Roundtables and Research Talks
Winter Semester 2026/27

Collaborative Philosophizing
in a Globalized World

Anthropology has long reckoned with the question of how to work with communities rather than on them. From “action anthropology” to “collaborative ethnography” and “co-theorization”, the discipline has developed methods that treat interlocutors as co-thinkers rather than informants. Research questions are formulated jointly, interpretations are negotiated, and authorship and the benefits of research are shared. This series of roundtables and research talks asks what philosophy can learn from these experiences, especially in a discipline that has often cast itself as the work of a solitary thinker addressing universal questions from a single tradition.

Thursdays 3-5 p.m., Fridays 10-12 a.m.
University of Hildesheim (only On-Site)

International Conference
October 5 – 6, 2026

Korean Philosophy: From a Comparative and Intercultural Perspective

The North American Korean Philosophy Association (NAKPA) is holding its 11th Annual conference at the University of Hildesheim, Germany, on October 5–6, 2026. This year we are pleased to announce that the conference will be hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies “Philosophizing in a Globalized World” at the University of Hildesheim under the auspices of Prof. Sool Park.

The annual conference for this year will be devoted to: “Korean Philosophy: From a Comparative and Intercultural Perspective.” In view of the emerging importance of Non-Western philosophy, we accept papers that focus on philosophical topics related to comparative Korean/Asian/Non-Western philosophy as well as intercultural philosophy.

Database Initiative
Coordinated by Leon Krings

Hildesheim Encyclopedia
of Philosophical Sources (HePS)

As part of the ongoing efforts of our Center to explore global intellectual histories and philosophies beyond established Eurocentric canons, the Database Initiative aims to build an open-access digital infrastructure for the documentation, interconnection, and visualization of philosophical sources and traditions from around the world. The initiative operates from 2025 to 2028 as a core sub-project of the Center and brings together an interdisciplinary team of philosophers, digital humanists, and data scientists. Its central goal is to create the Hildesheim Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sources (HePS) — a dynamic knowledge graph that models and contextualizes sources of philosophizing across cultures, languages, and historical periods.

International Workshop, organized by Sool Park, Dobin Choi, and Hyojin Lee Fromell

Modern Korean Thinkers:
Late 19th Century to 1945

The workshop brings together scholars working on modern Korean thinkers from the late nineteenth century to 1945 — a period in which Korean thought responded to colonial rule, religious reform movements and the encounter with European philosophy. Each contribution presents one representative thinker on the basis of a key primary text in English translation, so that the texts themselves can be read and discussed together. The guiding question is the concept of “philosophy” itself: how far can the framework of a Western-centred history of philosophy be applied to modern Korean thought, and what has to change when it is?

7–8 October 2026
University of Hildesheim

22–23 September 2026
University of Hildesheim

Haunted by Language

Multilinguality seems to be one of the fundamental conditions of philosophizing on a global scale. But — which language does philosophy speak? The respective mother tongue, a transitional or translational language, any of the world’s lingua francas or a universal language not bound to a specific grammar and context? And in which language can philosophy speak about its own language(s)? In how far is it possible for philosophy to liberate itself from linguistic constraints? In this two-day workshop, we want to shed light on the different manifestations of multilinguality in philosophizing. We invite speakers to explore the multilingual conditions of philosophizing critically, elaborate on the languages of philosophizing, the hierarchies imposed and the boundaries drawn, and share ideas on how to overcome language-imposed hierarchies. One focus hereby is the question of translation and its role for philosophizing in a globalized world.

International Workshop

International Workshop
Organized by Lorena Grigoletto & Monika Rohmer

Forests and Rivers: Rethinking Relation and Representation in Philosophy

Forests and rivers are ecosystems that not only harbour extraordinary biodiversity but also function as powerful images and metaphors through which the relationship between humans and the environment is articulated and rethought. As entities that are both material and symbolic, they call into question the ontological status of the relations between the human and the non-human. Often ecologically entangled with one another – such as rivers flowing through forests – they are also conceptually intertwined, occupying a central place in many non-Western cosmologies.

10 September 2026, CfP Deadline: 5 July 2026
University of Hildesheim

International Summer School
August 24–28, 2026

Healing as a
Philosophical Practice

This summer school investigates healing as a philosophical practice from interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives. We will examine how philosophical traditions across societies, generations, and historical contexts have conceptualized and facilitated healing, particularly at the communal level. Human vulnerability manifests in diverse forms of suffering—physical, emotional, mental, epistemic, political, and relational. Throughout history and across cultures, individuals and communities have turned to a variety of philosophical, spiritual, and relational practices to address collective wounds, restore interpersonal balance, and rebuild fractured communities. These practices seek to contribute to the regeneration of social bonds and the reconfiguration of epistemic and ethical frameworks after periods of rupture and conflict.

10–14 August 2026
University of Hildesheim

Practices of Epoché

At its origin, phenomenology was as much a praxis as a philosophy: a chain of conscious acts that promised to reorient our relation to things, others, nature, the world, and ourselves. More than a century later, we can ask: does the phenomenologist still practice the epoché? Is phenomenology today merely the name of a historical-philosophical tradition or is it a living method capable of adapting to the exigencies of a changing world? This philosophical summer academy, conceived as a phenomenological retreat, places the phenomenological method itself, not its accumulated doctrine, at the centre. It proposes an environment in which the epoché is explored, exercised, and interrogated in its practical, experiential, and intercultural dimensions.

A Phenomenological Retreat

Organized by Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob

Igbo Philosophy Colloquium:
Reclaiming Indigenous Wisdom

This colloquium explores how the Igbo people have developed their own unique way of doing philosophy highlighting the indigenous resources through which the Igbo people articulate questions of existence, knowledge, ethics, and communal life.

Often, people mistakenly believe that “real” philosophy only comes from Western, written books. In this colloquium, we challenge this idea by showing that the Igbo people have long used their own culture to think deeply about life, truth, right and wrong, and community. By connecting traditional oral wisdom with modern academic study, this colloquium aims to show that indigenous knowledge is just as valuable as any other form of philosophy and deserves its place in the global conversation.

Thursday, 16 July 2026, 9:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. (CEST)
GloPhi Center (H.0.10) & Online

International Conference
Organized by Rutte Andrade

African Philosophy, Reparations, and Epistemic Justice

Under the aegis of Africa Day, celebrated on May 25 as a symbolic milestone established by the Organization of African Unity in 1963, this event serves as a forum for critical reflection on African philosophical thought, and the contemporary challenges facing Africa and its diasporas.
The conversations will evolve around reflections on the role of philosophy in the decolonization of knowledge and in the promotion of epistemic justice as a central axis in the global agenda of historical reparations. The conference explores the relationship between African philosophy, historical reparations, and epistemic justice in the contemporary world. It is driven by the recent milestone of the United Nations (UN) which consolidated the recognition of slavery as the worst crime against humanity, requiring a reconfiguration of the ethical and ontological foundations of contemporary philosophical thought.

18 June 2026, 2 p.m. (CEST)
GloPhi Center & Zoom Participation

Hybrid Workshop
Organized by Anke Graness & Monika Rohmer

Philosophizing in Portuguese: African Perspectives

While philosophy in Africa is increasingly recognized today as a part of the world philosophical discourse, the discourse on and in African philosophy mainly focuses on the Anglophone and Francophone parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The philosophy of the Portuguese-speaking part of Africa, that is, countries like Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe, is still largely excluded from philosophical discourse inside as well as outside of Africa. This workshop brings together scholars from Mozambique, Angola, and Cape Verde. They will present selected regional philosophical discourses, discuss examples of sources of philosophizing in Portuguese from the African continent, and address methodological questions, especially regarding oral philosophies. This half-day workshop is part of the focus Philosophizing in Portuguese of the Africa research focus in which the GloPhi Center aims at illuminating the rich history of philosophizing in Portuguese in Africa and the African diaspora.

25 June 2026, 8:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (CEST)
GloPhi Center & Online Conference

Lecture Series 2026 | Tuesdays 2 p.m. (CEST)

Transatlantic Resonances: Philosophical Entanglements between Africa and the Americas

By connecting historical events with current challenges and debates, the series opens a space for reflection on the possibilities and limitations of philosophy as inclusive, intercontinental or global knowledge production. In this way, it reveals both the interconnections and the tensions that continue to shape philosophy as an intercultural project between Africa and the Americas to this day. Here, philosophical knowledge production has relied not only on written records but also on rich oral traditions, whose documentation poses a particular challenge for the history of philosophy. Next to intellectual connections across the Atlantic in movements such as Négritude, decoloniality or feminism, the lecture series sheds light on the joint challenge of dealing with oral archives and Indigenous philosophies, including Sumak Kawsay (Buen Vivir) and Ubuntu.

Lecture by Priyanka Jha

Silence, Exclusion, and Recovery: Feminist Philosophy in Modern India

The lecture focuses on late 19th- and early 20th-century Colonial India and also recovers the long tradition of Feminist Philosophy in ancient India by examining its nature, sites, and modes of dissemination. Specifically, the study explains orality through the Bhakti tradition of the 8th Century, showing how it shapes modern feminist philosophical thought in India. The lecture challenges the erasure of this tradition by tracing the politics of Canon and showing how the frames of conventional philosophy are used to marginalise alternative perspectives. Women philosophers are often labelled as social reformers, writers, or culturalists instead of as philosophers. This lecture argues for recognition of embodiment and experiential knowledge as core to Indian Women’s Philosophy, adding to the larger global feminist philosophical quest of an inclusive canon.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 | 6-8 p.m. | HC.N.0.09 & Livestream
Center for Gender Studies, Hildesheim University

Book Presentation and Art Exhibition on the Cucapáh Indigenous Group

The River, Self-Determination and Indigenous Peoples

Fernando Márquez Duarte will present the three books he has published regarding the Cucapáh Indigenous group: Awí Uyáj Cucapáh: El saber Cucapáh (2023), Manual de la Lengua Cucapáh (2024), Sociolingüística Cucapáh (2025), and discuss them with Diego Rosales and Raymundo Medina. These books are the result of over three years of ethnographic field work with the Cucapáh in the communities of El Mayor Cucapáh, Ejido Cucapáh Mestizo and Ejido El Indiviso in Baja California, Mexico. Additionally, a series of art pieces, created by Fernando through techniques like embossing, printmaking and wood carving, will be exhibited.

11 June 2026, 3 p.m. (CEST)
On-Site & Livestream

Organized by Abosede Ipadeola
April 30, 2026, Hildesheim University & Online

Yorùbá Philosophy: Critical Perspectives on Indigenous Concepts and Phenomena

This colloquium will bring together leading experts from linguistics, history, philosophy, and peace studies to engage with Yoruba philosophy from diverse perspectives.

The participants will critically examine Yoruba culture, traditions, religious beliefs, ethical systems, epistemological frameworks, metaphysical concepts, political ideas, and other aspects of Yoruba intellectual heritage. Through these discussions, the colloquium aims to highlight the vibrancy and relevance of Yoruba as a language that contains sophisticated philosophical thought. The one-day colloquium will be in two parts. Each session comprises four speakers, who will explore in detail the fundamentals and important issues in Yoruba philosophy from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Research Focus 2025/26

Philosophies in Africa

The academic discipline of philosophy is still defined by a Eurocentric framework that excludes philosophical traditions and actors from vast regions of the globe, not least among these the rich and diverse traditions of African philosophy. Consequently, African philosophers rarely appear in teaching curricula or as speakers in European and North American academic settings. Their current omission from mainstream discourses and teaching materials cannot only be ascribed to unfamiliarity or ignorance of their ideas; it reflects a long-standing historical devaluation and marginalization of African philosophy from a long list of European thinkers who, like Hegel, explicitly rejected African philosophy as part of a global historiography of philosophy.

Namita Herzl (ed.)

Women Beyond The Canon:

With contributions by Tiesha Cassel, Shay Welch, Khimaja R. Connell, Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola, Martina Kopf, Margaret A. McLaren, Priyanka Jha, Kanchana Mahadevan, Un-sunn Lee, and Yoko Arisaka.

In the rich field of the histories of philosophy, certain voices have been elevated to prominence while others have lingered in the margins, awaiting their moment to be heard. The volume Women Beyond the Canon: Philosophies and Feminisms seeks to give expression to these voices and to unravel the threads of traditional narratives, weaving together perspectives that have long been relegated to the periphery of philosophical discourse.

Philosophies and Feminisms

Rolf Elberfeld and Anke Graness (eds.)

Orders of Knowledge in Philosophy: Critical Assessments

Philosophy is only just beginning—later than other humanities disciplines—to face the challenges of an increasingly globalized world and the associated and inescapable but difficult task of decolonization. For it is not only the exclusion of philosophical traditions from other regions of the world or the exclusion of women—both from the history of philosophy as well as the mainstream philosophical debates of the present—that is under criticism, but more fundamentally the claims to truth and universal validity associated with philosophical theories.