Campus Dialogues: Conflict in the Middle East and its repercussions

University-wide lecture series: 

• Since 2024 Distinguished Equality Lecture that features leading academics whose work advances understanding of social inequality, social cohesion, inclusion/exclusion.
   
• 2021 – 2022 Understanding the Politics and Policies of Exclusion that featured leading scholars on antisemitism, inequality, authoritarianism and the politics of memory. 
   
• 2020 – 2024 Tietz Lecture on Addressing Antisemitism: The Hertie School co-hosted the annual Tietz lectures brought into live by the student initiative Her.Tietz from. The Tietz lectures addressed the history of the Hertie, remembrance culture and antisemitism today.

Events:

• 06 May 2025 Digitale Erinnerung an die NS-Verfolgung: Erkenntnisse aus dem Crowd-Sourcing-Projekt #everynamecounts für eine offene Gesellschaft with Prof. Ruth Ditlman, Dr. Berenike Firestone (WZB), Deborah Schnabel (Bildungsstätte Anne Frank), Floriane Azoulay, Birthe Pater und Henning Wellmann (Arolson Archives); joint event with Arolson Archives. (video recording).
   
• 30 October 2024 Defending Jews from the definition of antisemitism by Prof. Itamar Mann and Prof. Lihi Yona, (University of Haifa).
   
• 14 November 2024 Race, memory politics, and non-discrimination law by Prof. Cengiz Barskanmaz (University of Applied Sciences Fulda).
   
• 25 April 2024 Participating in a digital history project mobilises people for symbolic justice and liberal democracy by Prof. Ruth Ditlmann.
   
• 4 March 2024 Distinguished Equality Lecture: From collective remembrance to collective forgetting: An empirical perspective on the current state of the German culture of memory by Prof. Jonas Rees (Bielefeld University).
   
• 1 March 2024 Book presentation of the study Persecuted, 'aryanised', compensated? How the Hermann Tietz department store group became Hertie with the authors Prof. Johannes Bähr and Prof. Ingo Köhler.   
   
• 24 November 2023 Antisemitism and the legal framework in Germany with Robert Kusche (Association of Counseling Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist and antisemitic Violence in Germany VBRG) and Katharina Zachrau (Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (Bundesverband RIAS)). 
   
• 14 November 2023 Looking back, while moving forward - How do we want to remember Hertie’s history during Nazi times? With Derviş Hızarcı (Chairman of Kreuzberger Initiative gegen Antisemitismus), Prof. Cornelia Woll and Lars Mehwald. Tietz Lecture on Addressing Antisemitism

• 15 April 2026
  The war in Iran: Consequences and global impact with Hertie faculty members Prof. Mauro Gilli, Prof. Anita Gohdes, Prof. Marina Henke, Prof. Lion Hirth and Prof. Mark Hallerberg. This event provided an academic platform for informed discussion and critical analysis of the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The discussion focused on the political origins and international implications of the conflict, as well as strategic calculations, technological dynamics, the information environment, and the impact on economic and energy security.
   
• 9 March 2026
  Iran on the brink  Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Hertie School Fellow and Founder and Director of the Centre for Middle East and Global Order (CMEGO), joined Hertie School President Cornelia Woll for a conversation on the current situation in Iran, exploring the forces shaping the country's political landscape and what possible futures may lie ahead.
   
• 11 December 2024 
  Free speech in a time of protest. Frederick M. Lawrence, Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center and Secretary & CEO at the Phi Beta Kappa Society held a presentation on how to navigate issues of free speech and academic freedom in times of turmoil. 
   
• 4 December 2024
  Policy & Pizza: Iran and the Current War in the Middle East Guest speaker Dr. Ali Fathollah-Nejad, founder and director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG) and external lecturer at the Hertie School discusses the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East, with a focus on the Iranian role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as future prospects for Iran´s relationship with the West in light of the recent US elections.
   
• 13 November 2024
  Israel-Palestine: A never-ending conflict? Alain Diekhoff (Sciences Po / CNRS) and Peter Lintl (SWP) discussed the long history of the war in the Middle East in a discussion moderated by Cornelia Woll, President of the Hertie School. It opened with a presentation of the key insights of Dieckhoff’s book Israël-Palestine: une guerre sans fin? and was then followed by an extended Q&A with the audience.
   
• 11 June 2024
  Anniversary Forum: Higher education and research in hard times A panel discussion with Prof. Shalini Randeria, President of Central European University, and Prof. Joseph H. H. Weiler, Professor of Law at New York University, moderated by Prof. Mark Hallerberg, Professor of Public Management and Political Economy at the Hertie School, that discussed how universities should react to challenging world situations that can pit different groups against one another. 
   
• 27 February 2024
  Implications of the International Court of Justice’s Provisional Measures in South Africa v. Israel Event organised by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights in association with the Centre for Fundamental Rights, Hertie School, Berlin, and the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, exploring the legal implications of the ICJ’s Provisional Measures, in particular their implementation by Israel, third states and international organisations.
   
• 14 February 2024
  The War in Gaza: How the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict is Reshaping the Middle East A conversation with Prof. Lisa Anderson, Special Lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and member of the Hertie School’s Board of Trustees, to discuss how the war in Gaza is affecting the Middle East, and what it will mean for the future of the region.
   
• 1 February 2024
  The War in Gaza: The History of the Conflict and Palestinian Public Opinion A conversation with Prof. Amaney A. Jamal, Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, to discuss the history of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, insights from Professor Jamal’s work on Palestinian public opinion, and the way forward for Gaza.
   
• 17 November 2023
  Inside Israel – A Contested Government in Times of War A conversation with Prof. David Levi-Faur, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who shared insights and analysis on domestic policies in Israel and the prospects for the Middle East peace process.
   
• 14 November / 8 December 2023
  War in Israel and Gaza: Perspectives from the Hertie School Faculty Hertie School faculty members Başak Çalı, Anita Gohdes, Julian Wucherpfennig and Adjunct faculty Gil Murciano shared their professional expertise to shed light on different aspects of the war and conflict - including legal, humanitarian, and political dimensions and the role of (dis-) information.

Yearly activities during Welcome Week:

• All-day workshop #HertieLove - community, culture, values: The workshop focuses on community building, the culture and values of the Hertie School, awareness raising as well as respectful communication and interaction in conflict situations. One session is dedicated to diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination. The all-day workshops are facilitated in small groups by Hertie School staff members based on a training concept developed in collaboration with planpolitik. 
• Presentation and panel discussion by Her.Tietz on the topic “Looking back to inform today: the antisemitic expropriation during the Nazi time that led to Hertie". 
• A Hertie History Walking Tour: A guided tour informing students about the origins of the Hertie name and bringing them to the original spots where Hertie’s history began. 

Workshops, community activities and dialogue events: 

• September 2025 Workshop on Team Building and Vision Sharing for the Hertie Students Representatives facilitated by Madeline Taylor.
   
• 26 June 2025 Workshops on Understanding Unconscious Bias and Microaggressions for student-facing teams facilitated by Susann Park-Gessner and Katalin Karsai. This workshop focused on raising awareness, encouraging self-reflection, and equipping attendees with practical skills. 
   
• 11 December 2024 Free speech in a time of protest Frederick M. Lawrence, Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center and Secretary & CEO at the Phi Beta Kappa Society held a presentation on how to navigate issues of free speech and academic freedom in times of turmoil. 
   
• 14 November 2024 Navigating difficult dialogues: Conversations on the Middle East conflict
  Supported by the Hertie Foundation and organised with ZEIT Campus, the Hertie School hosted the first-ever “My Campus Talks” event – a dialogue-oriented format bringing together students with opposing views. The event matched people with opposing views on the Middle East conflict.
   
• 11 July 2024: Workshop Managing Interpersonal Conflicts for student-facing teams to provide support in dealing with conflict situations. Facilitated by Simon Raiser and Björn Warkalla, the founders and directors of planpolitik, a Berlin-based agency for civic education.
   
• 11 June 2024 Anniversary Forum: Student voices. In the final panel of the 20 Years Hertie School Anniversary event, students were invited to voice their views on topics of their choosing in a discussion moderated by President Cornelia Woll. There were a broad range of contributions, but many students addressed the conflict in the Middle East and the Hertie School’s stance and reaction. The discussion also emphasised the importance of a culture at the university that promotes the open and fair exchange of ideas.
   
• 15 December 2023 Student initiative: Hanukkah Celebration at the Hertie School
   
• 24 and 27 November, 1 December 2023: How to talk about it? Towards a respectful discourse to address the current conflict in the Middle East. The workshops aimed to provide guidance in these difficult times, offering a space for reflection and discussion as well as to contribute to an environment characterized by mutual respect and solidarity. The workshop was facilitated by Simon Raiser and Björn Warkalla, the founders and directors of planpolitik, a Berlin-based agency for civic education.
   
• 22 November 2023 Student initiative: Global Village Fundraiser for UNICEF