Children’s University: The university as an open place where everyone is welcome

Are rappers poets? Literary scholar Professor Frieder von Ammon will be exploring this question in the first lecture given by the Children’s University at LMU. The members of his audience will be between seven and twelve years of age. Some of them will be visiting a university for the first time, while others will bring along their student handbook that they were given at a previous event.

The Children’s University opens the doors to science for young people at an early age and shows them that curiosity is the beginning of every discovery. When children are encouraged to ask questions, marvel, and try things out for themselves, it sparks exactly the kind of enthusiasm that both our society and our university need for the future,” says Beatrice Lugger, LMU Vice President for Communication, in marking the launch of this special lecture series at LMU.

The Children’s University takes place in Munich every semester with lectures that are aimed exclusively at children. This allows them to get a taste of student life. Just like in a real university degree, the children enroll at the university and receive a student ID number and a student handbook. The series is organized by the Munich-based organization Kultur & Spielraum e.V.

Frieder von Ammon, who holds a chair in Modern German Literature at LMU, will be participating in the Children’s University for the first time and will introduce his young students to literary history, inviting them to explore poetry in contemporary music.

“I’m participating in the ‘Children’s University’ first because I love children (I have three of my own) and so I know how delightful, but also challenging, it is to engage in dialog with them. Second, I think it’s very important that children get to know the university as an open place where they too are welcome and where their questions about the world will be taken seriously,” says von Ammon.

When do schools decide to close because of excessive heat?

At the next lecture at LMU on 19 June, health researcher Dr. Julia Hellmann will explain when it’s a good idea to close a school for heat-related reasons and how the body copes with high temperatures. Julia Hellmann leads the Global Environmental Health and Climate Change Research Group at LMU University Hospital.

The third and final lecture of this year’s Children’s University at LMU will be given by Professor Jens Kersten, Professor of Public Law and Governance, on 17 July. He will examine climate change and climate protection from an unusual perspective: “What can a tree or fox do to tackle injustice? When nature goes to court” is the subject of the event.

More about the Children’s University at LMU:

The events will take place on the specified days from 5 to 6 p.m. After each lecture, there will be plenty of time for the children to ask questions, which will be answered directly by the speakers.

The Children’s University: Information about the lectures at LMU and how to register Information about the lectures at LMU and how to register