LMU launches discussion series on difficult questions

The major issues dividing society — from antisemitism and extremism to artificial intelligence — are not debated solely outside the university. They also concern the university itself, becoming subjects of research while posing legal, administrative, and interpersonal challenges for the institution.

LMU Munich does not view this as a disruption of academic life, but rather as evidence that universities have always been part of society and served society — places where societal conflicts converge. This is precisely why universities have a particular responsibility to engage with these issues. The LMU University Executive Board is responding to this responsibility by launching a public discussion series that addresses these issues and explores how universities can deal with them and what role they can play in society's response. The aim is not to become part of these conflicts, but to engage with them using the university's own academic and scholarly methods.

Artificial intelligence is one example: While media debates about the dangers of AI are often emotionally charged, technological change confronts universities with questions that directly affect their core mission. How might the AI revolution change the living and working conditions for which universities prepare their students? How are the processes of generating, applying, and processing knowledge already changing? And not least, what are the societal consequences of the university's own research questions and findings?

Asking such questions means stepping back from emotionally charged debates and examining the political implications of the university's own actions. This is precisely what the discussion series aims to achieve. At the same time, it seeks to demonstrate the role a university can play in a democratic society: producing knowledge through rigorous, systematic methods that illuminate the choices available to society.

The first event, How Political Can a University Be?, will take place on 23 November 2026 at 7 p.m. in the Plenary Hall of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Discussion series website: The University and the Difficult Questions

Moderator of the entire series:

Dr. Marie Schoeß, Advisor to the LMU Vice President for Law, Economics, and Social Sciences

Further information

Professor Armin Nassehi in an interview about the concept behind the discussion series (in German): Interview with Professor Armin Nassehi