Tishk International University has been conducting a project which is focused on Religious and Cultural Diversity in Kurdistan and supported by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in collaboration with Potsdam University from Germany, Salahaddin University and Catholic University for two years. Within the scope of the ongoing project, three delegations from three universities consisted of ten academic staff and sixteen students attended a summer school in Potsdam between June 28 and July 12 for fifteen days.

The students and staff had five full-day workshops on various topics around religious and cultural diversity in Kurdistan and Germany and Mapping Project which is a research project about the history, architectural and congregation structures of the mosques and churches. They visited the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development office and two officers made presentations about guidelines, funding, and programming for this region. Besides academic visits, they had some sightseeing to ancient sites in Berlin, Leipzig, and Potsdam including museums, churches and some other historical places.

In the second week of the summer school, Tishk International University’s Head of Board of Trustees and President Dr. Idris Hadi, President of Salahaddin University Ahmed Dezaye and President of Catholic University Dr. Sabah Yousif Al Maleh joined to the delegations and they had some meetings with Vice President of Potsdam University to negotiate about future staff and students exchange program.

It was a fruitful summer school for both the staff and the students. People who attended the summer school reported that exchanging the ideas, observing and experiencing different cultures promoted to broaden the perspectives of them. Next step of the project will be hosting the professors of Potsdam University in November to negotiate the details about the Mapping Project.