Das jährliche Treffen der Off University kehrt mit dem zweiten Off Fest zurück.
Jedes Jahr kommen die Mitglieder von Off University zusammen, um das vergangene Jahr zu reflektieren, Zukunftspläne zu besprechen und in der Generalversammlungs des Vereins einen neuen Vorstand zu wählen
In diesem Jahr freuen wir uns darauf, zum 2. Off-Festival einzuladen. Am Wochenende vom 20. und 21. September 2025 bieten wir unterschiedliche Workshops und eine Podiumsdiskussion an.
Wir beginnen am Morgen des 20. September mit einem künstlerischen Programm, das vom renommierten Künstler, Wissenschaftler und Kurator Seçkin Aydın kuratiert wurde. In einer Reihe von Workshops und Präsentationen werden wir uns dann mit Themen wie Community Publishing als Alternative zum „Publish or Perish“-Modell, Friedensforschung und geschlechtersensiblen, kunstinspirierten Methoden in Lehre, Forschung und Bildung befassen. Das Abendprogramm umfasst die Podiumsdiskussion Gemeinsame Kämpfe, ungleiche Bedingungen: Gerechte Arbeitsbedingungen für alle Wissenschaftler und Musik von unseren hauseigenen DJs.
Am 21. September werden wir die Impulse, die die Podiumsdiskussion geschaffen hat, in einer Zukunftswerkstatt zum weiteren Brainstorming nutzen. Den Abschluss bildet die Generalversammlung mit der Wahl unseres neuen Vorstands für 2025-2026.
Das Festival steht allen offen, sowohl online als auch vor Ort. Für diejenigen, die persönlich teilnehmen, stellen wir Speisen und Getränke zur Verfügung. Wir bemühen uns auch, eine teilweise subventionierte Kinderbetreuung anzubieten. Wenn Sie eine Kinderbetreuung benötigen, geben Sie bitte die Anzahl und das Alter Ihrer Kinder an.
Bitte füllen Sie das Anmeldeformular aus, um uns bei der Planung zu helfen. In den kommenden Wochen werden wir uns mit Ihnen in Verbindung setzen, um Ihre Teilnahme zu bestätigen und die weitere Logistik der Veranstaltungen mit Ihnen zu teilen.
Festival Programme
DAY 1
September 20 – Saturday
11:00 – 11:30
Off Festival Opening
Who Knows Maybe We’ll Come Again
curated by Seçkin Aydın
with Kimbal Bumstead, Zahra Gardi, Adi Liraz, Negar Tahsili, Menekşe Aydın, Qaduda, Semih Togay, Raphael Vella, Abigail Ardelle Zammit
12:00 – 13:00
The role of Civil Society in Peacebuilding:
The Critical Peace Network Experience
with Ferda Fahrioğlu
The Critical Peace Network was established in January 2025 by 16 civil society organisations in Turkey that were brought together in 2024 by Off University. It aims to ensure that civil society plays an active role as in the ongoing Kurdish peace process in Turkey. In this workshop, we will discuss this experience and explore the significance of bottom-up peacebuilding processes and the role of civil society in them.
Off Script
A Performance by Menekşe Aydın
In her interactive work Off Script, Menekşe Aydın subverts commonly used proverbs and idiomatic expressions that carry normalized, patriarchal undertones in everyday language. By reversing these phrases, the work challenges gendered language structures and invites the audience to step outside scripted norms and engage with a reimagined form of expression.
13:00 – 14:45
– Lunch –
14:00 – 14:45
Mother Tongues
A Performance by Adi Liraz
14:45 – 15:45
Academic Narratives on the Syrian Conflict:
How Can Syrian Studies Contribute to Rebuilding Social Sciences in Syria?
with Mohamad Moustafa Alabsi
The war in Syria has been documented by hundreds of academic books and articles, many of them in languages other than Arabic. This workshop aims to map the diverse clusters within Syrian Conflict Studies, including research centers, publications, websites, initiatives and specialized journals. This mapping will facilitate our discussion on effective strategies for disseminating academic knowledge about the Syrian conflict in Arabic. We will also explore how academic narratives can contribute to the revitalization of critical and interdisciplinary social sciences in Syria.
9/8FIGHT41:
“A 9/8 Fight for All of Us“
with Sema Semih
Our fellow Sema Semih introduces this 2022 award-winning short film by Berlin-based Turkish choreographer Gizem Aksu on which they collaborated. It explores the relationship between Aksu and German Sinti-Roma boxing legend Johann Rukeli Trollmann (1907-1944) which transcends generations and geographies.
Rukeli Trollmann was exposed to many forms of discrimination by the Nazi regime because of “boxing by dancing like Gypsy“ and murdered in the Wittenberge Concentration Camp. Inspired by the fight of Rukeli Trollmann, the film traces Aksu’s experience of immigration to Berlin and the fight for justice in Istanbul.
In Istanbul, three other dancers join Rukeli’s dance/fight by sharing the power of dance in their fight for justice: Gizem Nalbant, who experienced urban transformation in the Romani neighborhood Sulukule where she was born and grew up; Banu Açıkdeniz who has been researching feminist body politics; and Sema Semih, who has been part of the Turkish LGBTQI+ movement for many years. As it carries Rukeli’s story to Istanbul’s Romani Neighborhoods of Sulukule and Fikirtepe, the film takes a 9/8 rhythmic look into Istanbul’s recent urban memory through the bodies of dancers.
15:45 – 16:30
– Coffee Break –
16:30 – 18:00
Commoning Knowledge:
Towards Cooperative Review and Peer Production
with Fırat Erdoğmuş
This workshop explores how we can collectively produce and evaluate knowledge through participatory, decentralized and commons-based practices. Through real-world examples — including Off University’s own contributions – we’ll discuss cooperative review, peer production and the infrastructures needed to sustain shared knowledge-making.
Drag As A liberating teaching methodology
with Babykilla
This workshop explores drag as a liberating and transformative teaching methodology; how performance and play can create inclusive, critical, and joyful learning environments.
18:00 – 19:00
– Open Dinner –
19:00 – 20:30
Panel Discussion
Common Struggles, Unequal Terms: Towards Fair Working Conditions for All Scholars
International at-risk academics working in German academia, representatives for mid-level academic staff 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. . . . Read More
21:00 –
Bar and Disco
with DJ Sema and Babykilla
DAY 2
September 21 – Sunday
10:30 – 14:00
How to build more solidarity among all knowledge workers
with Anna Paßlick
To follow up on our panel discussion Common Struggles, Unequal Terms: Towards Fair Working Conditions for All Scholars, we are inviting organisations, anti-harassment initiatives, and exiled academics from various countries for a three-hour brainstorming session on Sunday morning.
Participation limited to 30.
Refreshment will be served
15:00 – 16:30
Off University Organisation für den Frieden e.V. General Assembly 2025
16:30 – 17:00
– Refreshments –
Contributors
Anna Paßlick
Anna Paßlick is a comic artist, social anthropologist and experienced facilitator based in Berlin. During her time as project coordinator at Off University, she worked towards critical scholarship in the area of Critical Peace Studies and creating a working environment in which all its members could flourish. Nowadays, Anna continues to support Off University in creating inclusive learning spaces as a digital security trainer.
Aslı Vatansever
Aslı Vatansever is a sociologist of work and social stratification with a focus on precarious academic labor. Since she was dismissed from her associate professorship and banned from public service in Turkey for having signed the Petition of the Academics for Peace in 2016, she has been working within German academia.
Ferda Fahrioğlu
Ferda Fahrioğlu is one of the Academics for Peace who reacted to the ongoing conflicts in the Kurdish region of Turkey in 2016 with the declaration „we will not be a party to this crime“ calling for non-conflict. For signing the declaration, she was first exiled and then dismissed from her university and public service in February 2017 by decree with the force of law. Fahrioğlu received her PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Yıldız Technical University in 2019. She works on the Kurdish issue, peace studies, gender and mediation. Since 2019, she has been working professionally and voluntarily in rights-based civil society organizations. Since 2021, she has been conducting various studies in the field of Critical Peace Studies at Off University.
Felicia Kompio
Felicia Kompio is a member of the executive board of GEW Berlin, where she is responsible for higher education and teachers‘ education. She deals with the working and studying conditions in Berlin’s university system, with the structures that enable abuse of power, and with the effects of the current budgetary policy. She is a historian and has experienced the system from various perspectives: as a student, student assistant, research assistant and scholarship holder.
Fırat Erdoğmuş
Dr. Fırat Erdoğmuş is a scholar and creator in digital humanities, exploring the intersections of digital media technologies, social processes, and cultural practices. With a background in economics, history, media anthropology, and computer programming, his interdisciplinary work bridges technology, culture, and critical inquiry. As a self-taught coder, he has initiated and contributed to activist and archival media projects, integrating creative practice with critical analysis. He has worked and collaborated with universities in Turkey, Germany, and the United States, leading workshops and courses on digital media and culture. As the founding director of DigiLapZ (Digital Media Laboratory and Production Zone), he guided projects blending research, artistic expression, and digital production. Currently, he is a post-doctoral researcher at Bard College Berlin, developing a living online archive that maps folk melodies across languages, regions, and historical periods. As a software developer for Off University’s „Beyond Social Cohesion: Global Repertoires of Living Together“ (RePLITO) project, he maintains the online archive exploring transregional perspectives on communal life. He also contributes to interactive and creative digital projects, including the implementation of the Kurdish Documentary Cinema Database with the University of Marburg; and self-hosted deployment of Off University’s presence on PubPub, an open-source platform for participatory community publishing.
Menekşe Aydın
Mohamad Moustafa Alabsi
Mohamad Moustafa Alabsi hat einen Doktortitel in politischer Philosophie von der Universität Grenoble-Alpes/Frankreich. In seiner Dissertation befasste er sich mit dem Verhältnis zwischen Regime und Staat im heutigen Nahen Osten und den Begriffen „Feind“, „Revolution“ und „Bürgerkrieg“ in politischen und juristischen Theorien sowie in den Lehren und Realitäten des Arabischen Frühlings. Er war Post-Doc-Stipendiat am Columbia Global Center – Amman. Sein persönliches und akademisches Projekt ist die Erstellung einer arabischen Enzyklopädie der politischen Philosophie, die vor allem arabischen Studenten vertiefte Kenntnisse der staatstheoretischen Literatur zur Verfügung stellen soll. Seine Forschungsgebiete sind Rechtsphilosophie, Regimeformen und Diktatur, der totalitäre Staat und der Einparteienstaat. Moustafa believe in action and in initiative, that’s why he’s very excited to work with Off University. His articles have been published by the Saint-Joseph University Journal : InteraXXIons, “ Le Printemps Arabe à l’épreuve du Pouvoir Constituant” (2021) and the multilingual academic website „The Conversation“ “Quel avenir pour les Etats du Moyen Orient ? ” (2021).
Sema Semih
Sema Semih is a cultural worker with a background in philosophy and cultural studies, currently based in Berlin, as an Off University fellow. They develop and lead gender-focused programs across academic institutions and civil society organizations. Their work centers on gender-sensitive approaches, trauma-informed facilitation, and socially engaged art—bringing together research, education, and creative expression to cultivate inclusive, reflective, and transformative spaces.
Babykilla
Babykilla (she/they) is a Kurdish drag queen and trans activist. Her work centers on trans rights, visibility, and the Kurdish freedom movement. Beyond her presence on stage and in the streets, she holds a B.A. in English from Boğaziçi University and an M.A. in History from the University of Bologna. She has published several articles and translations on these subjects. Through performance—especially drag—she alchemizes theory and praxis, aiming to inspire audiences to look within and confront the racism and transphobia that lie dormant.
Yannick Giovanni Marshall
Yannick Giovanni Marshall specializes in anti-colonial Black thought, political exile, and dissent. He taught Contemporary Black Thought in the School of Critical Studies at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) before fleeing the United States amidst the escalating suppression of Black Studies, protest and academic freedom.
