On May 17, 2023, thirty students from Eskişehir Osmangazi University in Turkey, Heidelberg University of Education in Germany and University of Miskolc in Hungary, met for an insightful study day discussing flight and migration. All students previously attended lectures and seminars about these topics at their respective universities. The participants prepared presentations for the encounter day from different perspectives such as philosophy, ethics, criminal law, Catholicism, Islam and Protestantism. On the study day, the students met in a video conference and shared their findings. Subsequently, the students were divided into mixed groups and placed into breakout rooms for discussions. Additionally, students reflected on the encounter and their learning experience.
Feedback revealed that the participants enjoyed the study day and the multi-perspective discussions. In general, most were surprised that the presented religious, ethical and legal perspectives on flight and migration were more flexible and less rigid than initially assumed.
For future study days, students suggested including additional disciplines such as psychology, Judaism and other perspectives. Another indicated area of improvement is the allotment of discussion time. Some students felt that the time they were given for the group discussion was too short. These students resolved this shortcoming by spontaneously deciding to resume their group discussion after the event´s conclusion.