Dear members of the UdK Berlin,

This winter semester, we are pleased once more to offer a diverse programme of workshops and events.
The programme explores different perspectives on discrimination, participation, and inclusion – ranging from discrimination-critical teaching and colonial legacies in art and society to addressing escalating situations at university events and the legal frameworks for non-discriminatory recruitment and hiring.
The workshops are aimed at different groups within UdK Berlin. Depending on the topic, students, teachers, and other university staff are invited to engage with the respective subjects, exchange experiences, and develop new perspectives and strategies together.
The events are facilitated by a range of external speakers, initiatives, and collectives. Some workshops are organised in collaboration with students and student initiatives. In addition to events at UdK Berlin, the programme also includes activities and guided tours in public spaces across Berlin.
We warmly invite everyone interested to explore the programme and join us in creating spaces for exchange, reflection, and critical engagement with discrimination. Information on content, target groups, languages, accessibility, and registration can be found in the descriptions of the individual events.

• Unless otherwise stated, the workshops and events are open to both students and staff of UdK Berlin.
• Prior registration is required, to participate in the workshops. Please note that places are limited, so we recommend registering early.
• Participation in the workshop series may count towards ECTS credits.
• If you have any accessibility requirements or specific needs, please let us know in advance by email so that we can make participation as accessible as possible.

Registration by email: antidis_ @udk-berlin.de

We look forward to welcoming you!

1) TEACHING WITH AWARENESS: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING AND LEARNING

Date and time: 29 October 2026, 12:00–16:00  
Location: Room 151, Hardenbergstraße 33, 10623 Berlin  
Accessibility: The room is wheelchair accessible.  
Who should attend?: This workshop is open to interested students and staff of UdK Berlin.  
Language: Spoken English.

Content: Teaching and learning spaces in artistic and academic contexts offer a wide range of possibilities, but they can also unintentionally reproduce patterns of exclusion, marginalisation, and subtle bias. This workshop invites educators to pause, reflect on their own practice, and explore how discrimination-critical approaches to teaching and inclusive pedagogy can be integrated into their everyday work.
Through discussions, reflective exercises, and experiential methods, participants will explore how power, privilege, and structural discrimination become visible in classroom dynamics and artistic instruction. The workshop provides practical tools for creating safer and more inclusive learning environments in which all students – particularly those affected by racism, sexism, anti-queer discrimination, or other forms of structural discrimination – can feel seen, supported, and empowered.
Drawing on intersectionality, embodiment, and psychosocial approaches, the workshop combines gentle experiential exercises with collective reflection. Participants will explore questions such as:

• How can I make my teaching practice more inclusive and responsive?
• How do my own social position and biases influence the learning environment?
• What strategies can strengthen students’ agency, resilience, and sense of belonging?

By the end of the workshop, participants will have gained practical strategies, reflective methods, and body-oriented tools for creating teaching and artistic learning environments that are not only more equitable, but also supportive, caring, and responsive to the diverse lived realities of students.

Facilitator: Rafia Shahnaz is a trainer, facilitator, and consultant with extensive experience in intersectionality, anti-racism, anti-violence work, and discrimination-critical practice. As a queer migrant Person of Colour from Pakistan, Rafia’s work is deeply shaped by personal experiences of displacement, resilience, and the ongoing process of reconnecting with oneself.
Rafia creates spaces for empowerment, care, and collective healing for communities affected by structural discrimination. Their work combines psychosocial and psychological methods with body-oriented and creative practices, including Gestalt therapy, somatic work, art-based exercises, and Compassionate Inquiry. The workshops invite participants to pause, reconnect with their bodies and communities, and explore resilience, solidarity, and care in artistic and academic contexts.

2) WHO GETS TO CREATE? KNOWLEDGE HIERARCHIES, COLONIAL LEGACIES AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICES IN ARTISTIC AND ACADEMIC SPACES

Date and time: 3 November 2026, 16:00–20:00  
Location: Room 101, Hardenbergstraße 33, 10623 Berlin  
Accessibility: The room is wheelchair accessible.  
Who should attend?: This workshop is open to interested students and staff of UdK Berlin.  
Language: Spoken English.

Content: Artistic and academic institutions are often understood as spaces of creativity and openness. At the same time, they are shaped by broader societal hierarchies, including racism, colonial continuities, and unequal access to resources and recognition.
This workshop invites students to critically reflect on how racism and structural inequality operate within artistic and academic contexts. Rather than understanding racism solely as a matter of individual attitudes, the workshop examines how institutional practices, aesthetic norms, and hierarchies of knowledge influence participation and recognition in the arts.
Participants will explore questions such as:

•  Whose knowledge, artistic traditions, and perspectives are recognised within artistic and academic institutions?
• How do cultures of critique, networking structures, and informal norms affect students differently?
• What practices can help foster more inclusive and discrimination-critical artistic environments?

The workshop encourages self-reflection, collective responsibility, and constructive dialogue across different social positions. Particular care will be taken not to reproduce exploitative dynamics in which marginalised participants are expected to take responsibility for educating others about discrimination. Through short presentations, group discussions, and scenario-based exercises, participants will analyse everyday situations in arts education and develop ideas for more inclusive and supportive learning environments.

Facilitator: Dr Lana Sirri is a researcher, educator, and facilitator whose work focuses on intersectionality, Arab feminism, racism, and knowledge production. Her research examines how systems of power, including racism, gender inequality, and colonial continuities, shape academic, cultural, and artistic institutions.
She currently works as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) expert at EquiNet, a project by BIWOC* Rising. She has conducted workshops and training sessions on anti-racism, inclusive institutional practices, and discrimination-critical reflection for universities, civil society organisations, and international institutions. Her work combines critical perspectives with interactive and reflective methods that foster dialogue, shared learning, and collective reflection.

3) WHEN DISCUSSIONS ESCALATE: DE-ESCALATION, SETTING BOUNDARIES, AND INTERVENTION AT UNIVERSITY EVENTS

Date and time: 3 November 2026, 10:00–14:00  
Location: Room 411, Einsteinufer 43, 10587 Berlin  
Accessibility: The room is wheelchair accessible.  
Who should attend?: This workshop is intended for the Anti-Discrimination Office and is also open to members of the Staff Council and the Persons at Risk working group.  
Language: Spoken German.

Content: This practice-oriented workshop provides strategies for dealing with escalating situations at public university events, particularly in the context of politically controversial and polarised topics. The workshop focuses on the following topics:

• Recognising escalation dynamics at an early stage
• Intervention strategies for event organisers and moderators
• De-escalating communication and setting clear boundaries
• Dealing with provocations, personal attacks, and deliberate disruptions
• Strategies for responding when situations continue to escalate
• Practical exercises and role-plays based on typical situations in university contexts

Facilitator: The Awareness Institut is a network of awareness practitioners from German-speaking countries who develop and offer concepts and training on awareness. Their work aims to make awareness practices visible and accessible to event organisers, people affected by discrimination or violence, and anyone interested in the subject.

4. ASIAS, PLURAL: EAST, SOUTHEAST, SOUTH, CENTRAL, WEST ON INVISIBILITY, BELONGING, AND SHARING A TABLE Info Session, Discussion and Potluck

Date and time: 6 November 2026, 16:30–20:00  
Location: Charlotte Salomon Hall, Hardenbergstraße 33, 10623 Berlin  
Accessibility: The room is wheelchair accessible.  
Who should attend?: This event is intended for students who identify as Asian or as people of Asian descent.  
Language: Spoken English.

Content: This event creates space to reflect on invisibility, experiences of racism, representation, and belonging within the university, the art world, and German society.
The evening begins with a short information session on students’ rights in university settings. This is followed by a roundtable discussion exploring visibility, stereotypes, solidarity, and institutional support. Participants are welcome to share their experiences, listen, or simply be present. No prior knowledge or preparation is required.
The evening concludes with a shared meal. Participants are welcome, but not required, to bring a dish that holds personal meaning. Food will also be provided. Sharing a meal offers an informal space to connect and continue the conversation.

Facilitators: Juyeong Park, Yun Park, and Edlin Jap (HOCIAK Collective).

5) EXOTIC? WHO PICKS, WHO BUYS? COLONIAL ENTANGLEMENTS IN BERLIN’S URBAN SPACE: FROM GLOBAL PRODUCTION TO LOCAL CONSUMPTION

Date and time: 13 November 2026, 12:00–14:30  
Location: Neukölln, starting point: Reuterplatz  
Who should attend?: This event is open to interested students and staff of UdK Berlin.  
Language: Spoken German.

Content: In Berlin, we encounter food and culinary specialities from many different regions of the world. This guided tour aims to raise awareness of the global connections and their impact on working and living conditions in countries of the Global South that shape the journey of these products to our plates. What role do racialised people play in the supply chain? How does migration to the Global North factor into these processes? Where can we identify colonial continuities, and what does colonialism mean in the context of food?
The tour explores both the material and symbolic dimensions of food, including cultural appropriation, exoticisation, and Orientalism. Along the way, it traces the histories and contexts of specific locations, including the market at Maybachufer, an EDEKA supermarket, and the Flink dark store.

Facilitator: Grenzgänge e.V. | Education in Urban Spaces has spent more than ten years working across different educational contexts on the interconnected themes of migration, displacement, and colonial history in Berlin’s urban landscape.
The organisation addresses these complex and often sensitive topics through a variety of formats tailored to the needs and understanding of children and young people. Its aim is to foster deeper cultural awareness through participatory and creative educational methods.

6) NON-DISCRIMINATORY RECRUITMENT AND HIRING: FULFILLING LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO PREVENT DISCRIMINATION IN JOB ADVERTISEMENTS, SELECTION, AND APPOINTMENT PROCESSES

Date and time: 18 November 2026, 09:00–13:45  
Location: Room 411, Einsteinufer 43, 10587 Berlin  
Accessibility: The room is wheelchair accessible.  
Who should attend?: This workshop is aimed at interested staff members of UdK Berlin. Members of the Anti-Discrimination Office, the Staff Council, and the Persons at Risk working group are particularly encouraged to attend.  
Language: Spoken German.

Content: This practice-oriented workshop provides an overview of the legal framework and practical approaches for ensuring non-discriminatory recruitment and hiring procedures at Berlin’s universities. The workshop covers the following topics:

• Legal framework: The General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG), Berlin Higher Education Act (BerlHG), State Equality Act (LGG), Participation and Integration Act (PartMigG), Book IX of the German Social Code (SGB IX), Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG), and internal university regulations
• Non-discriminatory job advertisements:** Legal requirements, current case law, and practical guidance on drafting job advertisements
• The selection process:** Reviewing applications, invitation procedures, participation rights, and documentation requirements
• Job interviews:** Permissible and impermissible questions, addressing disability in interviews, and gender bias and unconscious bias
• Decision-making and documentation:** The principle of selecting the best-qualified candidate, selection in cases of substantially equal qualifications, preparing selection recommendations, and legal pitfalls

Facilitator: Lino Agbalaka is a lawyer based in Berlin whose main areas of practice include employment law, anti-discrimination law, and administrative law. Through his work in cultural affairs administrations at both state and federal level, he has particular expertise in legal questions at the intersection of these fields and cultural policy and practice. He advises individuals and organisations in these areas and delivers workshops and lectures.