Dalia Obiedat, Research Associate and PhD Candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Bonn, and affiliated with the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft (FIW), has been selected among the IRCAI Global Top 100 with her project “Responsible Surrogate AI Framework: Safe Digital Belonging for Marginalized Voices,” which received an “Excellent” rating. The selection is part of the Global Top 100: AI for SDGs Index of the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), under the auspices of UNESCO. The international initiative recognises innovative AI projects that contribute to addressing global challenges and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The selected project builds on Obiedat’s doctoral research on identity shifting and the negotiation of religion, sexuality, and desire among Arab ex-Muslims in online spaces. Her dissertation examines how individuals navigate the social, emotional, and relational consequences of leaving Islam through digitally mediated environments, including online communities, anonymous confession spaces, and interactions with conversational AI. A central part of this research is the chapter “Surrogate Infrastructures of Recognition: Post-Deconversion Reconstruction among Arab Ex-Muslims.” The chapter examines how Arab ex-Muslims reconstruct aspects of their social and emotional lives following deconversion, with particular attention to belonging, identity, intimacy, kinship, religious afterlives, morality, and meaning. It develops the concept of Surrogate Infrastructures of Recognition to examine how digitally mediated environments can provide spaces in which participants disclose experiences, negotiate identities, and seek recognition following the disruption of established religious and social relationships. Building on these ethnographic findings, the Responsible Surrogate AI Framework translates insights from the lived experiences of marginalized users into an applied contribution to responsible AI research and design. The project proposes an anonymised dataset, a structured framework for inclusive chatbot development, a proof-of-concept prototype, and an open-access toolkit for developers and NGOs. The project asks how AI systems can be designed to better respond to users whose experiences of belief, identity, sexuality, and belonging may expose them to social exclusion or other forms of risk. It seeks to contribute to the development of more inclusive, culturally sensitive, privacy-conscious, and human-rights-aligned AI systems. The research brings together religious studies, digital ethnography, AI ethics, and the study of recognition and belonging, demonstrating how humanities and social-science research can contribute to current debates on responsible and inclusive artificial intelligence. The recognition by IRCAI under the auspices of UNESCO highlights the international relevance and interdisciplinary potential of this research and acknowledges the contribution of the project to the development of AI approaches that take marginalized lived experiences seriously. The Forum Internationale Wissenschaft congratulates Dalia Obiedat on this outstanding international recognition.

From September 7 to 12, 2026, LAGIP (Game Lab for Analog Games and Imaginative Play), part of the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft, will once again host a week full of games at the University of Bonn: the Uni Bonn GAME WEEK. This is a multifaceted event that took place for the first time in September 2025. It brings together everyone at the University of Bonn and in the surrounding community who is interested in gaming, playful formats, and the vision of a playful university.  Here you’ll find the website for this year’s GAME WEEK. There you’ll find our event calendar and detailed descriptions of the individual Game Talks, Talk(ad)ventures, hands-on workshops, mind-game discussions, etc. Once again, there are some extremely exciting events on the schedule! This year, we’re once again kicking off GAME WEEK with the big CAMPO Cafeteria Game Night on September 7, a mid-GAME WEEK game night on September 9, and the finale at our LARP closing party on Friday, September 11, 2026. Just like last year, we’ll once again be streaming Breakfast Lectures from Wednesday through Friday on our LAGIP Twitch channel, always at 8:30 a.m., covering various topics in game studies. In addition to the numerous discussions and presentations, you’ll also have the option to participate in the “Escape 2051” escape room or try out our university role-playing game, 7’Rizons. On Saturday, September 12, just like last year, you’ll have the opportunity to visit the Bonn-based board game publisher Nice Game Publishing. Links to register are available on the website.   We look forward to seeing you there and to your participation!  Your LAGIP Team

Your Seminar as a Podcast!  The IMPULSE – House for Intellectual Innovation and Creativity, in collaboration with the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft, is once again offering lecturers the opportunity to conduct and record individual seminar sessions as podcasts during the Winter Semester 2026/27. Lecturers will receive expert guidance from a member of the podcast team in planning and executing these sessions. For those interested, there will first be a preliminary meeting via Zoom on Thursday, September 10, and Monday, September 21.  On Tuesday, October 13, and Monday, October 19, a studio tour will take place at IMPULSE. The dates for the podcast seminar will be set by arrangement. Further information can be found in the attached flyer  (PDF, German). We would appreciate it if you could forward this offer to the faculty at your institute!

Project Science Gaming: Board Game Events as a Gateway to STEM Topics (German title: Brettspielevents als Zugang zu MINT-Themen): Commercially available board games as a popular gateway to science.  Board games reach millions and have long been addressing scientific topics. Our project explores this potential and puts it to use: as a conversation starter, as a space for connection, and as a format for science communication. We are researching how game mechanics make complex topics accessible. A major opportunity arises from the fact that modern, commercially available board games are increasingly addressing science-related topics, such as climate change and climate protection, biodiversity, space exploration, history, and numerous other subjects. Even if some of these games contain only a few concrete elements of science communication, they can still serve as a conversation starter simply by the nature of the topics they address. This project investigates how modern board games can be used for science communication. The project Science Gaming: Board Game Events as a Gateway to STEM Topics is funded by the Klaus Tschira Foundation. An article about the project has now been published on their website, which here. The project website on the University of Bonn website is here.   

Dr. Lena Laube (Forum Internationale Wissenschaft), together with Dr. Juliane Dame (Acting Professor of Urban and Regional Geography), Prof. Dr. Kathrin Hörschelmann (Cultural Geography Research Group), and an inter- and transdisciplinary network of the Bonn Platform for Forced Migration Studies, has received funding to implement a pilot project on the topic of “Co-creative Research in Post-Migrant Democracy” (German title: Kokreative Forschung in der postmigrantischen Demokratie)  through the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Individuals, Institutions, and Societies” (TRA 4). The Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) comprise a total of six so-called innovation spaces for research and teaching at the University of Bonn, in which leading scholars collaborate across disciplines to explore key future-oriented questions in science, technology, and society. Building on a local network of academic and non-university stakeholders within the framework of the Bonn Platform for Forced Migration Studies, the project uses selected case studies in two cities to examine how existing community initiatives can contribute to the democratic shaping of a post-migrant society. In addition to the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft (FIW), the Department of Geography (GIUB), and the Bonn Research Alliance (BORA) at the University of Bonn, the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC),

In the “New Atlas of Migration 2026 – Facts and Figures on People on the Move” published by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, an article by Lena Laube on international visa policy has been published. In the article “Globale Klüfte (Global Divides)”, she explains how visa policy is used to attempt to control migration, for example by Schengen Area countries further raising the barriers to obtaining a visa for certain countries. It presents current data showing for whom global mobility is easily accessible and for whom it is not. The Atlas of Migration compiles up-to-date information on global migration trends. The first edition was published in 2019, and the political landscape has changed significantly since then. New wars that shift the focus of attention, more restrictive migration policies, and a climate crisis that is receding into the background of the political agenda are shaping the discourse. This volume examines how migration nevertheless continues to exist and remains a social norm with which a more productive approach must and should be found.  The editors of this volume are Johanna Bussemer (Head of the Europe Division at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Center for International Dialogue) and Dorit Riethmüller (Project Manager for Ukraine in Berlin at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation)

Both researching and teaching on religions are sensitive undertakings. This is particularly true when these activities address the entanglements of religions with violence, discrimination, and forms of exclusion or inaccessibility. These topics are politically contested and may have (re-)traumatizing effects on researchers and teachers, interlocutors, and students. Moreover, university teaching itself is not free from discrimination and structural barriers and can therefore (re-)produce such experiences. As a result, scholars of religion face challenges that extend far beyond the subject matter when teaching what they research. This workshop provides a space to exchange ideas and experiences on research and teaching projects that engage with sensitive topics in the study of religions. This includes, but is not limited to, topics such as: The roles of religions in contexts of war, displacement, and forced migration. Religious discourses and practices in perpetration, legitimation, prevention, and coping with abuse and gender-based violence. Entanglements of religions with social inequalities, including class, migration status, etc. Exclusion, marginalization, and processes of inclusion of persons with disabilities and other minoritized identities within religious practices, spaces, and communities. Religious justifications of violence, trauma, and mechanisms of meaning-making and resilience in post-conflict settings. Ethical and methodological challenges of researching vulnerable populations in religious contexts. The workshop aims to reflect on how such work can be carried out in ways that minimize potential harm—to researchers and teachers themselves, to interlocutors and research partners in the field, and to students—and to discuss strategies for responding when harmful effects nevertheless arise. The workshop is aimed at early-career scholars, including doctoral researchers and postdoctoral scholars, and particularly those who also teach on the sensitive topics they research. Participants are invited to present their research projects or teaching concepts, discuss them with peers, and receive feedback from invited experts. Early career scholars interested in presenting their research projects and/or teaching concepts in this context are invited to apply to participate in the workshop. Applicants should submit a project description of no more than 400 words. This includes an explanation of why the workshop is important to you and your project, and what you can contribute. Additionally, please provide a short biography of no more than 250 words. Please note that workshop places are limited. There is no participation fee. Accommodation and meals will be provided, but participants are responsible for covering their own travel expenses. The workshop will take place on June 5-7, 2026, at the University of Bonn (Germany), and the working language will be English. Applications should be submitted to ramona.jelinek-menke@uni-bonn.de by March 09, 2026.

Veranstaltet von der SAZ (Spiele-Autoren-Zunft) treffen sich in der Bundesstadt Bonn vom 20. bis 22. März Kreative aus ganz Deutschland, um sich an einem Wochenende gemeinsam mit Spielebegeisterten aus der Region und dem ganzen Land über neue Ideen auszutauschen; im Fokus steht hierbei das intensive Spieletesten. Neben dem Raum zum Austausch und der Vernetzung mit Gleichgesinnten werden Vorträge und Diskussionsrunden mit etablierten Fachleuten zur Spieleentwicklung angeboten. Allen Interessierten wird die Möglichkeit eröffnet, sich den verschiedenen Facetten der Spieleentwicklung nicht nur gemeinsam spielerisch, sondern auch theoretisch zu nähern und vom reichlichen Erfahrungsschatz der arrivierten Vortragenden zu profitieren. Die hierbei gewonnenen Erkenntnisse können direkt am Spieltisch in die Prototypen einfließen und getestet werden. Mit dem Studierendenwerk Bonn, der Uni Bonn und dem Boardgame Historian sind erfahrene Partner an der Seite der Spiele-Autoren-Zunft. Zusammen mit der großen, begeisterungsfähigen Spiele-Community in Bonn ist ein Wochenende voller Spielspaß, unvergesslicher Momente und Begegnungen, neuer Inspirationen und wertvoller Impulse für die eigene Spielidee garantiert. Wir freuen uns auf Dich und Deine Teilnahme!