Expert Groups

The KAAD would like to promote and expand the professional networking of its scholars and alumni across national borders. In addition to the virtual connection, the office can assist in the organization of meetings and seminars in Germany and abroad, which is the responsibility of the respective specialist groups. To a limited extent, funds from the KAAD, in particular the KAAD Foundation Peter Hünermanncan be used for this purpose.

Expert Group

"Peace and Justice"

In spring 2016, around fourty KAAD alumni from various Latin American countries (mainly lawyers, social scientists and philosophers) founded this working group on the fringes of an international conference ("Peace, Reconciliation and Transitional Justice") in Bogotá. The group has since held several seminars organized by alumni (2017 in Bolivia and Guatemala and 2018 in Brazil). Members of the specialist group have also invited each other to give academic lectures across national borders and formed international research teams. The first highlight was the publication of the 2016 conference proceedings entitled "Paz, Reconciliación y Justicia Transicional en Colombia y América Latina" (Bogotá, Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana 2018). Members of this specialist group from various countries also took part in the KAAD Academy Abroad 2020 in Lima ("The Catholic Development Concept in Contemporary Latin America: Positions and Perspectives"). Current scholars from all regions whose studies and research projects fit the topic are cordially invited to participate.

"Global Health"

The specialist group is aimed at scholars from the field of "health sciences" in the narrower sense (medicine, public health), but also at academics from related fields. PD Dr. Walter Bruchhausen (University of Bonn) supports the specialist group with his professional expertise and his wealth of experience in the intercultural field. The methodology of the specialist group alternates between the form of a "colloquium", in which the various participants give presentations on the topics they have researched and which are relevant to global health processes, and the discussion of a specific topic. With the involvement of a specialist speaker, the group deals with topics such as epidemics, health policy or global challenges for the health sector.

"Religion in Dialog"

For over ten years now, the interreligious and interdisciplinary specialist group "Religion in Dialogue" has been dedicated to current issues that are of particular interest to KAAD scholars from the fields of theology, religious studies, philosophy, Islamic studies, Buddhology and thematically related humanities and natural sciences. Within the framework of research colloquia, academy forums, an alumni conference in North Macedonia in 2019, and in real and, more recently, increasingly virtual seminars, philosophical and linguistic foundations of interreligious dialog, religious policy issues, the role and transformation of religions in contemporary society, the religious commitment to sustainable and climate-sensitive developments, as well as the peace and conflict potential of religious traditions are addressed.

"Language"

The linguistic diversity of the global KAAD community is a specific feature that we would like to offer a scientific forum for in this specialist group. The Language(s) Section had its inaugural meeting during the virtual Annual Academy 2021 and has met virtually several times since then. It is primarily, but not exclusively, aimed at people from the field of philology in general and linguistics and literary studies in particular. Its aim is to give all those KAAD scholars and alumni who deal with language the opportunity to exchange ideas and to work on their own joint projects.

"Water"

Since the 2009 Annual Academy ("Water: Resource – Commodity – Source of Life"), this interdisciplinary specialist group, in collaboration with Prof. em. Dr. Franz Nestmann (University of Karlsruhe), has offered a platform for scientific exchange on the global water problem – a problem that exemplifies both conflicts and opportunities for cooperation in our world. The aim of the expert group is to explore ways of joint action.