Intercultural Experience

Intercultural experience is a key goal of this programme. Therefore, we encourage students to live together on the campus in Hermannsburg for the first semester. The intercultural experience starts with students cooking together, spending time in common areas, having walks, hikes and rides to the stunning nature of the surrounding region called Lüneburg Heath.

Outside of the busy urban areas and student towns, we invite our students to contemplate and discover the atmosphere of the Northern Germany and make their first steps in understanding German language and German culture.

In their second semester students have an opportunity to move to the city of Göttingen and immerse into the typical student life of a European academic town. To discover the depth of our libraries and get in touch with other international and German students and lecturers.

The programme’s second year includes time without regular classes to conduct an intercultural project. Students plan their projects during the first year and during the third semester they are encouraged to travel for a fieldwork or a research stay to the location or an institution of their interest.

There are various additional financing options available for the students who want to conduct their research project abroad, such as Erasmus, PROMOS, Stube BPSA, BAföG, etc. Many scholarship organisations allow for a research trip within the regular period of funding, such as Brot für die Welt scholarship, FIT scholarship.

During the past years of the programme our students spent two to five months abroad in Armenia, Belarus, Cameroon, China, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Tanzania, USA, etc. Some of the students conducted their projects in different parts and organisations located in Germany.

We have cooperation with various theological institutions all over the world to enable our students to immerse into the theological studies of the other regions. Here you can see the examples student projects and see the list of the institutions we have been consistently cooperating with.

Intercultural Student Research Projects


Jessica Shakunle ICT Jessica Shakunle, Germany to Malawi.
Research project “Supporting Vulnerable Orphaned Girl Children in Malawi: A Case Study on Kindle Orphan Outreach”
Cooperation partner: Kindle Orphan Outreach Malawi (Salima, Malawi)
Funding: BAföG



Angelina Yeboah Lartey ICT Angelina Yeboah Lartey, Ghana to USA & Ghana
Research project “Womanist Theology in Theological Studies in the USA from an African (Ghanaian) Women's Theology Perspective”
Cooperation partners: Union Theological seminary (New York City), Candler School of Theology (Atlanta, Georgia), Talitha Qumi Center (Accra, Ghana)
Funding: Brot für die Welt scholarship



Vladyslav Ivchenko ICT Vladyslav Ivchenko, Ukraine to Finland.
Research project “Theological Reflection and Politics of Memory of the Soviet Period in the Modern Russian Orthodox Church”
Cooperation partners: University of Helsinki (Finland); Butovo Memorial Centre (Russia)
Funding: Erasmus exchange programme



Carla Suzana Krüger ICT Carla Suzana Krüger, Brazil to India.
Research project "Whose land is it anyway? Post-colonialist and Bible perspective on land ownership”
Cooperation partner: TTS Tamilnadu Theological Seminary (Madurai, India)
Funding: The FIT scholarship (ELM + FIT Hermannsburg) & savings



Blessen George Babu  ICT Blessen George Babu, India to Ethiopia
Research project “Cultural Contacts between Ethiopia and Syria: The Nine Saints of the Ethiopian Tradition and their Possible Syrian Background”
Cooperation partners: Holy Trinity Theological College (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), National Archives and Library of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Bahir Dar University (Bahir Dar, Ethiopia)
Funding: Brot für die Welt



Xinyue Zhang ICT Xinyue Zhang, China to Germany.
Research project “Discover the Relationship between Food and Faith in an Ethnic Chinese Protestant Church in Germany”
Cooperation partners: Chinese Protestant Church in Northern Germany
Funding: Brot für die Welt scholarship & savings



Viktar Niachayeu ICT Viktar Niachayeu, Belarus to Norway.
Research project “The search for the true self in works of Thomas Merton”
Cooperation partner: MF Norwegian Scholl of Theology (Oslo, Norway)
Funding: Erasmus exchange programme & savings


International Cooperation Partners


Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai / India

Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore / India

St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI), Kottayam Kerala / India

Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam Kerala / India

University of Pune / India

Mekane Yesus Theological Seminary, Addis Ababa / Ethiopia

Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa / Ethiopia

The Graduate School of Theology, Ewha Womans University Seoul / South Korea

Osaka University, Osaka / Japan

Trinity Theological Seminary Legon, Accra / Ghana

Near East School of Theology, Beirut / Lebanon

Yerevan State University, Faculty of Theology, Yerevan / Armenia

University of Tartu / Estonia

Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Indonesia Bagian Timur Makassar (STT INTIM MAKASSAR) / Indonesia

Tumaini University, Iringa University College / Tanzania

Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong / China

Belarusian State University, Saints Methodius and Cyril Institute of Theology / Belarus