Political Didactics and Political Education

On May 11–12, 2026, the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing, in cooperation with the DVPW section “Political Science and Political Education,” will host the conference “Inclusive Society?! Social Science Perspectives and Educational Practice" (Chairs: Jörg Siegmund/JProf. Dr. Luisa Girnus/Prof. Dr. Isabelle-Christine Panreck/Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke). The conference program, registration details, and further information can be found here.

On April 29, 2026, Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke will deliver a keynote address titled “Democracy Education – But Aesthetically!? On the Understanding, Practices, and Structures of Cultural Democracy Education" organized by the Federal Academy for Cultural Education in Wolfenbüttel, a keynote speech on the topic “What is Democracy Education?” (see conference program).

On April 9, 2026, Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke will deliver a lecture titled “Is Conflict the Main Thing? A (Self-)Critical Perspective on Political Education” at the University of Hildesheim as part of the 14th International Congress of the Ernst Troeltsch Society (see conference program).

On January 20, 2026, Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke delivered a lecture titled “Democracy Education in Schools – Goals, Everyday Reality, and Outlook” as part of the spring reception “Education Strengthens Cohesion – Learning in a Democratic Society” ("Bildung stärkt Zusammenhalt – Lernen in einer demokratischen Gesellschaft") hosted by the Education Committee of the BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony State Parliament. Following the lecture, Lower Saxony’s Minister of Culture and Deputy Minister-President, Julia Willie Hamburg, and Marc Partetzke engaged in a discussion on the topic.

Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke was appointed by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs as an expert member of the commission tasked with developing the core curriculum for politics in lower secondary education (2025–2027). He was elected by the State School Advisory Council.

The Department of Political Science (Chair of Political Didactics and Civic Education) at the University of Hildesheim and the Department of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo are currently working to strengthen their ties. As part of an initial one-year project (2025–2026) on the topic of “Post-socialist memory culture,” two consecutive seminars will be held in the winter semester of 2025/26 and the summer semester of 2026. The aim is to examine the different forms of socialist systems using the examples of the GDR and Yugoslavia, as well as the narratives that still exist today and their impact on current politics on the European continent. To this end, students will engage with aspects of both socialist systems in hybrid sessions and, as part of the Erasmus⁺ program, will first travel to Germany for one week and then to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summer of 2026.

• Symposium on the Prevention of Antisemitism (co-designed and organized with Prof. Dr. René Dausner (UHi), Dr. Inga Niehaus (NLQ), Berengar Zorn (NLQ), and Benjamin Franz (MK); Hildesheim, April 8–9, 2026)
• “Democracy Education in Schools – Variations, Goals, Challenges” („Demokratiebildung in der Schule – Variationen, Ziele, Herausforderungen“, keynote address as part of the State History Conference IQ.SH; Kiel, February 21, 2026; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)
• “The Myth of the Neutrality Principle OR How Political Can Political Education Actually Be?” („Mythos Neutralitätsgebot ODER Wie politisch darf politische Bildung eigentlich sein?“, workshop as part of the State History Conference IQ.SH; Kiel, February 21, 2026; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke) 
• “Democracy Education in Schools – Goals, Successes, Challenges” („Schulische Demokratiebildung – Ziele, Erfolge, Herausforderungen“, lecture as part of the spring reception “Education Strengthens Cohesion – Learning in a Democratic Society” organized by the Education Committee of the BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony State Parliament, including a discussion with Lower Saxony’s Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Willie Hamburg and the Secretary General of the Federal Student Conference, Quentin Gärtner; Hanover, January 20, 2026; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)
• “Democracy Education in Schools – But Please, a Holistic Approach!” („Schulische Demokratiebildung – aber bitte ganzheitlich!“, lecture as part of the conference “The World in School – Democracy Education, Global Learning, and Education for Sustainable Development” at the Evangelical Academy Loccum (in cooperation with the Lower Saxony Ministry of Culture); Rehburg-Loccum, December 3, 2025; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)
• “Perspectives on Caricatures from the Field of Political Education” („Politikdidaktische Perspektiven auf Karikaturen“, lecture as part of the conference “Caricatures and Political Education” at the Evangelical Academy Hofgeismar (in cooperation with Caricatura Kassel); Kassel, November 24, 2025; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)
• “Territorial Identity Constructions of Scottish Teachers – First Results of the Study.” Lecture as part of the annual conference of the Scottish Educational Research Association (Aberdeen, November 19, 2025; Valeriia Hulkovych). 
• “Democratic School – Variants, Obstacles, Uncertainties” („Demokratische Schule – Varianten, Hürden, Unsicherheiten, lecture as part of the Education Week “Living Democracy! Protect, Strengthen, Expand!” organized by the GEW Lüneburg District Association; Cuxhaven, November 13, 2026; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)
• “Democratization of the School as a Place of Work and Life. Highlights of an Ongoing Debate („Demokratisierung der Schule als Arbeits- und Lebensort. Schlaglichter auf eine fortwährende Debatte, presentation as part of the State Conference of the GEW Lower Saxony, including a discussion with Lower Saxony’s Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Willie Hamburg; Hanover, October 6, 2025; Prof. Dr. Marc Partetzke)”

• “If not at the university, then where?” ("Wenn nicht an der Uni, wo dann?") – Political Participation and Democratic Dialogue on Campus (Conversation with Lena Ulbricht and Sara Reinke, UHiversum | The University of Hildesheim Magazine, Fall 2025/26); published on October 1, 2025
• UHiversum Talks Anniversary Double Episode: Hold My Mic – the season finale of science questions (Hold My Mic – das Staffel-Finale der Wissenschaftsfragen); published on August 5, 2025
• Historical-Political Education. Podcast “The History Lesson: Didactics in Dialogue” ("Die Geschichtsstunde: Didaktik im Dialog") (together with Julia Thyroff and Franziska Rein); published on May 20, 2025.