Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit

'All Equally Different!?' - Diversity in theory and practice - Lecture series

Podcast miniseries "The Just University. Visions of a good and diverse academia"

What does a just university look like? How do we want to learn, research and work? What does a university need in order to be a welcoming place for students, academics and staff with different biographies and experiences? How can we imagine a fair and democratic university without discrimination? And how can a university enable emancipatory teaching and knowledge production?
Along these questions, we spoke with Nicole Viktoria Przytulla (German Institute for Human Rights), Ayla Satilmis (University of Bremen) and Raewyn Connell (University of Sydney) about their visions for a just university.

Trailer (in German)



Episode 1: Eine Frage der Existenz. Utopie einer Hochschule ohne Behinderung. Mit Nicole Viktoria Przytulla (in German)

For a just university, we need to challenge the existing ideas and routines about learning and researching and allow for new perspectives that can sometimes seem 'radical' at first. We talk about this with Dr Nicole Victoria Przytulla, focusing on everyday struggles and structural obstacles for students and staff with disabilities and how universities without barriers become a better place for everyone.


  • 00:00:00 Intro
  • 00:03:39 Der Begriff Behinderung
  • 00:09:23 Zum aktuellen Stand der Inklusionspolitik an Hochschulen
  • 00:14:37 Perspektivenverschiebung mit der Soziologie der Abwesenheiten (Einführung in die “Epistemologien des Südens”)
  • 00:28:27 Gegenentwurf eines inklusiven und gerechten Studiums
  • 00:29:30 (1) Welches Wissen wird anerkannt?
  • 00:43:48 (2) Höher, schneller, weiter? Der Umgang mit Zeitlichkeit
  • 00:53:56 (3) Anerkennung in der Differenz
  • 00:59:31 (4) Eine Frage des Maßstabes
  • 01:09:06 (5) Für einen ‘produktiven’ Umgang mit Reibung und Störungen
  • 01:14:42 (6) Den “Einheitskörper” gibt es nicht
  • 01:22:05 Ein nicht-utopisches Schlusswort
  • 01:27:50 Outro


Episode 2 “Uni, öffne Dich!” – Denkanstöße für eine demokratische Hochschule. Mit Ayla Satilmis (coming soon)


Episode 3: The Good University - with Prof. em. Raewyn Connell

To understand universities in the Global North, their lack of diversity and what can be done about it, we join Prof. Raewyn Connell in her postcolonial and global perspective on science and higher education. She tells another story about the history and economy of universities beyond glorifying success stories and highlights ‘universities of hope’ that encourage cooperation, creativity and democracy.


  • 00:00:00 Intro
  • 00:03:31 The university work force: Learning, teaching and research as collective processes
  • 00:14:59 What went wrong? The global economy of knowledge
  • 00:30:25 What is wrong? Universities as businesses
  • 00:55:00 Is there hope? - “Universities of hope”
  • 01:15:42 Criteria for a Good University
  • 01:23:07 Outro

Chapter “The university work force”

  • Project about teachers and education:

    • Connell, Raewyn/Ashenden, Dean/Kessler, Sandra/Dowsett, Gary (1982): Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.
    • Connell, Raewyn (1985): Teachers' Work. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.

Chapter “The global economy of knowledge

  • Paulin J. Hountondji, Beninese French philosopher, publication: Sur la "philosophie africaine" (1976), English translation: “African Philosophy: Myth and Reality” (1983, London: Hutchinson)
  • Connell, Raewyn (2007): Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science. Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia; Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Subalternity and Subaltern Studies – Short introduction on Global social theory

Chapter “Is there hope?”


Concept and organisation of the podcast miniseries

The podcast miniseries “The Just University. Visions of a Good and Diverse Academia” was created as part of the event series "'All equally different?!' - Diversity in Theory and Practice". The event series was funded by central study quality funds (SQM) of the University of Göttingen.
The podcast miniseries is a cooperative project of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit, the Gender Studies Department and the Diversity Research Institute at the University of Göttingen, the Thuringian Competence Network Equality and the Equal Opportunities Office of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Podcast production by studiumdigitale – Central eLearning Facility at Goethe University.

Music by Ronald Kah, Website: https://ronaldkah.de