Safe Spaces as room for experiences: Exhibition and award ceremony

Colombia will be awarded this year's Shalom Prize one day after the exhibition.

How can spaces be created in which people can express themselves without fear and come together in an appreciative way? This summer semester, students addressed this question and the corresponding concepts in the service-learning seminar "Safe Spaces: Human rights empowerment in Eichstätt and Colombia". They developed various projects in collaboration with local and international partners: This resulted in portraits, interviews, field reports and creative reflections – including with people from Afghanistan and Mexico.

"The exhibition creates a space for reflection, dialog and personal debate", explains Martin Schneider, Professor of Moral Theology and Social Ethics at the School of Transformation and Sustainability. Together with Katharina Zöpfl, research associate at the Chair of Philosophy, he designed the service learning seminar. Schneider and Zöpfl found the work in the seminar very productive: "The path was cooperative and characterized by personal commitment – on the part of the students, the local partners and the international partners." Many interviews and encounters were incorporated into the exhibition. The KU team was supported by the Kreisjugendring Eichstätt, the Institute for Media Education JFF and the KU working group Shalom for Justice and Peace. The exhibition is an impressive example of service learning – learning through engagement that combines science and social responsibility, explains Katharina Zöpfl: "Philosophy thrives on exchange with others and the courage to question existing conditions."

The exhibition, which will be shown on Saturday, June 28, in the former Johanneskirche (Domplatz 18) and in a store in Ostenstraße 5 ("Pixel"), includes four stations: "Power of Diversity" tells the migration experiences of six people from Mexico. The articles, which are illustrated with portrait photographs, show how integration can succeed – and what role safe spaces play in this. The station "Eichstätt – Give Newcomers a Voice" introduces refugees from Afghanistan who have recently moved to Eichstätt. Visitors to the exhibition can hear their voices and experience their stories via QR codes. In the "un/safe ~ 20 min" part, the students offer an audio tour that brings the concept of safe space to life in three acts.