This year the University of Potsdam is presenting the “Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences” for the first time. The € 5,000 prize will go to Dr. Hilal Alkan, a political scientist from Turkey. The award honors her commitment to peace and justice in her homeland. Alkan signed a petition against the war in the Kurdish territories and denounced the actions committed by security forces against civilians. She was subsequently fired from her post. She has lived in Berlin since October 2016. Alkan is currently working as an EUME Fellow at the Forum for Transregional Studies in Berlin, and she will take up a position at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in July in Berlin as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow. The Voltaire Prize is funded by the Friede Springer Foundation and will be awarded annually to one young scholar who has demonstrated commitment to freedom in research and teaching, as well as the right of free expression.
The first “Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences” will be awarded during the graduation ceremony at the University of Potsdam on June 22, 2017, in front of the Colonnade at Am Neuen Palais, in the presence of Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will deliver the keynote address.
“Hilal Alkan is a wonderful choice to receive the inaugural Voltaire Prize. She is a young scholar who is acting within an increasingly difficult political environment that cost her her academic position. Yet she has not been discouraged through all of it; she has continued with her work and has not allowed her voice to be silenced. This is the kind of civil courage that we want to recognize with the Voltaire Prize,” says the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Oliver Günther, PhD. The jury – which consists of President Günther; the Vice President for International Affairs, Fundraising, and Alumni, Prof. Florian Schweigert; renowned climate impact researcher Prof. Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber; Alexander von Humboldt expert Prof. Ottmar Ette; and the church historian Prof. Christoph Markschies from the Humboldt University, Berlin – voted unanimously for Hilal Alkan. Their hope is that people like Alkan can serve as role models, upholding the ideals of the Enlightenment for which Voltaire’s name stands, both in the future and specifically in difficult political times.
Alkan was equal parts honored and surprised. She did not know that her work for peace and justice, as well as her scholarly endeavors, were perceived in such a way in Germany. Her main hope now is that free scholarly discourse does not break down in her homeland. “The greatest danger is that Turkish society will be turned into one defined by conformity and populated by yes-men. This is why scholars and scientists must continue to be heard and to receive support, so that they can keep up the struggle for diversity and freedom of expression.“
There will be an opportunity to speak with Hilal Alkan about the current situation in a panel discussion held in advance of the award ceremony on June 22; members of the jury will also participate.
Contact: Silke Engel, University Spokesperson and Director of the Department for Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 331 977-1496
Email: silke.engeluuni-potsdampde
Press Release 12-05-2017 / No. 087
Silke Engel
University of Potsdam
Department for Press and Public Relations
Am Neuen Palais 10
14469 Potsdam
Tel.: +49 331 977-1474
Fax: +49 331 977-1130
Email: presseuuni-potsdampde
Internet: www.uni-potsdam.de/presse
Online published by: Daniela Großmann
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