Wed, 15 July 2026, 6:30 p.m.
Villa Köstlin (Rümelinstr. 27)

Abstract:
From the Talmudic tradition over Roman law to Islamic law, counterfactuals have populated legal history – and still prevail. While Bentham has denounced such legal fictions as a “a syphilis which runs in every vein and carries into every part of the system” of common law, others have readily welcomed law’s ‘white lies’, later culminating in a praise of both the utility and the aesthetics of legal feigning. Since fictions are indispensable means even in today’s system of legal autopoiesis, the talk will inquire in the different forms and reasons for law’s faking, from the early history of human rights to contemporary public international law. 

Hans Lind is Schroedinger Fellow of the Austrian Science Fund and on mobility leave from the University of Vienna. He previously taught at Vienna University, Yale University and Constance University. Before Tübingen, he was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg. Hans holds a law degree from the University of Tübingen and a Ph.D. from Yale University. His book "Legal Fictions" is under contract with Routledge. His edited volume, "Fictional Discourse and the Law", appeared with Routledge in 2020.

July 13, 7:15 pm
d.a.i. (German-American Institute, Karlstr. 3)

About the Talk: 
The internationally renowned American researcher Prof. Cynthia Miller-Idriss has been talking with 18–24 year-olds in the US, Canada, Kenya, and Jordan about what they experience online — and the findings hit close to home on both sides of the Atlantic. Her research goes beyond the familiar debate about harmful algorithms and asks something bigger: are platforms not just reflecting societal tensions, but actively creating them? 
Read the full abstract here.

The event is organized in cooperation between the d.a.i., the Institute for Research on Far Right Extremism (IRex), and the College of Fellows, as part of the Focus Group “Far Right Threats to Democracy” activities. 

About Prof. Cynthia Miller-Idriss:
Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a leading scholar in the study of extremism, radicalization, and polarization, whose work bridges academic research and practical interventions. As the director of the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, her research informs policy, media, and community-based strategies to address pressing global challenges. Her publications and contributions offer critical insights into understanding and preventing the dynamics of hate and violence.
She currently is a New Horizons Fellow at the College of Fellows, affiliated with the Institute for Research on Far Right Extremism (IRex) of the University of Tübingen.