arndt Michael, journalist Ullrich Fichtner, former state minister Edith Sitzmann, climate activist Jule Pehnt and forest ecologist Klaus Püttmann will discuss the central question of the colloquium.

Courage and Despondency in Foreign and Security Policy

On June 24, 2022, Ralf Poscher, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, will use the example of mandatory vaccination to discuss what politics loses if it does not find the courage to also cast political decisions in legal form. The speakers will then address the question of whether Germany currently lacks courage in security policy. This aspect and related topics will be discussed by former ambassador Peter Wittig, political scientist Markus Kaim, Dietmar Neutatz, Professor of Modern and Eastern European History at the University of Freiburg, and Thomas Fricker, Editor-in-Chief at the Badische Zeitung.

When: Thursday, June 23, 2022 and Friday, June 24, 2022

Where: University of Freiburg – Theater Hall at Fahnenbergplatz (Thursday morning and afternoon), Collegiate Building I, Lecture Hall 1010 (Thursday evening) and Lecture Hall Biology I, Zoology, Hauptstr. 1 (Friday).

For more information:  Program for FRIAS Symposium „Mehr Mut!“ (“More Courage!”)