The first edition of the Fujairah Winter School in Intercultural Philosophy, held at the Philosophy House in Fujairah (UAE) from February 14 to 20, 2025, brought together scholars and students from diverse cultural backgrounds to engage in intensive academic dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of intercultural philosophizing. The Winter School was jointly organized by the Philosophy House Fujairah and Aldo Moro University of Bari, under the scientific coordination of Professor Luca Maria Scarantino, former President of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies. The programme attracted around 20 students from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Thailand, Italy, and Germany, along with senior and junior scholars from different philosophical traditions. Our team members Anke Graness and Lara Hofner represented our project at the event.

The scholarly aim of the Winter School was to foster cross-cultural dialogue in philosophy by engaging with contemporary philosophical questions from a wide range of cultural and intellectual perspectives. With a focus on inclusiveness, the School created a platform for reflecting on how philosophical traditions from around the world can contribute to current theoretical debates. The programme combined morning lectures with afternoon workshops designed to encourage students and scholars to jointly develop and discuss ideas in an interactive format.

Lectures and discussions covered diverse topics, such as:

• Dao/Tao and the Way in a Comparative Perspective, delivered by Yao Xinzhong (Renmin University, China)
• Action with No-Self: Exploring a Buddhist Philosophical Enigma, delivered by Suwanna Satha-Anand (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)
• Philosophia Perennis as Interculturality, delivered by Luca M. Scarantino (Aldo Moro University, Italy)
• From Comparative to Intercultural Philosophy and the Method of Polylogue, delivered by Anke Graness (Hildesheim University, Germany)
• Intercultural Philosophizing within the Arabic Legacy of Falsafa and its Adaptive Assimilation in Europe, delivered by Nader el-Bizri (Cambridge University, UK)

Following each lecture, Q&A sessions allowed students to critically engage with the content and explore connections between philosophical frameworks. Workshops opened up spaces for collaborative exploration of intercultural methodologies and philosophical polylogues, highlighting the relevance of interculturality as a structural orientation for contemporary philosophical practice.

The event also provided ample opportunities for informal exchanges, whether during meals, site visits, or shared reflection at the hotel, fostering personal and professional bonds between participants. In these conversations, one recurring theme was the practical question of how to responsibly navigate the plurality of philosophical voices that emerged throughout the week — a question that cuts across the very heart of intercultural philosophy itself. The Fujairah Winter School thus not only introduced students to important philosophical traditions and methods, but also exemplified intercultural dialogue in practice, establishing the Philosophy House Fujairah as a key platform for future academic cooperation across cultural and disciplinary boundaries.