Dr. Alina Jasina-Schäfer, Institut für Film-, Theater-, Medien- und Kulturwissenschaft
At the end of March 2025, I had the privilege of spending a week at the Department of Ethnology at the University of Copenhagen. This visit marked the start of a new Erasmus+ partnership between our institutions.
During my stay, I taught two seminars for undergraduate students. Both seminars, “Power and Embodied Belonging in East–West European Encounters” as well as “Disparate Europe(s) and Racialised Hierarchies”, encouraged students to reflect on the diversity of European experiences, power relations at play, and the persistence of racialised structures within European societies. The seminars sparked lively discussions, and the students’ openness and intellectual curiosity made the session particularly rewarding.
Later in the week, I had the opportunity to present my own research at the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS). My talk focused on the notion of “urban (dis)engagement” and the ways in which migrants from the former Soviet Union in German cities navigate participation and withdrawal in everyday urban life. The feedback I received was thoughtful and constructive, and will be valuable as I prepare the work for journal submission.
