Melton Stiftung Jena

Around the World in One Evening

Regelmäßig einmal im Semester organisieren wir "Around the World in One Evening". Bei diesem interkulturellen Event habt ihr die Möglichkeit, an nur einem Abend eine ganz persönliche Reise durch andere Länder zu machen und euch gegenseitig über eure Erfahrungen und Einstellungen auszutauschen. Alle Reiselustigen oder Kulturinteressierten sind herzlich zu diesem spannenden Abend eingeladen!

Repair Café

Wir machen mit beim Repair Café Jena! Also nicht wegwerfen, sondern reparieren! ;)

"Wir oder die Anderen? Zukunft geht nur zusammen!" 

Us vs. the others? Why do we actually think in such categories? Who defines who is ‘us’ or ‘the others’?

Such questions were raised during our 2-day conference in June 2016 where Melton Fellows created a space for diverse cummunities to meet, to get to know each other and to exchange stories.
But what does it need to break the categorical thinking? First it needs to understand social psychological dynamics, to which Larissa and Steffi (Social Psychology Department FSU) introduced with presenting similarities between groups that normally don't follow the same norms and morals.  Discussions in society are going on about how “they” have to integrate themselves into “our” culture, that “they” need to learn “our” language and that “they” have to follow “our” rules and should best not follow their own cultural rituals anymore. This is exactly what makes Luisa Conti  (Intercultural Communication & Economics, FSU) very angry. According to her the discussion in changing societies should not be about culture, the discussion is  rather about power and privilege. When Pedro Poblete Lasserre (Senior Fellow) tells his own migration story, he also reflects upon power dynamics. His devise is: Shut up and listen. We want to be heard, and so do “the others” - that's why it needs a space to create dialogue, says Christine Carabain (NCDO Netherlands) which is the only way how societies can become more inclusive and can develop an understanding of global citizenship. For creating dialogue and exchanging stories, one has to be aware about cultural appropriate language. Frauke Peisker from the “Kindersprachbrücke” trains  teachers on intercultural sensitivity and uses the main tool humans have: Language. She takes the workshop participants into situations where they themselves realize the power of language.

After listening to such diverse speakers and workshop facilitators, one can be optimistic - it seems to be possible to create a future together: Once everyone reflects upon the personal privilege and for once, stops the ego trip but is sensitive and just listens to personal stories. Find out more about the conference here.