Alchemy of UdK Berlin
Marie Grau and Jan Stassen conceived the UdK Berlin's Alchemy project from the Museum für Werte* and invite all members of the UdK community - teachers, students, and administrative staff - to get actively involved and explore the following questions together:
What are the elementary components of the UdK Berlin?
What transformation processes characterise the present and future of the university?
What specific forces, substances and connections characterise the UdK Berlin and how can these be used in a targeted manner?
What values and atmospheres characterise learning, research, and work at UdK Berlin?
Three interlinked formats will enable an in-depth exploration of these and many more questions:
UdK-Plenum: In a collective gathering, teachers, students, and staff explore the "fabrics" of UdK Berlin.
Alchemie Sessions: In these transformative in-class workshops, students are encouraged to develop their own approaches to answering the questions and explore new ones, fostering personal growth and learning.
Grundrauschen: Using Cultural Probes, transported in suitcases, students carry questions to all corners of the university and collect observations and ideas.
* The Museum für Werte (MfW) is a non-profit organisation that brings value-based exhibitions, workshops and transformative processes to various locations. Founded by former UdK students, the museum combines artistic, cultural, and social competencies to translate complex topics into memorable and accessible formats.
Marie Grau studied Social and Business Communication at the UdK Berlin. As part of her final project, she focused on the topics of dying, death, and mourning. She created the "Dear Death" exhibition with three fellow students, which made it possible to discuss these topics. In her bachelor's thesis, she focussed on the role of memory in mourning and is currently planning further projects in this field. In her work at the Museum of Values, Marie is particularly interested in using personal stories to delve into topics and bring people into dialogue with one another.
Jan Stassen has been working, experimenting, and writing at the interface of society and social innovation for ten years. His first initiative combined craftsmanship and youth culture; he was part of an empowerment project in Malaysia and Indonesia and ran the business of cocreation.loft in Berlin, which experiments with personal development and New Work. His current research interests lie in the fields of embodied cognition and collective value systems. Jan co-founded the Museum of Values and is enthusiastic about social, cultural, and digital technologies promoting interpersonal encounters.
