Leuphana Opening Week 2026 with Carlo Masala

Masala is a professor of international politics at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich and one of Germany’s best-known experts on security and defense policy. On Monday, October 5, he will discuss geopolitical conflicts, shifting alliances, and what these developments mean for Europe with the students.

From October 1 to 9, Leuphana’s incoming freshmen will explore how security is established and where it becomes fragile. In project groups, they will examine what courses of action arise from today’s challenges: from escalation to cooperation, from climate to resilience, from work to justice, and from AI to autonomy.

“Security does not mean eliminating all uncertainty,” says Jelena Bäumler, an expert in international law and vice president for Leuphana College. “We need reliability to be able to act, but also the willingness to question what we take for granted. The university is a place where both of these can come together.”

Orientation Week will open on Thursday, October 1, in the Libeskind Auditorium. Social entrepreneur Shai Hoffmann will focus on democracy and social cohesion in a time of growing conflicts. Leuphana President Sascha Spoun will address the personal uncertainty that can come with starting college and link it to an invitation to intellectual freedom. Together with Lüneburg’s Mayor Claudia Kalisch and Jelena Bäumler, he will welcome the new students.

In project groups, students create videos and commentaries in which they experiment with initial forms of criticism and vision. These contributions can be revisited later in the Leuphana semester.

“Curiosity is what kicks off a college education. That’s why, during Orientation Week, we invite students to grapple with the big questions of our time and discover what a university can be,” says Michaela Wieandt, Director of Leuphana College.