KAAD Annual Academy

Each year, the KAAD Annual Academy brings together guests from academia and the church with our scholarship recipients to discuss topics that are important to our institution and our global network.

39th Annual Academy | June 11–14, 2026

Self-Portraits and Boundaries: In Search of Belonging in a World in Crisis

The world is marked by profound crises, including climate change, political instability, wars, and global inequality. In this crisis-ridden global situation, the question becomes all the more urgent: Who am I? Where do I belong? For belonging can be a source of strength: in family and neighborhood relationships, in communities of solidarity, in civic engagement, or in interfaith dialogue. Wherever people show mutual respect, take responsibility for one another, and create spaces of trust, experiences of true belonging emerge.

Yet the answer to the question of belonging is increasingly defined by exclusion. This takes many forms: authoritarian movements are gaining strength, and fears of migration, cultural change, or resource scarcity are being exploited for political ends. In the course of a purported clarification of “belonging,” new, exclusive images of identity emerge, often accompanied by patriarchal and nationalist thinking. Through social media, these self-portrayals gain additional, enormous reach and impact.

In this context, the consequences of colonialism and cultural dominance continue to have an impact to this day. It is particularly indigenous communities that are fighting in many places for the recognition of their identity, their history, and their habitat. At the same time, it can be observed that in some places religious movements and actors also contribute to exclusion—by emphasizing religious identity as a distinguishing feature.

Church leaders worldwide, not least the late Pope Francis in his encyclical *Fratelli tutti* and Pope Leo XIV on many occasions, therefore urgently call for overcoming fatal divisions and creating spaces for genuine fraternity and open dialogue.

In this spirit, the 39th KAAD Annual Academy, together with representatives from academia, politics, and the Church from some fifty countries, aims to reflect on self-perceptions and mechanisms of exclusion within their current dynamics and from a global perspective, in order to identify critical developments and compile potential solutions.

Venue

Haus Venusberg
Educational Center of the Archdiocese of Cologne
Haager Weg 28-30
53127 Bonn

Phone: 0228 / 28 99 10

Bus lines 600 and 601 from Bonn Central Station toward Venusberg/Ippendorf to "Sertürner Straße"

Registration for the Annual Academy

Program & Schedule

Thursday, June 11, 2026

	Specialized Group Meetings in the Lead-up to the Annual Academy
Starting at 12:00 p.m.	Snacks
1:00–4:00 p.m.	Global Health Section: Psychological Aspects of Self-Portraits, Boundaries, and Belonging Moderator: Nils Fischer, KAAD Prof. Dr. Christoph de Oliveria Käppler, TU Dortmund
1:00–4:00 p.m.	Specialized Group on Religion in Dialogue: Christians and Muslims between Minority Experience and Social Responsibility Chair: Prof. Dr. Esther-Maria Guggenmos, Lund University, Sweden
1:00–4:00 p.m.	Section on Peace and Justice: Faith, Identity, and Questions of Justice Chair: Dr. Marko Kuhn, KAAD Dr. Locardia Shayamunda, Justitia et Pax, Archdiocese of Harare, Zimbabwe Dr. David Kaulem, Arrupe Jesuit University, Harare, Zimbabwe
1:00–4:00 p.m.	Water Section: A Stone Thrown into the Water Chair: Dr. Anselm Feldmann, KAAD Prof. Dr. Franz Nestmann, KIT Karlsruhe
1:00–4:00 PM	Language Section: Self-Images and Belonging in Multilingual Worlds Chair: Helen Meier, KAAD David Alvarado Archila, PhD Candidate, University of Cologne
5:00 PM	Opening of the Academy Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Dr. Anton Losinger, Episcopal Representative for the KAAD Fr. Dr. Hans Langendörfer SJ, President of the KAAD Dr. Nora Kalbarczyk, Secretary General of the KAAD Lecture: Identity as a Question of Power – Belonging in Times of Political Polarization Prof. Dr. Barbara Schellhammer, Professor of Intercultural Social Transformation, Director of the Center for Global Issues (ZGF), Munich School of Philosophy Lecture : “I am because we are? How Identities and Identity Politics Shape African Societies” Dr. David Kaulem, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Leadership, Arrupe Jesuit University, Harare, Zimbabwe
Starting at 7:30 p.m.	Buffet

Friday, June 12, 2026

7:30 a.m.	Church service (chapel)
Starting at 7:30 a.m.	Breakfast
9:00 a.m.	Work in the forums Self-portraits and boundaries: In search of belonging in a world in crisis Forum 1: Exclusive identities? Political Dynamics of Belonging and Exclusion Moderator: Markus Leimbach, KAAD Speakers: Denise Polaczuk, Religious Studies, Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg Dr. Alejandro Pelfini, Director of Graduate Programs, Faculty of Social Sciences, Education, and Communication, Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires Forum 2: The Struggle for Resources—Indigenous and Ethnic Perspectives on Demarcation and Belonging Moderator: Dr. Mirjam Rossa, KAAD Speakers: Dr. Locardia Shayamunda, Coordinator, Justitia et Pax, Archdiocese of Harare, Zimbabwe Rosa Elena Zuloeta Bonilla, Institute of Geography, University of Bonn Forum 3: Social Space and Self-Image: Class Belonging as a Question of Identity Moderator: Dr. Anselm Feldmann, KAAD Speakers: Dr. Shaharin Annisa, Institute of Urban Planning, University of Stuttgart; Paulus Bagus Sugiyono, Sociology, University of Bielefeld Forum 4: Religion as a Boundary – Religion as a Bridge: Between Community and Exclusion Moderator: Michael Meurer, Cusanuswerk Speakers: Dr. Rafaela Eulberg, “Practical Pathways to the Study of Religion” Project, Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies, University of Bonn Yosua Pradita, Sociology, University of Freiburg Forum 5: Identity, Body, Belonging – Focus on Discourses of Masculinity Moderator: Dr. Marko Kuhn, KAAD Speakers: Prof. Dr. Serawit B. Debele, Chair of Gender, Sexuality, and Religion with a Focus on Africa, University of Bayreuth Fabian Ceska, Detox Identity, Cologne
12:00 PM	Lunch
2:00 PM	Barcamp: “Identity in the Mirror of the Crisis – Reflections on Identity and Exclusion”
4:30 PM	Prayer gathering (chapel)
5:30 p.m.	Summer buffet
8:00 PM	Musical celebration : Concert by scholarship recipients ; Honoring and farewell to the faculty advisors ; Presentation of the KAAD Foundation’s Peter Hünermann Award to Dr. Locardia Shayamunda, Zimbabwe
Followed by	Midnight snack

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Starting at 7:30 a.m.	Breakfast
8:30 a.m.	Meeting of the regional groups of scholarship recipients
9:00 a.m.	Meeting of the faculty advisors, committee members, and representatives of the university chaplaincy
11:30	International Festive Mass Celebrants: Fr. Dr. Hans Langendörfer SJ, President of KAAD Fr. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Engel OP, Spiritual Advisor to KAAD Fr. Prof. Dr. Thomas Eggensperger OP, Spiritual Advisor to KAAD Fr. Dr. Peter Claver Narh SVD, Provincial of the Steyler Missionaries
1:00 p.m.	Lunch
2:30 p.m.	Information session for new KAAD scholarship recipients
3:30 PM	Preparation for the International Soirée
6:00 PM	Dinner
8:00 PM	International Soirée: The Diversity of KAAD

Sunday, June 14, 2026

7:30 a.m.	Worship service
Starting at 7:30 a.m.	Breakfast followed by departure