INBETWEENNESSES

DECOLONIAL ANGLES, AFGHANISTAN AND ITS DIASPORAS

2nd Summer School · Leipzig University · 27–29 August 2025
English & Persian/Dari

A space for reflection, resistance, and resonances.

A zone in-translation between memory, critique, storytelling and communication for social change.

A space for critique and dialogue. Texts unfold. Silencing is broken down and critically examined.

Four labs.

One Summer School.

A shared process of listening, writing, and rethinking.

The project continues in spring 2026: A publication with contributions from the Summer School and the labs.

This initiative is a joint porgramme by the Center for Communication for Social Change in collaboration with PD.ⁱⁿ DR.ⁱⁿ Diana Mariam Popal (General &  Comparative Literature – University of Bayreuth) and the  platform Othernesses – Towards Humanisms Beyond Border Thinking.

The coordination of the summerschool lies in the hands of Dr. Kefa Hamidi, Mariam Meetra and Abumoslem Khorasani with support of Dr. Hazrat Bahar, Hamid Obaidi, Laily Habib and Ali Reza Hussaini. 

Our Summer School is guided by six researchers from the programme MPS – Media System and Public Sphere of Afghanistan at Leipzig University. With professional backgrounds in media, academia, and civil society, they explore questions around identity, language, history, and public discourse in and about Afghanistan.

The team combines critical theory with lived experience and interdisciplinary insight. Throughout the Summer School, they will lead presentations, moderate sessions, and accompany participants through all three days of the program.

PD.ⁱⁿ Dr.ⁱⁿ Diana Mariam Popal – Keynotespeaker and Workshop Conducter of the Summerschool. 

PD.ⁱⁿ Dr.ⁱⁿ Popal has long been engaged in exploring questions of literature, philosophy, and postcolonial studies, with a particular focus on perspectives of otherness, difference, and the construction of publics. She is also the founder of Othernesses, a platform that provides an inspiring framework for discussions on plurality, cultural encounters, and epistemic exchange. This platform serves as an anchor example for our Summer School and offers a unique point of reference for our collective debates.

During the Summer School, PD.ⁱⁿ Dr.ⁱⁿ Popal will lead workshops in which she will share her expertise, invite participants into critical dialogue, and open up new ways of thinking about the role of media, publics, and knowledge production in transnational contexts.

Nine contributors share their perspectives and expertise from academia, literature, and civil society.

  • Puja Matta Kaur (PhD Candidate, University of Bayreuth) will present “Re-Mapping Afghanistan: Religion, Culture, Language.”

  • Shafiqullah Shafiq (PhD Candidate, Fulda University of Applied Sciences) will discuss “The Decline of the Rule of Law and the Collapse of Democracy in Afghanistan.”

  • Hossain Ali Alizadah (Former Lecturer, Herat University) will speak on “Representation of National and Ethnic Identity on Afghan Television.”

  • Dr. Rohullah Amin (Research Fellow, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg) will contribute with his research insights to the program.

  • Zakia Shefayee (Sociologist, Sidekick e.V.) will address “From Internal Colonialism to Migration: Divisive Memories among Afghan Migrants.”

  • Farzana Sharif (Author) will share her literary perspectives on Afghan publics and culture.

  • Musa Aziz (Insan Foundation) will present “Preserving the Voices of Afghanistan: An Oral History Project.”

  • Somaiya Meer (European University Viadrina) will analyze “A Sociolinguistic Study of the Transnational Afghan Diaspora in Germany.”

  • Mohammed Ali Haidari (PhD Candidate).