Transnationalization Begins at Home  – Unseen Dynamics in Public Communication

29th of October 2025 – Library Albertina, University Leipzig 

Programme

Program link

29th of October 

12:00 – 13:00 

Refreshment & Registration

13:00 – 13:20

Welcome Remarks

Prof. Dr. Patrick Donges & Dr. Kefa Hamidi 



13:20 – 14:00

Keynote
Understanding digital inclusion in the context of transnational media practices 

Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Bozdağ (Groningen University)



14:00 – 15:30

 

Panel I
Journalism, Desinformation, and Transnational Media Practices

Moderator: PhD Candidate Ali Reza Hussaini

  • Voicing the Homeland from Exile: Radio Afghanistan International as a Site of Transnational Public Communication (Ahmad Zia Ferozpur)
  • Users’ Perception of AI-Generated Disinformation and Its Implications on Deliberative Quality: Critical Discourse Analysis of the Sub-Saharan African Diaspora (Dr. Merga Yonas Bula)
  • Data Collection in Exile Journalism: Afghan Journalists Post-2021 Taliban Takeover (Hamid Obaidi)



15:30 – 16:20

Break and Posters 

Poster 1: Who speaks? An analysis of the news coverage of the Bundesaufnahmeprogram Afghanistan (Pauli Albrecht)

Poster 2: Alternative Communication Dynamics by Migrant-led groups through artistic spaces in Germany (Andrea Bendaña Tapia)

16:20 – 17:50

Panel II

Diaspora Governance, Integration, and Transnational Control

Moderator: Dr. Merga Yonas Bula

  • The Digital Dimensions of Transnational Repression: Mechanisms of Control and Sovereignty over Diaspora Communities in Germany (Asli Telli)
  • Mapping Afghanistan Diaspora Organizations: Digital Infrastructures, Community Dynamics, and Communication Across Borders (Ali Reza Hussaini)
  • Integrating the Afghan Diaspora in Germany: Communities, Challenges, and Policy Implications (Dr. Hazrat Bahar)
  • AFGfluencers – Actors, Arenas and Issues: The Case of the Afghanistan Diaspora in Germany (Dr. Kefa Hamidi, Abumoslem Khorasani, & Ramin Kamangar)

17:50 – 18:00 

Concluding Remarks

Dr. Hazrat Bahar



20:00 – 23:00

Cultural Program and dinner

Venue: Library Albertina, Leipzig University, Beethovenstraße 6, 04107 Leipzig