The idea to invite outstanding external experts for short stays of teaching came from the University of Bremen’s Institute of Post-colonial and Transcultural Studies (INPUTS) some three years ago. Members of the Institute initiated a project with the goal of inviting high-profile personalities in the social sciences and the humanities to teach in their department for stays of between four and six weeks. The German name of the project is “Denkplatz Bremen”, which roughly translates into “Bremen – a center of thinking”. This year they have been successful in acquiring the renowned literary scholar and specialist in cultural studies, Walter Mignolo, to teach on an intensive summer course.

Argentine-born Professor Walter Mignolo from the Duke University (USA) arrived in the Hanseatic City State on 16th May for a stay of six weeks. Once again it has been possible to attract a scholar of international renown in the field of post-colonialism theory to Bremen. Mignolo is a leading exponent of “decoloniality”, an approach which investigates global economic, political and cultural relations in respect of structural colonialism. In this way it is possible to carry out a more systematic analysis of historical relations of dependency in the aftermath of European colonization. In his seminar Mignolo explores the social, cultural and political conditions of transnationality. To make sure that no time is lost once the course begins and so students can obtain maximum advantage from this opportunity to have contact with the visiting professor, they are able to prepare themselves beforehand via the Internet platform Stud.IP. The project has a running time of five years and is funded by the University of Bremen together with the "Friends of The University of Bremen and Jacobs University".

During their stays in Bremen the visiting scholars also hold public lectures. These lectures, which are held in English, are free of charge and open to all interested persons:

• 19th May2011, 6.00 p.m., “Modernity: the Way We Are?”, Haus der Wissenschaft, Sandstr. 4/5
• 22nd June 2011, 6.00 p.m., “De-Schooling and Learning to Unlearn: Ivan Illich‘s Legacies and the Project of Amawtay Wasi in Ecuador”, Gästehaus Teerhof, Auf dem Teerhof 58