Three flags adorn the square in front of the main administration building on campus: The flags show that the University of Bremen is publically expressing its solidarity with the LGBTIQ community and is clearly for equality and against discrimination of any type. “I am pleased about this visible sign of tolerance and the solidarity with the issues pertaining to Christopher Street Day at our university – a colorful expression of our diversity-oriented attitude”, stated the Vice President International and Diversity, Eva-Maria Feichtner. The queer community at the university also welcomes that the university has joined in with the city-wide call to raise the flags and emphasizes: “We understand this symbolic act as a promise of intense communication and joint work in the coming semester.” The administrative unit Queerpolitik (queer politics) from the Allgemeiner Studierenden Ausschuss (AStA) (students’ union) at the University of Bremen is happy about this show of solidarity by the university with the queer communities and underscores: “We hope for lively exchange in order for this statement to be followed by actions.”
Diversity is a Key Characteristic of the University of Bremen
The commitment to diversity is embedded within the University of Bremen’s core guiding principles. Under the motto “queering university”, there have been workshops and events in the last two semester that have dealt with the question of how the sensitivity towards gender and sexual diversity can be supported within day-to-day life at the university and in the public realm. The involved persons from the areas of administration, teaching, studies and research discussed specific fields of action and measures for the future. Their ideas relate to behavior in day-to-day life and linguistic forms but also to content in research and teaching.
Gender Entry “Diverse” on Forms
This should eradicate the possibility of only being able to enter male or female genders on forms. In order to include the lived identities of transgender or intersex students within internal data recording, for example on lecture participant lists, it is planned that a possibility to list transgender students by a first name that relates to their identity be developed. “Even if we have already attained a great deal in the field of anti-discrimination, we need more sensitivity in our direct interaction with each other in all areas”, according to Vice President Eva-Maria Feichtner. Thus, further sensitivity workshops for administrative and teaching staff are to be offered. Furthermore, the possibilities for the strengthening of gender and queer topics in teaching and research projects are to be investigated.
Further information:
www.uni-bremen.de/en/diversity-management/
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Feichtner
Vice President International and Diversity
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-60040
Email: kon3protect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
