Crisis and Conviviality in the Mediterranean

Event in English

On wednesday 15 April 2026
4.10-7 p.m.
Auerbach Library, Wienand Haus, Weyertal 59, 3rd floor (Cologne, Germany) and online
On registration
Hybrid

The link for the online session will be sent once you have completed your online registration

Organizer(s)

Euniwell

Type

Workshop

This workshop, in the form of a webinar, offers a dynamic space to rethink how Europe and the Mediterranean are imagined, connected, and contested across academic, cultural, and societal arenas. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from history, anthropology, and the arts, the event highlights how these "regions” are deeply intertwined through pressing issues such as migration and displacement, citizenship and belonging, economic and legal frameworks, and the relationship between policy and lived experience.

Set against a backdrop of rising xenophobia, democratic challenges, and ongoing humanitarian and geopolitical tensions at Europe’s margins, the workshop engages critically with questions of crisis and coexistence—key themes within the agenda of the European Universities for Well-Being (EUniWell) network.

The programme is structured around two thematic panels. The first panel focuses on heritage, examining how cultural, religious, and historical legacies are mobilised, reinterpreted, and contested in contemporary contexts. The second panel turns to migration, belonging, and citizenship, exploring how mobility reshapes identities, rights, and forms of inclusion and exclusion across Europe and the Mediterranean.

Across these two interactive sessions, speakers will present ongoing research and forms of activism, fostering dialogue beyond disciplinary boundaries. The workshop also includes an open webinar, welcoming students and staff from EUniWell and the University of Cologne’s partner institutions, creating a shared space for exchange, reflection, and collaboration.

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

4:10 – 4:30 Welcome & Introduction

Andreas Guidi (Inalco), Christoph Lange (UoC), and Emanuele De Simone (UoC)

4:30 – 5:15 - Panel: Heritage and Politics of Exclusion/Inclusion

Speakers:

Stephan Milich (UoC) - Revisiting cultural heritage in times of transition: Diverse Perspectives on Syria's contested heritage
Nina ter Laan (UoC) - Heritage, Memory and Landscapes in the Rif

Moderator: Christoph Lange (UoC)

5:15 - 5:45 Coffee Break

5:45 – 6:30 - Panel: ⁠Migration and Politics of Cooperation

Speakers:

Karim Zafer (TU) - Onward migration and wellbeing in context of denationalized citizenship
Andreas Guidi (Inalco)
Carla Tiefenbacher (UoC)
Kai Echelmeyer (Sea-Eye)

Moderator: Emanuele De Simone (UoC)

6:30 - 7:00 Final Round Table Discussion